Making Hows To's to Learn

My Year 9 students are learning to use Tinkercad in order to 3D model their product design so we can 3D print them at the end of the project.
There are some key things they need to get the hang of in order to make more complex shapes in Tinkercad and one of those is using the workplanes.
They could use the lessons built in to Tinkercad and they could listen to me show them in the class, but I know they will have forgotten what I have said as soon as they move away from me.
With this in mind, I started a DVC "how to" site, and made a start putting some Tinkercad screen casts on it. Link here . Then I thought that the students could make their own how to's that they could refer to when they get stuck with their product design. This would embed the skills more firmly into their heads as they were breaking it down themselves rather than relying on mine.

Today we made our first one. I went through it with them to show them how to do each step, take a screen shot, put it onto a presentation and write an explanation.
Here is my example that I did with them.



I shared this with them so they could refer to it and had the inevitable question - "can we just copy and paste yours miss??" ... errr...no. So I explained to them that the whole point is for them to make the how to as it will make the skills stick in their heads!
Here are links to some of the student work on their blogs.
Fasi Kaharau Leilani
My sample blog post for them to refer to
Our next skill will be combining shapes to create more complex ones. Hopefully doing their own skills rewindables will enable them to create their product design with more confidence. We shall see.