LEGO Education encourages students to tackle real-world problems

The blending of real-world problems with LEGO Education products is a way to encourage school children to think about real-world problems, according to a STEM teaching expert.

LEGO Education recently launched SPIKE Prime, a new coding product aimed at children a little too young to be using Mindstorms to coincide with the division’s 40th anniversary. More than ever, the company is keen to highlight how the coding products designed for schools can improve children’s confidence in problem solving and creative thinking.

Aaron Maurer, the STEM lead for the Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency in Iowa, explained to Forbes why LEGO Education products are useful in getting students to look at real world problems and imagine how to solve them:

“Our goal is to equip students with the tools and mindset to be successful when it comes to doing hands on learning and problem solving connected to the education standards and to bring in real world problems that help keeps students engaged. Students and teachers are trying to find ways to create engagement and LEGO Education’s solutions allow this to happen because they are hands on, allow for iteration without consequence, and help create a space where all ideas are welcome.”

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Currently, schools in the district are looking at how to reduce plastics in the ocean. It leads to the students doing research before designing protype machines using LEGO Education tools.

“We have worked hard to make LEGO Education solutions like our newest product, SPIKE Prime, approachable for anyone, no matter what their background is with coding and programming,” Siddharth Muthyala, Senior Concept Lead for LEGO Education told Forbes. “We designed the bricks and elements to be approachable – everything from the size of the bricks to the number of components to the colours we used – it was all thoughtfully designed to inspire kids who aren’t necessarily STEAM enthusiasts to try and test and build their confidence.”

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