Science and Technology

Lego Education is on the rise to takeover classrooms. It's a great way to get students engaged in a lesson and interested in STEM Education. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math and has gotten lots of attention in school looking to build on the curriculum of the students.

According to The Center for Engineering Education Outreach or CEEO, at Tufts University, they stumbled upon the Control Lab Interface that connects to the computer through a serial port and controls LEGO motors and lights and reads from LEGO sensors. The program was created for all aged students.  "Kindergartners have used LabVIEW and the LEGO bricks to build their own town and automated a bus stop at each house" (Erwin 2000). "College juniors learned about statistical analysis, sampling theory, and report writing whiling enjoying the versatility the LEGO bricks have to offer" (Erwin 2000). But how does one exactly create a program that can be easy for 5 year olds to use while still being able to entertain 20 year olds? "The ultimate goal was to develop software that has a low entry level and high ceiling without either extreme feeling overwhelmed" (Erwin 2000). The program is set up in levels so that you can grow with the program. "The computer becomes another tool rather than the central focus of the project. the software and the hardware have a very low entry level but very high ceiling" (Greene 2013). The next big software tool is LEGO MINDSTORMS. "The true power of LEGO MINDSTORMS and the LabVIEW programming environment is not simply to enhance the pre-existing curriculum, but actually to transform the learning environment into one of an inventor's workshop or engineering design firm" (Green 2013).