How to Use Instructables at School

Over the years, Instructables has grown and evolved to a site that is both an invaluable resource and a powerful tool for teachers of many practical subjects.

This Instructable is mainly aimed at teachers of all kinds, but students can read it as well, then pass on ideas to their teachers...




_{All pictures are sourced from either the site itself, or Wikipedia Commons, or created by me, unless otherwise stated.}

Step 1: Sign up!

Firstly, no matter how you are going to use the site, sign up.

If you use your school email account to drop a line to teachers[at]instructables[dot]com, and let them know that you are actually a teacher, you will be rewarded with a free Pro account.

That will give you access to PDF files (potentially very useful in class) and all-steps display of projects (also useful if showing projects on-screen in class).

Comments

[yapoyo]

i thought it would tell you how to use instructables without your teacher knowing

[IamGOD Biotches]

same, i thought that there were gonna be some prank type things and such.

[Kiteman]

You *want* your teacher to know!

Show them the site, demonstrate its awesomeness, show them how safe it is, and persuade them to use it in school, then you don't have to sneak onto the site.

[IamGOD Biotches]

u talking about instructables? i go to highschool and they don't block it.

[nutsandbolts_64]

Speaking of website filters, why do websites pertaining to pi get blocked at my school? Must have been those sneaky ads floating around. At least Instructables isn't blocked at my school anyway. The only real con is that the only place with wi-fi or any sort of internet access would be the library. That's one of the main reasons our teachers use wireless USB modems on-site, slide-shows or PDF documents (as mentioned). Downside is, not a lot of people know instructables, let alone being a member (again, in my school). Speaking of the Instructables dead-zone at my school, what if that school has no modern presentation media (i.e. projectors, mobile computer units etc.)? It should be something worth brainstorming on your pastime.

[The nerdling]

some parts are blocked like nsw det laptop hacks, why?

<h8>meant to be sarcastic</h8>

[Kiteman]

You have wi-fi, but no projectors?

That's an odd set of priorities for your school. I know you're in the Philippines, but that's still an odd priority.

[nutsandbolts_64]

No, you got it the other way; we do have projectors. What I meant was in the case that there were no projectors on-site at the school.

[2hot2hack]

im useing my schoo laptop now on this program

[The nerdling]

9,10,11,12?
mine is year 10 now

[The nerdling]

"you must cut down the mightiest tree in the forest with.....A HERRING"
:)

[HMice]

Wait a sec, let me get this straight; if you SAY you're a teacher you get a free pro account? That's weird, and hardly fair to those who are teacher s and didn't know (I'm not though).

[Kiteman]

You have to email from your academic account, or provide some other evidence of your status

[HMice]

OK, cool

[MrC]

I’m looking for a Mister “Bogar,” who generated a hilarious rubric for submission to Instructables that I found on the web. In Maine, perhaps?
http://edu583spring09class.wikispaces.com/file/view/instructables+submission+rubric.xls
Seems to be based on How to Make a Great Instructable

My 8th graders will have the option of building a prop for the potential movie version of the memoir we just finished reading and submit their process to Instructables (others will write persuasive letters to film production companies). I was wondering if this Mr. Bogar has been doing this long, and at what grade levels.

Any teachers out there already on this?

[kaylaangelkisses]

the boy in blue is from my old school!!!

[Kiteman]

Really?

That's a coincidence - I grabbed the image off the web.

[hchapman2]

What about homeschoolers?

[anaibaf]

hi i am in third year engineering electronics and it seems I'm in charge of a new student group projects where I teach and I would like to have a premium account to download the pdf and use to teach them. my name is fabian gallardo and I'm from chile I have 21 years there any mail where I can contact?.
thank you very much I love the page.
my mail is [e-mail]

[Kiteman]

Contact details are in step 1.

[d2j5]

thank god this isnt blocked at my school. they really over blocked stuff, even things relating to schoolwork are blocked giving the teachers a hard time lol

[Kiteman]

Your profile says you're 17, so I guess you aren't a teacher.

If you show them this Instructable, and a bit of the site, they might start to use it themselves, and they could have their own pro account for free.

[dsman195276]

Good job Kiteman, nice Instructable, I'll have to tell some of my teachers at school to look this up.

I did notice one thing though that seemed a bit off though. The 'filter-friendly' part isn't exactly true. At least for my school, connections to websites like YouTube are completely cut. IE. Embedded videos on Ible's won't play if a filter is in place that restricts access to a site like YouTube.

I think that this is notable because it might give some people the wrong idea. I'd be willing to bet that this varies a lot from filter to filter.

DSMan195276

[cdousley]

I saw a school that had instructables blocked for being a terrorist/militia/extremist
website

[witmoreluke]

My school also blocked it, though it was for "Adult Content"... Still haven't seen any.

[Bitline]

I have that same block at my school.

[nutsandbolts_64]

That's just weird... Terrorist/militia/extremist? Must have been the load of instructables that involve pyrotechnics and ballistics.

[cdousley]

yeah thats what i thought.

[mg0930mg]

Instructables is blocked at my school for having the forums... It depresses me.

[Kiteman]

Point out to your teacher or network manager that the forums have a powerful "be nice" policy that is actively monitored 24/7.

If you want to PM me your school's email address and the name of your network manager, I will happily drop them a persuasive note.

[DJ Radio]

I think some schools block forums because they don't consider them productive and not reliable sources for research projects.

[Kiteman]

There is some paranoia about "grooming" as well.

[mg0930mg]

I have a feeling someone did this. Maybe a teacher, because the website is mysteriously unblocked. I am now happy.

[Kiteman]

That could mean that one of your teachers is a member...

Try leaving a picture of Robot in your books until somebody mentions it.

[bertus52x11]

I'll pass it on to the school of my kids!
BTW, what's this offshore rig doing in this I'ble?

[Kiteman]

That's supposed to represent "resources", and drilling down into the site.

[Air_Assassin]

is that you?

[Kiteman]

In the relay photo? No, that's just a WikiCommons image. I'm 30 years older than those two.

[Air_Assassin]

ohhhhhhhhhhhh.

[TOCO]

My school blocked the website a few years ago. I think that it was because there was an illegal section. But now the site is so much nicer and helpful.