Design with David Aquilar
During the development of LEGO Education SPIKE Prime, I invite David Aguilar (aka #HandSolo) to participate in an ideation session. His story (he has built a prosthetic arm out of LEGO, how cool is that!) has inspired me as it is a combination of hope, ingeniosity, and resilience.
During that session, David has inspired the team to move the lesson toward designing for someone, as designing a prosthetic will always lead to unique criteria for each person.
I have always been inspired but true stories, and something that is real for real. This story is one if not my favorite lesson of all time.
The Frog Metamorphosis
The Frog Metamorphosis is the first activity I have put together when joining LEGO Education. It has been used to test the concept of Wedo 2.0 and it was one of the most iconic lessons of the project.
The lesson engages students in the phenomenon of metamorphosis. That process is unique and mystic for kids. They like it so much!
The lesson is also a good example of how we can use models to describe characteristics of a phenomenon, and how we can use the bricks to build and rebuild things of the same model.
Broken
Who doesn’t have a printer at home that doesn’t work! And who didn’t try to fit it, with mitigated success!
Here is a lesson where we have students build a model that just doesn’t work. Yes, yes! You read it correctly. We provided intentionally building instructions of a model so it does not work.
Kids have to analyze and create solutions for the model.
So engaging!
Time for Squat Jump
This one is half personal, half related to 14 years old teenagers.
During the ideation session, we have explored what do 14 years old teenagers are interested in. One of the themes was health, appearance, or just sports in general.
At the same time, I had started a training program at my local gym, and one of my favorite new activity involves kettlebells.
This was also a really good example of how I wanted the play experience to be: in the hand of the user.
Other inspirations
Cleaning the Oceans
Predator and Prey
Moving Materials
Robust Structures
Watch your Steps
Veggie Love
If you read only this
When connecting kids to a real-world situation, we leverage one of the best ways to create engagement and relevance. It gives a strong purpose to the task of the game they are about to play.
As motivation and engagement is a known and documented driver for increasing learning, linking any activities I have been conceptualizing has been a core element of my design process.
