Blog Post #6 LEGO Mindstorm/LEGO STEAM & Coding

 Welcome to Blog Post #6 where I will discuss LEGO Mindstorm and All Things LEGO/STEAM/Coding

LEGO Mindstorm

Image Description: 5 black phones, each showing pictures of the LEGO Mindstorm app.

My seven-year-old son is very interested in LEGOS, so this technology hardware immediately caught my eye when I saw it listed on Mx. Dreeszen Bowman's list of tech options. My son has been creating LEGO sets for years, but we have never thought about incorporating technology and coding with LEGOs. This takes LEGO building to a new extreme! 

LEGO Mindstorms are programmable toys with many functions. This technology is geared towards children ages 6-9, as well as young adults. Children will learn the basics of coding languages as they work to put together the robots, program them to dance, fight and even play sports. Once you download the Scratch-based LEGO MINDSTORMS app, you will be able to interact with the toys, to create models of your own and share them online on LEGO Life. This is a great way for LEGO lovers to get a better idea of how technology and coding work together. 

Here's what you can find inside the sets:

• Hub and Battery: Rechargeable Hub that comes with LED display, speaker, and 6 input/output ports
• Distance Sensor: It's LED eyes and ultrasound can detect objects at an accuracy of +/1cm
• Motors: Sleek enough to fit in the smallest robot, powerful enough to move the biggest
• Color Sensor: Robots can now distinguish between 8 colors and different shades of background light

Check here to make sure your device will work with the LEGO Mindstorm app- there's a good chance it will!

Please watch my video here highlighting LEGO Mindstorm and other LEGO Coding Sets: https://app.vidcast.io/share/embed/4b0f3a13-f9b3-44a7-9c21-46e0e47589b3 

Image Description: Three boys working together on a LEGO coding activity.

How Lego is Creating the Next Generation of Engineers: This article in the Smithsonian Magazine highlights the ways that LEGOS can make children excited about the concept of engineering. 

Coding Activities for Kids: Check out these free and fun challenges to test out the capabilities of LEGO Mindstorms.

Many teacher Resources can be found here for LEGO products.

LEGO Mindstorm Robots can even be bought on Amazon

LEGO Mindstorm Customer Service Help can be found here 

The Downside

Unfortunately, nearing the end of my research on this product, I did find that many of the LEGO Mindstorm sets have been discontinued, or will be by the end of 2024. Although I did find a few videos on YouTube stating that these products would be discontinued, nowhere on the LEGO website does it say that the products are no longer being used; however, I did notice that many are "Retired." Amazon still has these sets in stock. 

This blog post highlights why these sets may be discontinued, with price weighing in as a major factor. I was happy to find out that it does seem as if LEGO believes in building and coding, and will continue to create engaging sets for children. 

Something to Look Forward to

After learning that LEGO Mindstorm sets will soon all be discontinued, I went on the search for additional LEGO-made products for coding. LEGO has created LEGO robot sets. LEGO Education SPIKE Essential STEAM curriculum units for elementary are designed around playful narrative-based problem-solving with creative themes. Check out this engaging ferris wheel-themed lesson plan. Be sure and visit lego.com for more great coding ideas! 

References

Huw. (October 26, 2022). LEGO Mindstorms to be discontinued. Brickset. https://brickset.com/article/84219/lego-mindstorms-to-be-discontinued  

Lidz, F. (May 2013). How lego is constructing the next generation of engineers. Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-lego-is-constructing-the-next-generation-of-engineers-37671528/#:~:text=With%20bricks%2C%20action%20and%20hues,loading%20constraints%2C%20building%20to%20scale 

The LEGO Group. 2024. https://www.lego.com/en-us

Blog Post #5 Cyber Bullying

 

Image Description: A black square with the word STOP in red with a mouse cursor inside of the letter O. 

Underneath the word STOP, cyber bullying is typed in black inside of a white speech bubble. 

Cyber Bullying

This week's readings and videos challenged me to think about how cyber bullying is impacting K-12 students, students and faculty at the university level, and those in the workplace. The article, From the Sandbox to the Inbox: Comparing the Acts, Impacts, and Solutions of Bullying in K-12, Higher Education, and the Workplace, identifies the similarities and differences between cyber bullying at the different institutions, as well as solutions that can be created to move away from impacts of cyber bullying. Bullying and cyber bullying affect people from different racial/ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, as well as those with differing levels of academic success. 

Impacts of Cyber Bullying

Impacts of Cyber bullying at the K-12 level include depression, poor self-esteem, concentration problems, anxiety, stress, academic problems, school avoidance, suicidal ideation, and psychosomatic problems. At the university level, students and faculty reported their ability to do work was impacted, loss of confidence and concentration, relationships were affected, physical safety and emotional security were threatened, as well as mental and physical health issues. In the workplace field, there were similar impacts reported that included absenteeism, stress, lower job satisfaction, mental and physical health impacts, avoidance, and turnover. 

Addressing Cyberbullying

Through this study of cyberbullying at different levels, several solutions were brought to my attention. Overall, awareness remains key. Understanding the problem and fully working towards a solution are important, as well as, modeling appropriate behavior, increasing self-esteem, and educating others on digital medial literacy and digital citizenship. At the university level, counseling and support for victims of strong anti-bullying policies, better reporting mechanisms, and the need for a respectful campus culture are solutions. Although all three institutions had similar recommendations, awareness and education about the issues of cyber bullying and harassment along with their impacts and how to address them are at the fore front of minimizing cyberbullying. A clear policy supported by training and resources to implement, and attention to individual organization and behavior are also solutions to work towards minimizing cyber bullying. 

Surprising Information Regarding Cyberbullying

I was surprised to find out that female students appear to be more likely to be the ones engaging in cyber bullying in K-12 classrooms; however, at the secondary level males were more involved as perpetrators and females as the targets. I was also saddened to find out that many targets choose to suffer in silence, resulting in many cyber bullying cases not getting reported. Under reporting was a common theme between all three institutions. I was surprised this week to think about how the U.S. compares to other countries with cyber bullying. One study compared Scandinavian countries to the U.S. and found far lower rates in these countries, due to cultural differences. This led me to think about changes in our culture that could be made to help with cyber bullying and other issues. 

Cyber Bullying Videos

While I enjoyed watching many of the videos from the Cyberbullying Research Center https://cyberbullying.org/videos, I loved the video featuring the high school student who worked to promote positivity by hanging out Smile Cards. What a simple gesture that helps create positive school culture! The video featuring kids as they talk about digital citizenship was also a favorite. Kids love hearing from other kids!

Richard Byrne's, The Seven Deadliest Digital Sins, is a story that contains chapters that includes videos, essays, and polls. Throughout these chapters, listeners hear from people who suffer from digital sins, like cyber bullying. Learn more by exploring here: The Seven Deadliest Digital Sins

Next Steps as an Educator and a Mom

After learning more about the world of cyber bullying and its devastating effects this week, I want to play my part as an educator and mother to prevent cyber bullying as much as I can. I want to work to be a role model as children learn to navigate the digital world. Educating children on digital citizenship is a way that I can be proactive. I would also like to make sure that parents and caregivers are in tune to the impacts of cyberbullying and I will offer ways that they can help. For example, I will encourage them to look out for signs of cyber bullying and if cyber bullying does occur I will suggest ways that they can help. This is a great link to help guide parents and caregivers (What Parents Need to Know). 

Resources

https://cyberbullying.org/ : This website is a wonderful site that is full of resources for parents, youth, and educators. Resources includes blogs, research, cyber bullying statistics, social media apps, books, and presentations. 

Prevent Cyberbullying : This article shares ways that parents and caregivers can identify, address and prevent cyberbullying. 

Susannah Townsend's Ted Talk : Townsend's talk shares how to save a life from your computer.

References

Byrne, R. (2014, August 5). Seven digital deadly sins- Good material for conversations on digital citizenship. TeacherMade. https://freetech4teach.teachermade.com/2014/08/seven-digital-deadly-sins-good-material/

Cyberbullying Research Center. 2024. https://cyberbullying.org

Faucher, C., Cassidy, W., & Jackson, M. (2015). From the sandbox to the inbox: Comparing the acts, impacts, and solutions of bullying in k-12, higher education, and the workplace. Journal Of Education And Training Studies, 3(6), 111-125.

Nemours Kids Health. 2024. Cyberbullying. The Nemours Foundation. https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/cyberbullying.html 

stopbullying.gov 2024. Prevent Cyberbullying. https://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/prevention 

Townsend, S. (2014, Jan. 22). Cyberbullying- save a life from your computer: Susannah Townsend at EDxRillitoRiver. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGvDJX5vKE0 

Blog Post #4 Digital Resources for Accessibility

 This week I had the opportunity to learn and think more about selecting assistive technology to support students' differences and abilities. Dr. Clayton Copeland's article, School Librarians of the 21st Century, encouraged me to think about how all students have special needs and abilities of their own, and we must see them for who they are and aid them with their abilities. As a future teacher librarian, I want all of my students to "have the best day ever" when visiting the library. Ensuring that I am thinking about ways to meet all learners' needs and abilities will be important. Copeland's article highlights helpful hints for selecting and evaluating assistive technologies. A few hints include: what are the concerns for students who are differently able in terms of being able to complete the lesson? how are the students going to be able to share the available hardware and software? will the technology allow or enable the students who are differently able to participate in the lesson and/or related group work? who is going to assist the students with accessing the technology? what level of assistance do we expect to be required for typically able students? differently able students?

When thinking about an online, digital (web 2.0 acceptable) tool as an adaptive resource, I thought about Book Creator. According to the American Association of School Librarians, Book Creator was acknowledged as one of the best digital tools for teaching and learning of 2024. AASL's Digital Tools are recognized for fostering qualities of innovation/creativity, active participation, collaboration, user-friendly, encourages exploration, and information/reference. 

What is Book Creator?

Book Creator is a digital tool that enables students to create and read multimodal digital books. It is a great tool for enhancing student engagement through story creation and multimedia design. Students can make books by generating their own content or curating resources from the internet. Book Creator can also be used in project based learning activities, as it allows real-time collaboration for multiple students to create one book. Book Creator is known as the simplest, most inclusive way to create content in the classroom. The mission of Book Creator is to empower students of all ages and abilities to actively engage in the joy of learning (https://edtechbooks.org/onlinetools/book-creator). 

Locate the Book Creator tool at https://bookcreator.com/ to learn more and create a free account. 

Equity

Book creator is designed to be used by everyone. Book Creator offers hundreds of accessibility features built in to make a more inclusive classroom environment.

Versatility

Book Creator can be used in every subject and every grade level across the curriculum. It can be used for research projects, digital portfolios, literacy journals or any type of book of choice,

Engagement

Students will be engaged and motivated, as they develop future-ready skills like collaboration and communication. 

Simplicity

Book Creator is an easy tool for students and teachers to quickly learn.

Why Use Book Creator? Please check out this video that shows a sample book created by Book Creator.

Click the video below to see why Book Creator works in the classroom.

Features

Book Creator Features

Image Description: A picture of fonts to choose from (the letter A italicized), a picture showing images with a camera, image of a G for Google, and a picture of a sun on the horizon, a picture of a a square with a play button inside, music notes, a speech bubble with dots used to show video, music or voice recording, an image of a pen used to draw or annotate, a picture of a smiley face, an arrow, and a speech bubble with the word Ideas to demonstrate using shapes, icons, arrows and emojis to express ideas, and a piece of paper divide in half at the top with the full bottom portion and an open book to demonstrate portrait, square, or landscape book layouts.

A Couple of My Favorite Features

Reading Settings

AutoDraw Feature

Book Creator has teamed up with the Google AI team to fully integrate the amazing AutoDraw . 

Accessibility Features

Accessibility Improvements Added to Book Creator

Book Creator has many of the positive characteristics that I learned about this week for accessibility materials. Book Creator offers a range of tools to customize and present curriculum content to support learners. The multimodal tools allow for personalizing the user experience while minimizing barriers and maximizing access to both information and learning. The Book Creator tools offer teachers a variety of ways to present content. Book Creator offers differing ways for students to demonstrate their learning through multimedia presentations, video reflections, written responses, concept map using shapes, and comic layouts as digital posters. Teachers can present content through images, video, symbols, text, drawings, and audio. Content can vary from page to page to keep students engaged, motivated, and on task. A few of Book Creator's accessibility features that were learned about in this week's readings include speech-to-text, captions in videos, audio transcripts, full navigation of keyboard, improved color contrast, and screen reader support.

Please click on the links below to further learn how Book Creator can be used as an assistive and accessibility device.

Web 2.0 Tool Accessibility Report Version 2.0

Using Book Creator for Differentiated Learning

5 easy accessibility tips for Book Creator authors

Resources for Teachers and Librarians

Educational Resources

Pre-K/Kindergarten

Elementary

Middle School

High School

Browse Sample Books

Book Creator Blog

References

American Association of School Libraries (2024). Best Digital Tools for Teaching & Learning. https://www.ala.org/aasl/awards/best

Book Creator. (2024, June 27). Book creator - love learning. https://bookcreator.com/

Copeland, C.A. (2011). School librarians of the 21st century. Knowledge Quest, 39(3), 64-69.