LEGOⓇ Boost: How Brick Scholars Can Help With Coding The LEGO® company has recently released information about an exciting new product: LEGO® Boost. It made its debut last week at the CES Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. This set, which will be coming out around August 2017, will be $160 and includes everything needed to make five different programmable robots: a robot, a cat, a builder, a multi-purpose vehicle, and a guitar. When paired with an app that will be available for iOS and Android, children aged 7 and up will be able to use pre-written code blocks on the app to have the robot perform behaviors and have personality. The bricks will also be interchangeable with any other bricks and sets so that users can personalize the robots even further. This set will enable kids to learn the basics of programming. LEGO® envisions it as a stepping stone for the more advanced LEGO® MINDSTORMS® programming sets. For users who are more advanced, there will be a way to go further into the pre-written code blocks and tweak them. With the basic setup that is in the app, children will understand how a series of codes put together leads to different outcomes, particularly once they work with each of the different robots and learn how to program different behaviors and create personalities for each one. Being exposed to coding and programming at a young age will help children in their futures; many jobs now require a level of experience and comfort with these skills and not just in technology-oriented industries. Health care, manufacturing, and finance are other industries that now want to see coding skills in their workers. For today’s children, these are vital skills to learn and become engaged with early in life to be prepared for the future. There are not many places where elementary- and middle-school aged children can learn coding. Studies predict that by 2020, the world will be in need of 1 billion more coders than it is predicted to have. Coding is a new form of literacy that today’s kids need to know and be able to do in order to be successful in tomorrow’s workplace. Brick Scholars offers enrichment classes, in-school field trips, workshops, residencies and professional development in Robotics and Coding for a variety of age groups. With LEGOⓇ Boost, we will be able to offer even more to help jump-start an interest in coding and programming. Currently, we offer programs using WeDo™ 2.0, featuring coding blocks that are similar to what LEGOⓇ Boost will use. During February of this year, we will have, for grades 1-5, classes from 5:30-7:00 PM at Education Exchange on the 3rd, 10th, 17th, and 24th. We also use NXT MINDSTORMSⓇ in other classes, for grades 4-8, and those will be at Greenfield School on Wednesdays from 3:45-5:15. In addition, we can provide residencies for schools, after-school programs, summer camps, and in-school field trips. If you are interested in booking a class featuring robotics and coding, contact Megan Oteri for further information. Written by: Nikki Cox
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April 2017
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