As I’ve mentioned in a few posts on here I hosted a seminar on 9th January called “Controlling the Flow of ICT”. This went ahead on Friday as planned and I feel it was a success. My aim was to keep the day as hands-on as possible and keep my delegates interested in the tools I was showing them and I think I achieved this. The morning began with using Scratch to create games which involved delegates working on laptops for the majority of the time, firstly working on small tasks/projects and finishing by creating a working “Shark Attack” game. All delegates were extremely focussed on what they were doing and really enjoyed the experience and achieved some great results. I facilitated the session by assisting where needed and demonstrating how to complete the extension tasks.
In the afternoon the delegates were given another hands-on experience by using Lego Mindstorms to adapt existing robots with sensors, then program them by working through tutorials on the laptops. One problem occurred at the start of this session in that the user accounts that had been set up for the guests were not displaying the software in the Start Menu meaning nobody could load the Mindstorms software. This was quickly rectified by the school support team so luckily did not waste too much time. Another issue was that two of the robots would not switch on, despite having been charged the previous day, luckily this did not pose too much of a problem as having the delegates working in slightly larger groups seemed to work well.
After working through the tutorials built into the Mindstorms software the delegates then worked together on a challenge I had set them, only one group managed to program their robot correctly so they could complete the challenge but the others seemed to have fun trying and were not too far off! In hindsight I believe the challenge I set was perhaps a little too difficult and I should have created an example project to demonstrate at the end, in future demonstrations I would ensure I did this beforehand.
The delegates had lots to take home with them at the end of the day. I provided customised mugs, filled with sweets and a memory stick containing resources, as well as delegate folders containing all the paperwork they needed for the day. I also provided a certificate for delegates to use as CPD evidence.
If anybody is interested in learning more about Scratch or Lego Mindstorms please contact me and I’ll do my best to support or help in any way I can. I will soon be uploading my Scratch gaming scheme of work to my website www.interactiveclassroom.net so please check there shortly.
Hi Nicki
Yes very interested in doing some lego mindstorms – getting access the equipment seems to be the first pit fall – going to try and get STEM funding for some
Any help on getting the equipment would be gratefully received.
Do you do days out when you come into school and demonstrate using Lego mindstorms – or know contacts that might be willing?
Thank you
David
Head IT Buckingham School
This is quite an old post now. I’ve moved away from the Mindstorms over the last couple of years really and passed them onto a colleague. I used to use them in a club environment with a small number of children although I did find them a little temperamental when it comes to connectivity!