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Objective: 3-D printing technologies have the potential to improve both Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education and Career and Technical Education (CTE), as well as integrating these two educational emphases and providing opportunities for cross-curriculum engagement. The objective of this study is to investigate the potential of open-source (OS) technologies in an educational setting, given the combination of economic constraints affecting all educational environments and the ability of OS design to profoundly decrease the cost of technological tools and technological innovation. Methods:This paper reports on a 3-day workshop augmented with online instructional and visual tools designed for middle school and high school level educators from a wide array of disciplines (including traditional science, math, and engineering as well as computer, shop, and art). Teachers (n=22) submitted applications to participate in the workshop, the workshop was observed for both evaluation and research, teachers participated in focus groups (n=2) during the workshop in order to discuss their interest in OS 3-D printing technology and its potential role in their classrooms, and teachers completed a voluntary postworkshop survey and responded to follow-up after printers were in the classroom for one year. Results:During the workshop teachers built 3-D printers using OS technologies that they were then able to take back to their schools and into their classrooms. Conclusion: Through workshops augmented with online instructional and visual tools designed to provide facilitated yet self-directed engagement with a new, relatively unknown, and relatively complex technology, paired teacher teams were able to successfully build and use RepRap 3-D printers based on OS design in just three days. Practice: Here, we discuss both what the teachers learned and what we learned from the teachers regarding the potential for educators to construct OS 3-D printing technologies as a tool of empowering and transformative education. Implications: Open-source 3-D printing technologies have the potential to improve education through a sense of empowerment resulting from active participation, as well as through cross-curriculum engagement.

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How can existing schools significantly reduce their energy use? With energy costs rising and school budgets shrinking, energy use is a substantial cost that can be reduced through conservation efforts. Using a case study methodology, the authors compare two public high schools from the same school district, one that has achieved moderate energy savings and another that has reduced its electricity use by 50% over several years. Examining the individual and organizational components of both schools' efforts, the authors find that the greater success at one school is the result of integrated efforts at all levels within the organization, from district administrators to individual students. Success is based on structural changes, individual behavioral change, and, most important, the weaving of both into a cohesive Downloaded from Schelly et al. 317organizational culture emphasizing conservation. This study demonstrates the potential of behavioral change and organizational culture to foster environmental education, conservation, and fiscal savings for other public schools.Keywords environmentally responsible behavior, environmental education, organizational behavior, energy conservation Public awareness of climatic change has stimulated organizations to consider strategies for reducing energy consumption for both economic and environmental reasons. In the United States, the average cost of energy use for the 2005-2006 school year was US$1.15/ft 2 , 63% of which was electricity consumption (Kats, 2006). In most U.S. school districts, the cost of energy use is second only to salaries (State of Colorado Governor's Energy Office, 2007). In American schools, US$6 billion is spent on energy bills annually, which is more than what is being spent on textbooks and computers combined (Energy Star, 2010).With ever-increasing economic costs and heightened concerns about the environmental effect of energy consumption, public schools are an ideal location for targeted conservation efforts. A long-term strategy for reducing energy consumption is the design and building of "green schools," which adopt a variety of design components to reduce energy use by an average of 33% from traditional buildings (Kats, 2006). The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), was recently modified in order to develop specific standards for the design and construction of green schools. Currently, there are 250 LEED-certified schools, which is 0.2% of school buildings in the United States (USGBC, 2010a).Whereas the construction of green schools is an important long-term strategy for containing energy costs and building healthy environments for learning, school districts must also find ways to reduce energy consumption in existing buildings. "With more than 133,000 schools in the United States, the greatest opportunity for school districts and our nation is to transform our existing schools" (USGBC, 2010b). The potential for reducing energy consumption in exis...

Agrivoltaic systems are a strategic and innovative approach to combine solar photovoltaic (PV)-based renewable energy generation with agricultural production. Recognizing the fundamental importance of farmer adoption in the successful diffusion of the agrivoltaic innovation, this study investigates agriculture sector experts’ perceptions on the opportunities and barriers to dual land-use systems. Using in-depth, semistructured interviews, this study conducts a first study to identify challenges to farmer adoption of agrivoltaics and address them by responding to societal concerns. Results indicate that participants see potential benefits for themselves in combined solar and agriculture technology. The identified barriers to adoption of agrivoltaics, however, include: (i) desired certainty of long-term land productivity, (ii) market potential, (iii) just compensation and (iv) a need for predesigned system flexibility to accommodate different scales, types of operations, and changing farming practices. The identified concerns in this study can be used to refine the technology to increase adoption among farmers and to translate the potential of agrivoltaics to address the competition for land between solar PV and agriculture into changes in solar siting, farming practice, and land-use decision-making.