3D PRINTING ONLINE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS: MULTIPLE APPROACHES TOWARDS SELF-LEARNING OF ENGINEERING DESIGN STUDENTS

Current engineering students may be considered digital natives as most of them have grown up in a framework of constant connectivity and interactive culture. Online learning environments incorporate digital tools and resources to support learning, applying information and communication technologies to different education processes. Blended learning methodologies use face-to-face methods supported by a digital learning environment, whereas online learning uses exclusively digital platforms to enhance autonomous learning with multi-way communication between students and lecturers. Massive Open Online Courses are a current trend amongst major Universities, promoting autonomous and peer-to-peer learning processes, with a global reach, unlimited attendance and open access over the internet.

This paper presents an exploratory study conducted at two Higher Education Engineering Schools, namely in the Lapland University of Applied Sciences (Finland) and in the Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco (Portugal) with the aim of constructing digital learning environments that promote increasing learning autonomy to students using 3D printing technologies in engineering design. Based on pilot blended learning experiences carried-out in both referred schools, new instructional design solutions are proposed and discussed, aiming a widespread use of such digital platforms not only for blended and online learning processes in engineering schools, but also as Massive Open Online Courses open to wider communities.