MakerBot Replicator + won the best 3D printer for schools 2017 . That’s because no other 3D printing manufacturer has invested so heavily in building a dedicated ecosystem for the education space.
Taking the printer in isolation, we have a device with safety features optimized for the classroom. There’s a removable flexible bed that isn’t heated; an extruder where the hot-end is out of reach of curious fingers; and a semi-enclosed build-space that protects the build area from foreign objects.
Moreover, there’s a cloud-based slicing option, where a model can be selected on Thingiverse and sent directly to the Replicator via a dedicated smartphone app. Everything can be monitored on your smartphone.
But the icing on the cake are the tools around it; a dedicated education space on Thingiverse, with STEM projects to make learning fun, plus an educator’s handbook to help teachers with core concepts around 3D modeling and printing.
