Modern designers LEGO Education: from simple to complex

Hi, Geektimes! Before the start of cooperation with iCover, I, like many in current times of crisis, were looking for a new job. Among the various vacancies I liked one unusual - a large toy store was looking for the author for the site. As a test, it was required to write a detailed description of a very simple toy - a set of a plate and a cake (both parts are made of wood).

Despite all my efforts, they never took me to work there. I was not particularly upset - it turned out that we have iCover, there is a section of goods for children , and today I’ll tell you about several wooden sets of the LEGO Education series about a toy cake made of wood . The reason for such attention to them was not only a 40% discount (!), But also a desire to figure out whether modern designers of LEGO have changed since my childhood, and for the better.

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The most important problem of LEGO, in my opinion, has always been the mixing of parts into one large, fundamentally unsorted pile. For some unknown reason, the LEGO Mindstorm mechanical sets were very expensive, and therefore the fantasy had to be implemented mainly with the City series sets (police truck, helicopter), combining them with the smallest (and inexpensive!) Sets of individual mechanisms (pickup moon rover, etc.).

Like any geek, I began my acquaintance with the LEGO Education series from their website - it turned out that everything was much better than I thought, and the kits for designing, programming and creating Lego mechanisms are no longer the prerogative of the Mindstorm series, they are available in the LEGO WeDo series.

I want to mention separately - this series is not new at all, but it is even for the better. All materials are translated into Russian, a free application for Mac OS and Windows is available for model programming. An app for iOS is also available. The design of programs is unified, there is a minimum of text and many videos, both entertaining and educational.



Two versions of WeDo are available: Start (~ 300Mb) and Full (~ 1GB). To download applications you will need to create a LEGO ID account. With your account, you can access other online services from LEGO (forums, online contests, online games, ReBrick and LEGO Ideas). In addition, you can add to your account information about your LEGO constructors.

Both children and adults can use the LEGO website, and in the right sections (for example, in the store) you can find an offer to notify parents about how to use the platform. The “Terms and Conditions” do not occupy dozens of pages, so if necessary, you can read them without super efforts over yourself.

The series itself was developed for elementary school students and with the methodological support of the educational process there is a complete order. WeDo is compiled in accordance with Federal State Educational Standards (GEF). The adult manual (for parent or teacher) is available as a PDF document and takes 45 pages in the Start version, and 217 in the Full version! In accordance with these documents, working with designers, children master: QC, Code of Criminal Procedure, ICT, RK, CD, CSK, KLS and Cheka!


Interaction with LEGO WeDo is activity-oriented learning, aimed at finding solutions to problems and tasks, developing the child’s ability to independently set educational goals, design ways to implement them, and even evaluate their achievements.



The main set is called LEGO Education WeDo Construction Set 9580 (LEGO Education 9580 Construction Set Perobot ”WeDo) and consists of 158 elements, including a USB switch (it controls the motors and sensors), a motor and two sensors - a tilt sensor (distinguishes six positions) and a distance sensor (detects objects at a distance of up to 15 cm). Each of these elements can be programmed in the required sequence - according to your own wishes or with the help of educational hint materials.



"Out of the box" instructions are available for the collection of twelve models, which can be programmed by connecting a USB switch to a computer or laptop. Judging by the video instructions, in the new WeDo 2.0 sets you can use a wireless connection via Bluetooth, for this you need a separate LEGO-module "SmartHub" and a battery module. They are available in updated series sets, and WeDo sets require connection to a computer via USB.



For the models, not only assembly and programming instructions are presented, but also training videos of various subjects, implying different game (and training) scenarios for each mechanism. As an example, the program presents the model of the “scientific all-terrain vehicle Milo”, but the training videos themselves are devoted to various issues of environmental and nature research:



Some limitation of this set can be called the presence of only two free slots at the switch, thus it is possible to combine the motor with only one of the available sensors. A separate resource set Lego Education WeDo Resource Set (9585) , with wheels and a rotor, is able to expand the variety of possible robot-models. There are twice as many details in it as in the base - 326 elements, including additional LEGO minifigures, which are never enough.



If desired, Lego Education WeDo 9580 and the WeDo 9585 resource kit can be purchased in one set, and the parts can be stored in a box-container.

If you do not want a laptop or computer to distract the child from the design process (which is quite possible scenario nowadays, Minecraft or other games can be installed on the computer), Lego Simple Machines Set (9689) can be a good choice.



It can be used to assemble four basic models and four models for solving various practical problems that allow a child to study and understand the principles of operation of simple and more complicated mechanisms. Here you can find the wheels, levers, rollers, axles and wheels, and the entire elements in the set 204.



Considering the possibility of constructive complications (it is possible to combine sets with each other or use an additional set of resources), interest in a child's WeDo set may persist for a long time. In the end, you can donate it to an educational institution as a training tool and go to the more advanced designers of LEGO NXT / EV3 and then to Arduino and microcontrollers .

It is nice that the WeDo series is not limited to only focusing on mechanics and programming. Thus, the basic set of “My first story” Lego StoryTales (45005) is designed for younger children (3-4 years old) and helps develop language skills. How? The game scenario offers the child and the parent to act as a narrator of a fairy tale or story, and the details themselves act as the main characters, actors and inventory. Of course, this set is suitable for adults (for example, for free creativity or for the decoration of a children's room).



It's nice that LEGO took care of the software for such sets - with the help of the StoryVisualizer program you can create graphic comics stories by combining the elements of the set with the image on the screen. Sheets with graphic design are also included - you can draw them with your child or use the tablet as a “decoration” for stories. Also included are cards with ideas and tips for parents or teachers. The elements of the constructor themselves are larger here (for safety), and there are 106 of them.

Summing up the acquaintance with a series of modern educational designers LEGO WeDo, I can not fail to note how complex the LEGO company approaches to the Education series are detailed methodological literature and compatible programs for PC and mobile devices that can give any geek to a child not only pleasure from games, but also useful knowledge and skills.

It's nice that the instructions are also available in Russian, and the childless "languageless" graphical interface contains almost no inscriptions, even the video instructions are based on the principle of "see and do like me." At first glance, the interface itself is not very intuitive, but the process of researching the fundamentals of programming robots by a child can pacify any geek - for this LEGO would like to say a sincere “thank you”!

All Geektimes readers can take advantage of a 40% discount on 5 Lego Education sets by promotional code legoedu40

And among those who left their contacts on the stock page, we will play a ready set of Pervorobot with an additional resource set .
And this is at least 2-3 months of exciting classes in the evenings!

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