It’s obviously not going to happen for a while, but 3D printing strikes me as a rare example of technology in TEFL that I could go for. There must be other uses, but the main thing I imagine is being able download and print out sets of “3D flashcards” for the language point of day. For example, you could download the data for a set of plastic models of transport for a lesson on that topic. More complex 3D flashcards could also be used to present and practise things like prepositions of position and movement and this/ that/ these/ those. You could also 3D versions of flashcards that combine letters and things that start with that letter, for example having a 3D letter A made entirely of apples rather than just a picture of an A with an apple in the middle.
Other things you could 3D print include:
– Cuisenaire rods
– 3D substitution tables
– jigsaw texts which are really jigsaws
– versions of Boggle, e.g. one with a word or phonemic symbol or affix on each side of the cubes
– props to help roleplays, e.g. plastic wine glasses for restaurant roleplays
– dice with various things on the sides, e.g. names of classroom objects that they should run and touch
– other props for games such as Twister-style spinners and things to stack (for numbers and or prepositions of position)
Any other ideas?
TEFLtastic 
HI Alex,
There are a lot of sites on the internet popping up that allow students to take part in as many English classes as desired for about $50 a month. I think verbling.com is a good example if you’ve never seen it. In addition, they offer a chat roulette style interface that is free. What do you think about the idea of teaching English online? Do you think they could be effective? Have you ever reviewed a site like Verbling? Can you see yourself teaching English online in the future?
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As I say at the beginning of this post, not a great fan of teaching technology. Specifically with teaching online, not unless I was incredibly desperate.
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hmmmmmm
Everyone thinks “online everything” is the wave of the future. I wouldn’t be against teaching online, the problem is that the overwhelming majority of people who “teach” have zero qualifications and charge something like 12 to 15 dollars an hour. I couldn’t support my family on this. Even worse, many people claim to be native speakers and clearly aren’t or say they have qualifications that in fact don’t exist.
Nothing is impossible, and maybe there is some creative solution out there. If the day comes that the salary truly does become awful teaching in person, I guess I will just have to move on from the profession that I love.
I think 3D printing is an ok idea. Since the technology is still so new, it’s expensive. They say a printer costs about 8,000 dollars on E-bay. That’s out of my reach and 99% of the rest of us who teach English. I like the idea of not having to go to the store however! That’s nice!
Thanks for responding. One more random question that doesn’t pertain to this post, feel free not to answer. Have you ever heard of Benny the Irish Polyglot? What do you think about his “methodology” and attitude towards language learning?
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I did read Benny’s blog a few years ago, but nothing struck me as very interesting about it – can’t remember why. In general, I think polyglots have as little to teach our students as people who were brought up bilingual.
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Thanks again, Alex!
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