One of the things that you’ll find out very quickly about 3D printers is that SO much can go wrong. You will have problems along the line, but in the educational sense, that’s exactly what makes for great teachable moments. When something goes wrong, unless you have someone very knowledgeable nearby, you’re going to have to go and hunt down information online, and you’ll often find that it won’t necessarily be an easy hunt either. Different filaments can act in different ways, different printers will have different quirks, and even the way that the model you’re trying to print is designed can have a huge impact on the outcome of a print.
Keep checking back on this page for more resources, but in the mean time, I’ll start you off with this video:
It’s a very brief overview and doesn’t cover anywhere near the issues that can arise, but frankly, neither will this website. Once you’ve got your printer, then the rest is up to you.
This next link is also quite helpful: it uses a pictorial guide to help troublshoot some common issues that may arise from when trying out your printer. I keep visiting this one because of the handy way that they laid out their website. If your prints are bulging at the bottom, for example, then this guide addresses that in a way that you can see.
http://support.3dverkstan.se/article/23-a-visual-ultimaker-troubleshooting-guide
But like I said, no matter how much I post here, Google is going to be your best friend for fixing printing problems. Good luck!
3D Printing in the Classroom 