LEGO Robotics Workshop

I recently attended a Robotics Workshop put on by Maine Robotics. The course was paid for via some grants that Maine Robotics has secured, so there were no entry fees. Maine Robotics is a non-profit organization run by Tom Bickford that helps promotes robotics in the state of Maine. They coordinate and run the FLL Competitions (in December for us here in Maine).

The workshop was pretty good. It gave some examples of the differences between the RCX and the NXT. Tom also gave an overview of the Robolab software (for the RCX) and the NXT-G language. Seeing 20 or so RCX kits, and 10 NXT kits (plus all the related parts) sitting on one table was a sight to behold. It was like… nirvana… But hey, I digress.

One of my favorite parts, was the overview of the Power Puzzle challenge. I am not coaching a competing team this year, so this was the first time I got to see the playing field up close. After seeing the challenges, and discussing them with a bunch of adults, all I can say is "WOW". I think this is going to be a good challenge this year. Lots of options for points, and many ways to approach and complete the challenges.

I came away from the workshop feeling that there were not a lot of curriculum choices out there for teachers. I know there are a couple of courses, but many of them are expensive, and almost all are geared towards the RCX. Some of the teachers were choosing the RCX as the basis for their course, simply because they can find curriculum easier.

If you're a teacher, what are you using for curriculum?

What would you like to see for curriculum?