So far, I have really enjoyed the various workshops we have been able to participate in through our program. Our Ed Tech and Multi-literacy classes have utilized the Digital Scholarship Commons (DSC) at UVIC to help facilitate understanding of audio/video editing, Twine story telling, sketch-noting and graphic novels.

Outside of our course structure, however, some of us have found the time to sign up for additional workshops though the DSC. On September 27th, I attended a 3D printing workshop, where we were guided through the design process of creating a 6-sided-dice using the software TinkerCad.

Unfortunately, we were not able to print our dice during the workshop (due to the time each piece takes to print). We were, however, given the steps to take if we did want to print our own 3D models! We were also introduced to a website, Thingiverse, that provides design files for 3D printing projects, for free! All of the free designs are licensed under the Creative Commons – Attribution License.

My only critique for UVIC’s 3D printing service is the lack of colour choice for trinkets – they explained that for small projects they will generally use what ever is currently installed in the machine at the time. I had found a keychain design for geometric pug ( https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2800898 ), however I did not want to print it in a mystery colour. They do allow their customers to request a colour if it is an important feature for the project (they have a bone colour for printing skull replicas!), but I didn’t think my pug preference was enough to warrant a colour change 😉