3D printing for the common man

A personal challenge I always make for myself prior to teaching anything tech, whether it be animation programming, app development, and lately, 3D design and printing, is to test to see if I can implement my lesson plan in the most primitive conditions possible. For example, I was lucky enough to get my start teaching volunteering with Computers4Kids here in Charlottesville, so I made sure whatever I taught worked using offline versions and when not possible, tested bandwidth requirements to make sure platforms worked using limited options, such a mobile hotspots. I even went as far as forcing myself to lesson plan for a year solely using my phone as my internet source, and you know what? It worked! It was slower, and at times, I had to plan video uploads to free resources with stronger bandwidth, but it is possible.

So, I embrace this same challenge when it comes to 3D printing, as in, where on earth, outside of an academic setting, can you even get your hands on learning how to use a printer? I'm pretty resourceful, but for the past 6 months, even with the support of UVa SEP, wasn't making a lot of progress. What is the common man ("woman"!) to do? Well, check out this latest from Staples, where it looks like they are branching out to offer in-store 3D printing services; wow! This is new to me, so I will be sure to check this out at our local store and keep you posted on how this works, cost, etc.