LEGO MINDSTORMS
I would like to begin my blog by apologizing to my classmates for not attending last week’s class. This blog will be a descriptive summary of LEGO as a company, LEGO Robotics as a product, and the capabilities of robotics integrated with education.
Founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen, the family owned business is now in the hands of the founder’s grandchild. Their products have thus far passed the test of time. LEGO brick is what most of their customers are familiar with and is the reason LEGO has been named twice – “Toy of the Century”. LEGO employees strongly believe in their product:
The interlocking principle with its tubes makes it unique, and offers unlimited building possibilities. It’s just a matter of getting the imagination going and letting a wealth of creative ideas emerge through play”.
The thought of creative ideas emerging through play sinks well with me. I am sure a majority of us at one point let our imagination run wild while playing with LEGO blocks.
Before I begin explaining LEGO Robotics, I would like to share this information with you guys. In class we have discussed sustainability, “going green”, and the green house effect, LEGO has an entire page filled with Sustainability Cases;Cases that represent recent actions they have taken to help improve, and raise awareness of the ongoing global warming problem.
LEGO Robotics – “LEGO Mindstorms is a line of Lego Group products combining programmable bricks with electric motors, sensors, Lego bricks, and Lego Technic pieces (such as gears, axles, beams, and pneumatic parts) to build robots and other automated or interactive systems”
The picture above is the packaging in which LEGO Mindstorms is sold. To the left of the package is a book on many functions or possibilities for the robot.
To summarize, LEGO Robotics is a tool that can be used by professors in order to explain engineering and inspire students. LEGO has gone as far as providing teachers with guides on how to most effectively use their products. LEGO provides a hand -book describing:
- What purposes might Robotics serve in the classroom?
- For what grade levels is Robotics Appropriate?
- Who can teach Lego Robotics?
- Why are Robotics activities satisfying?
- What are the instructional goals and advantages of LEGO Robotics?
LEGO hopes to capture the interest of students by assuring students are asking themselves: “What type of robot will I create? What will I make it do? How will I design and program it to retrieve a ball?”
As for LEGO and learning, I believe LEGO sparks the interest in students to continue and pursue an engineering path. The product in the classroom initially intrigues students. Students then continue to pursue their interest outside of the classroom. There are social media channels solely dedicated to LEGO. Enthusiasts depend on each other to continue and grow their knowledge base.
Please watch some of the videos below.
LEGO Enthusiasts:
The link I provide above is a funny TED talk describing how LEGO becomes almost a lifestyle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLpBLPQNkz4
The Link above is a first look at how passionate LEGO enthusiasts are. A young male describes his passion for LEGO.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IxF5q7NdWE
The link above gives a glimpse of a LEGO convention.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBf1BIdJT4Q
I found this youtube link extremely interesting because the enthusiast is a 5-7 year old boy. He is explaining his current project and I am impressed with his ability to explain what he has learned.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q61NdisQj0A&list=PLAwVqAfcVZAa2Rex6w86n3C-dc4atJCTZ
Finally, if you’d like to see how much time and creativity LEGOs can consume and nurture please watch this short LEGO movie.
In conclusion, I believe LEGOs role in education will continue to expand in the future. If you take a look at the last link under REFERENCES you will find a very useful LEGO learning tool. This tool in form of a “quiz”, that can help test what you may know about LEGO.
REFERENCES: