Day Two

1/30

Hi there!

We got to play with legos today!

So, during class Ms. Bonnie Morrissette brought in WeDo 2.0 kits accompanied with an Ipad.  I learned that each lego edu robot is powered using blue tooth through the education application on the Ipad.  The globalized application does not contain any written instruction, merely pictures, to which student s scroll through step by step.  We did not, however, jump right in to this seemingly complex task.

Ms. Morrissette's presentation and play began with the building of a duck using only 6 legos of varying size.  She explained that with only 6 blocks, 24 or more combinations are possible to construct the duck.  With that being said, no two ducks were built the same out of a class of approximately 25 students.  This creative play allowed for open ended learning; we were not given any instruction and there were no formulated blue prints for the duck building- we were in charge of how it ought to be built.  The next activity involved the WeDo 2.0 kit, where we used the step by step guide on the Ipad to build the simple Milo robot.  Using a drag and drop method of programming, students were to send him forward for 2 seconds and stop.  Then were were allowed to experiment with multiple arrangements of programming.

With the knowledge acquired from this play based and developmental learning experience Hanna and I realized that we need to brainstorm a little longer in terms of proposing a problem to solve.  We still intend to utilize the WeDo 2.0 kit and application as it proved highly effective for engaging and exciting students.  However, the ideas we had about picking up, throwing, and catching a ball using these robots seems far too simple at this point.  However, we feel that aspects of this thought may still be applicable- the picking up and holding that is.

A new though we have is the use of these robots for handicap children, perhaps with MS who are resricted in mobility but may still use hands (to operate an Ipad).  These robots may be extremely helpful for children, and adults, who are unable to pick up and grasp objects for periods of time.  Super handy! ;)