Call for Innovative Educators

Call for Innovative Educators

LEGOengineering.com is due for a makeover and we need your help. We’re looking for innovative educators with a passion for LEGO robotics to be part of a group that will come up with new ideas to help and inspire other teachers and students.

The purposes of the group are...

to share ideas and resources
to be inspirational
to contribute resources to LEGOengineering.com
to have fun!

Consistent with the aims of LEGOengineering.com, group members will be educators committed to using LEGO MINDSTORMS hardware and software in their classroom to engage students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).

Members of the group will participate in discussions, trial new materials (e.g. curriculum, teaching strategies, hardware, software), and create content for LEGOengineering.com.

Between 20 and 30 educators will be selected from the USA, Australia, and other countries, and from a range of experiences and from all levels of education. We are looking not only for classroom teachers, but also for other educators such as after-school program coordinators and robotics team mentors. Participation in the group is for 2013.

The group will be an online community, with face-to-face meetings where possible (e.g. LEGO Engineering Conferences and other professional development workshops). In addition to a discussion forum, a planned private section of LEGOengineering.com will include a space where group members can share and collaborate on resources in preparation for publishling on LEGOengineering.com.

Just one problem... We don’t know what to call ourselves! “LEGO Engineering Developers” sounds too technical. “Ed Squad” is perhaps too informal. “LEGO Engineering Innovative Educators” is too long and has a terrible acronym! If you’ve got a good idea, please let us know!

The group (whatever we end up calling it!) is funded by the Tufts University Center for Engineering Education and Outreach (CEEO) and LEGO Education Australia.

To express your interest in joining the group, please complete the online registration here.

Further information is available from group coordinator, Rob Torok ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3

Last week, the LEGO group created quite a buzz with the announcement of the next version of the LEGO MINDSTORMS robotics platform, EV3.

"LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 is the result of three years of product development by an international team of LEGO designers, MINDSTORMS user-enthusiasts and leading technology experts. LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 will be available in the second half of 2013."

As with the previous releases of MINDSTORMS, EV3 will be available as a retail version and an education version. Details about the Education platform are available here...

The robotics outreach program, Roberta, have published a summary of the differences between EV3 and the NXT.

Walking Robots

Walking Robots!

This summer, high school intern Geoffrey Ramseyer explored new ways to make LEGO robots move without wheels. Check out the videos below to see these robots walk, hop, and scoot around!

Musical Instruments

Musical Instruments with the NXT

What do LEGO, air guitars, and iPads have in common? Music! In this article, we talk about how you can make your own digital musical instruments with the LEGO NXT.

The Idea

You can design and build your own musical instrument with the NXT where the sensors act as the note control inputs - just like the keys on a piano or the strings on a guitar. By "playing" the sensors on your instrument, you can cause the NXT to interpret the input values as specific musical notes. These digital notes are sent out of the NXT in a special language, the MIDI protocol, designed specifically for electronic musical instruments. Speaking the standard digital music protocol means all you have to do is plug your NXT into a MIDI compatible synthesizer, such as the iPad, and voila! Instant digital music!

Tufts University Elementary STEM Education M.A.T. program

Tufts University's Department of Education is excited to announce their new Elementary STEM Education M.A.T. program which is now enrolling for Fall 2012. This innovative program will award a Masters of Arts in Teaching in Elementary Education (grade 1-6) with a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Focus, preparing the next generation of elementary school teachers to engage in powerful STEM teaching and learning.

The new program compliments the existing M.A.T in Science and Engineering programs at Tufts which focus on grade 6-12. More information on both programs is available at Tufts Department of Education web site.

Elementary STEM Education M.A.T. program (grades 1-6) - http://ase.tufts.edu/education/programs/teacherPrep/MATelementarySTEM.asp

Engineering Education M.A.T program (grades 6-12) - http://ase.tufts.edu/education/programs/teacherPrep/MATengineering.asp

Science & Mathematics M.A.T program (grades 6-12) - http://ase.tufts.edu/education/programs/teacherPrep/MATmiddleHigh.asp

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