Lego new toy robot teaches kids coding and engineering
??Din Jomadar
(LLM) Master of Laws AI & Cyberlaw Senior Talent Partner at IBM for Intel
Lego Mindstorms robots have done wonders getting kids interested in science and programming. Now Lego Education is launching a new robot learning system, dubbed WeDo 2.0, to help teach kids about engineering, technology, and coding.
The Lego Education WeDo 2.0 system is a combination of hardware and software that gives elementary school children more than 40 hours of hands-on projects.
The robot itself is a wireless, tablet-ready system that is designed for a younger crowd. The company’s Lego Mindstorms robots are targeted at middle school and high school students, who use them to build robots that can complete tasks and win competitions.
The platform includes a Bluetooth low-energy Smarthub element; an electronic building brick that is part of the LEGO Power Functions (LPF), a new technology platform for LEGO Education; and one motor, one tilt, and one motion sensor. It also includes the WeDo 2.0 Core software, which lets kids program through a drag-and-drop graphical user interface.
The lessons correlate to educational standards in physical sciences, life sciences, earth and space sciences, and engineering. The lessons are designed to motivate students (in second through fourth grades) to solve real-world science problems.