Here are some useful links that have information about robotics and various things to do with Lego Mindstorms.
The Official Lego EV3 About Page - A great place to start for basic information about the Lego EV3 program and what the capabilities of the hardware and software are. There are some interesting videos as well as some basic information.
The Lego Education Page - This page focuses on the educational aspect of the Lego EV3 Mindstorms components and gives teachers a number of resources to use. Over the years they have started to make it difficult to find the information and the site seems to have a much more commercial focus now.
Lego Mindstorms: A History of Educational Robots - This is just a very well put together article about the history of Lego's educational robots, starting with the initial ideas in 1984 and coming full circle to the current EV3 Mindstorms version. I've shared this article with parents and co-workers in the past to give them some background for the tools we use in the classroom.
EV3 Lessons - Free Resources - One of my favorite resources for class ideas, the site features new robot designs and a number of programming lessons starting at the beginner level and moving into the much more advanced. I use a lot of the programming lessons and designs on this site with my more advanced students who are looking for extension and challenge in class. This allows me to let students take my robotics course multiple times over their three years at the middle school level.
Carnegie-Mellon University Robotics Academy - This program is where I started when I began the robotics courses six years ago. It gave a great base group of lessons that formed the core of my introductory section for the first few years. I still have some of the basic lessons embedded into my course, with modifications based on our equipment and time availability.
Dr. Graeme - EV3 Tutorials - Another great resource for EV3 lessons with the availability of an eBooks and tutorials. The author of this site also has some great videos posted on Youtube that give step-by-step instructions for a number of really exciting activities.
REC Foundation - Robotics Education - This site has a list of great resources using both the EV3 Mindstorms system and non-Lego options as well. I am beginning to find alternative sources for robotics equipment and lessons to keep my class up to date and this site had some great places to start.
Damien Kee - Lots of Great Information and Links - An absolutely amazing resource, Damien Kee has put together a great website for robotics in education. He has his own materials posted, but also highlights a number of other great websites to check into.
Danny's Lab - Cool Projects/Ideas - Lots of really fun ideas and extension projects posted on this site. You can tell he really enjoys building and programming Lego creations and I point a lot of my students who have EV3 kits at home to this site to give them a resource for fun ideas they can create at home.
There is a lot more out there and these are some of my favorites - I'm always looking for more information, so if you have something to share feel free to comment below.
You have accumulated a lot of great information and links. I know that many teachers in my building are doing Genius Hour projects, and these links could be useful for a student looking to do a robotics project.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny you mention the Genius Hour program. We have at least two eighth grade ELA teachers who incorporated that this year and I had a few students choose a robotics based project. Both came down to my room during lunch for about two months working on examples and picking my brain. It's a fun way to build interest for the students.
DeleteBen...
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with Rachael! This could fit in with Makerspaces also! You have a great history for incorporating these types of learning activities! Additionally, these are great technology integration resources.
Robotics is very engaging especially at the middle school level. It was cool to visit the links you provided to see what each resource has to offer. It is especially helpful that you commented suggetions and experience on some of the links.
Great blog! See you online!
Philomena :)
Thanks! I have many more, but thought I would pull up short or I would keep adding them. We're doing a remodel at my school and my administrator is on board with what I'm doing, which means I may get to convert an old classroom into a semi-makerspace situation. I do all kinds of stuff with engineering (bridge building, coding, games, 3D Printing, etc.) and robotics and it really needs it's own space rather than trying to cram it into my language arts room.
DeleteBen, the inclusion of short annotations is always critical to help the reader understand why you chose to include certain items over others.
ReplyDelete