A System for Learning

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Our Manifesto

LEGO® Education

LEGO System for Learning

The Digital and Creative Era

Delivering Learning Experiences

For the Sciences and the Arts

LEGO Education in Practice

Conclusion

Bibliography

ContentsContentsContents

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We believe children must be supported to be:

•SystematicallyCreativeLearners•ActiveLearners•CollaborativeLearners

ChildrenbecomeSystematicallyCreativeLearnersthrough:• Learningbycombininglogicandreasoningwithplayfulnessand

imagination.• Learningbymasteringatoolandgivingformtothoughts.• Learningbycombining,exploringandtransformingideasandobjects.

ChildrenbecomeActiveLearnersthrough:• Learningbyconstructingthingsintherealworld,andinthisway

constructingknowledgeintheirminds.• Makingtheirmarkandexpressingtheiroriginalityinthelearning

environment.• Feelingownershipandtakingcharge,beingproactiveandinternally

driven.

ChildrenbecomeCollaborativeLearnersthrough:• Learningfrominterpretedexperiencesandexplanationsofother

people,includingpeersandexperts.• Learning through reflecting upon an experience, discussing why

andhowthingsworkedintheaccomplishmentofagoal.• Helpingeachothertolearn,eachaccordingtotheirability,through

thesharedlanguageofLEGO®bricks.

Our Manifesto

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LEGO® EducationLearningisattheverycoreoftheLEGOGroup’smostheartfeltvalues,and thecompany’s education division has invested manyyears incooperation and research with child development specialists andteachingprofessionalstobuildarichunderstandingofwhatittakestoprovidetrulyeffectivelearningexperiences.

While teaching to curriculum subjects and assessment throughexamscoresmaycontinuetodominatepoliticalagendas,researchintoeffectivelearningtechniquesandagrowingunderstandingoftheneedsof21stcenturylearnersshowthatindividualsbenefitmorebyapplyingknowledgeasameanstoexpandtheirunderstandingthan they do by simply acquiring knowledge in order to passexaminations.

Thefocusofeducationandtheroleofeducatorsarechanging.Twenty-firstcenturylearningisaboutprovidingchildrenwithopportunitiestoexperimentwiththeirsurroundingsasaformofproblemsolving.Itisaboutcreativityandcollaboration,motivationandself-direction.Itisaboutimprovisationanddiscovery,andinteractingwithmeaningfultoolsthatexpandmentalcapacities.

New technology; computers, digital information and onlinecommunication,arehelpingtoexpandthewayweacquireanduseknowledge,andthistooispavingthewayformoredynamicandeffectiveteachingandlearningexperiences.

LEGO®Educationhasbeencreatingsolutionsforkindergartensandclassroomsfor30years.TheskillsandtechniquesthattheLEGOSystemforLearningembodiesmeetmanyoftheneedsof21stcenturylearners.

LEGOEducationsolutionsenablestudentstobeactive,creativeandcollaborative solution-seekers. In this way their instinct to learn isstimulated, and they are motivated to apply their learning in newcontexts,whichmeansthattheyembarkonaself-directedlearningprocess.

LEGOstudentsuseLEGObricksanddigitaltoolstosolveproblemscreativelyandtoexcelatworkingwithothersandthinkingcritically.Byworkinginthisway,theydeveloptheirunderstandingandabilityto retain knowledge of keycurriculum concepts, and therefore dowellinschoolandonhigh-stakestests.

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LEGO® System for Learning

Systems are essential for learning because they are used by themind to generate meaning from the endless onslaught of stimulifromtheoutsideworld.Theyhelpustomakesenseofthingsandtobuildknowledgeandunderstanding.

Throughsystemswealsochannelcreativityintoideasorartefactsinawaythatcanbeunderstoodandvaluedbyourselvesandothers.Theyhelpustoexpressourselves.

Systemsthatallowustobuildknowledgeandunderstanding,aswell asexpressit,arecrucialforlearning.WecallthisSystematicCreativity: the abilityto think creativelyand reason systematically. It is aboutmaking sense of, and leveraging, human experience. It is markedbyastrongpushtoputimaginationandcreativityattheserviceofknowledgeandreasoning.

TheLEGO®Systemforlearningisuniquebecauseitprovidesendlessopportunitiestomakesenseofthingsandexpressnewideas.

Hands-onlearningThe effectiveness of hands-on learning, for example throughconstruction,hasbeenwelldocumentedformanyyears.Todayneuroscienceisabletodocumentevenmorepreciselyhowphysicalandactiveinvolvementinexperiencesstimulatesthebrainandimprovesthequalityoflearning.

Thereisagrowingrecognitionthatpeopleprimarilythinkandlearnthroughexperiencestheyhavehad,ratherthanthroughabstractcalculationsandgeneralisations.Westoreourexperiencesinmemoryandusethemtorunsimulationsinourmindstoprepareforproblem-solvinginnewsituations.Thesesimulationshelpusformhypothesesabouthowtoproceedinthenewsituationbasedonpastexperiences.

Itisdifficulttostoreandreflectuponabstractthoughts,asthebraindoesnothaveamemorableexperiencetoretainandworkwith.

LEGO® System for Learning

And yet a significant proportion of teaching efforts still rely ondeliveringknowledgeinthisdisconnectedway.

WhiletheLEGOSystemforLearningcannotsolveallofthechallengesthat educators face, it is a fact that building representations ofideas,problems,andknowledgewithLEGObricksanddigitaltoolsprovides students with an experience that is concrete and withlearningthatismemorable.

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The Digital and Creative Era

New technologies have brought easy access to knowledge andgreater opportunities for collaboration and creativity. As JamesPaul Gee emphasises in Learning Games, technology easesinformationsharing,co-creationandthecrossingofnewandmoredistantborders,notjustgeographically,butalsobetweenphysicaland digital realms. Digital interfaces give us new ways to expressourselves, new ways to research ideas, new ways to experiment.Theyallowustotakeriskssafely,tomakeandremake,torepurpose,recycleandtradeinwayswecouldbarelyhaveimaginedjustafewdecadesago.

Young people’s combination and recombination of LEGO® bricksandmodels,bothphysicallyanddigitally,nurturesnon-linearformsof learning, where they move between rule acquisition and rulemodification, between the familiar and the foreign. By working inthisway,studentsgainopportunitiesto immediatelyreflectonthechoicestheymake,tointuitivelyorcollaborativelymodifytheirideas,andtocollectivelyachievebetterresultswiththeirclassmates.

These developments and opportunities are changing the wayteachingandchildcareprofessionalsviewtheirroles.Asonenewlyqualifiedteachersaid:“Iwaslookingatallthesetoolsandthinking,‘How can I get good at using them in order to teach?’But then IrealisedthatwhatIneededtodowastogivethemtothechildrenandletthemlearnbyusingthem.”

4C s

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Delivering learning experiences through a framework

LEGO®Educationteachingresourcesembodya‘FourC’frameworkthroughwhichstudentsarefreetoexperimentandexploreinordertogainnewknowledge.

AllLEGOtasksaredesignedtodeliveralearningexperiencethroughthisframework.ThesuccessoftheFourCprocessisalsodependentontheroleofthefacilitatorinenablingstudentstoachieveastateofFlowandtoworkcollaboratively.

FlowToachieveastateofFlow,abalancemustbestruckbetweenthechallenge of the task and the skill of the performer. If the task istooeasy,itleadstoboredom;butifitistoodifficult,itonlycreatesanxiety,andFlowcannotoccur.Aneducator’sgreatestresponsibilityistofacilitatethelearningprocessinawaythatallowschildrentostaywithinsuchabalance.Inthiswaytheircreativityandengagementnaturally flourish and Flow can be experienced. This is true of theentireFourCprocess.

Byprovidingopen-endedtasksandextensionideas,LEGOEducationresourceshelpstudentstoachieveandmaintainastateofFlow.

CollaborationAcknowledging collaboration is about recognising that while welearnonanindividualbasis,weneedothersinordertodevelopandcomplete our learning. Collaboration is about personal leadershipand mastering the dynamics of teamwork. Learning to engageeffectivelyindialoguewithpeers,sharingideas,andbuildingontopofcontributionsbyotherswhilecreditingtheoriginator,areessentialskillstomasterinallthephasesoftheFourCsmodel.

Beingcollaborativeinvolvesbuildingtrustandempathy,andbuildingstrongbondswithotherswhilstremainingtruetoone’sownidentity.Collaboration entails sharing ideas and feelings through dialogue,andlearningtonegotiatedifferences.

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ConnectConnect ConnectLearnersarepresentedwithachallengeortaskthatisopen-endedandthatplacestheminthepositionofsolution-seekers.Theactiveengagementofstudentsalwaystakesitsstartingpointinquestionsaskedbythelearnersthemselves,therebybuildingonthestudents’owninitiativeandinterests.IntheConnectphasethefacilitatorencourageslearnerstoaskquestionsandexploreideasaroundthetaskbeforetheygetstarted.Theircuriosityisawakened,andthetaskiswithintheirreach.Itbuildsonexistingknowledgeandareasofinterest.

ConstructConstructConstructEveryLEGOtaskinvolvesabuildingactivity.Activelearning(orlearningbydoing)involvestwotypesofconstruction:whenchildrenconstructartefactsintheworld,theysimultaneouslyconstructknowledgeintheirminds.Thisnewknowledgethenenablesthemtobuildevenmoresophisticatedartefacts,aprocesswhichyieldsyetmoreknowledge,andsoon,inaself-reinforcingcycle.Toconstructwithotherscollaborativelyextendsthislearningevenfurther.Solutionsthatwecreatetogetheraregenerallybetterthanthoseweareabletocreateasindividuals,duetotheopportunitiesmadeavailablebytheprocess.

ContemplateStudentsaregiventheopportunitytoconsiderwhattheyhavelearnedandtotalkaboutandshareinsights they have gained during the Construct phase. In the Contemplate phase everyone isencouragedtoaskfacilitatingquestionsabouttheprocessandlearningsofar.Facilitatingquestionsaredesignedtohelplearnersgainawarenessoftheprocesstheyareinandexplorenewwaystogoaboutfindingsolutionstothetaskthathasbeenset.

ContemplateContemplate

EveryLEGOtaskendswithanewtaskthatbuildsonwhathasjustbeenlearned.Thisphaseisdesignedtokeepthelearnerin‘astateofFlow’.TheFlowstateisanoptimalstateofintrinsicmotivation,whereapersonisfullyimmersedinwhatheorsheisdoing.

ContinueContinueContinue

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LEGO®Education solutions lend themselves to both thesciencesandthearts.

LEGOroboticsandmechanismssolutionstapintoScience,Technology,EngineeringandMathematics(STEM)subjectsand allowstudents to engagewith these subjectsauthentically.PracticingSTEMintheclassroomcallsforproblem-andproject-basedlessonsaswellasconsiderablesocialinteraction;allowingstudentstorefineoneanother’sideas,toarticulatetheirownandtoachievenewandvaluableinsights.

Other solutions, such as LEGO play themes,LEGOEducationWeDo™andLEGOEducationBuildToExpress are powerful tools whichchildren can use to express emotions andresponses to nature, poetry, literature andconcepts in the humanities such as citizenship.Workingtogethertobuildsharedexpressionsoftheirhopesforsocietyandculturehelpschildrentodevelopconfidenceandself-esteem.

For the Sciences and the Arts

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LEGO® Education in PracticeHerearesomeexamplesofLEGO®resourcesinuseineducationalcontexts:

SecondarymathematicsstudentsareaskedtofindawaytoaccuratelycontrolthespeedatwhichaLEGOrobotmovesbyloggingthedistanceit travels over a period of time at varying speeds. The computersoftwareincludesadataloggingcomponent,sothatwhentherobotmoves, data is gathered and stored in a way that allows students toanalyseandinterpretitlater.Theyarethenabletocalculatepreciselyhowfar,howfastandforhowlongarobotshouldtraveltocarryoutaspecifictask.

PrimaryandmiddleschoolphysicsstudentsbuildLEGOmodelsanduse them to examine techniques such as capturing wind energy fortransport or transforming energy by gearing down and conceptssuch as forces and wind resistance.They practice making accurate predictionsandmeasurements,recordingobservationsandfindings.

A class of 10-year-olds uses the LEGO Education BuildToExpressmethod to talk about caring for the environment.The children buildmodelsthatmetaphoricallyrepresenttheir ideasandunderstanding.Thisisaskilltheyhavebeentrainedinandisadeliberatedeviationfrom the more traditional use of LEGO sets to reconstruct real-worldobjects.Themethodimprovestheirabilitytoreflectontheirthoughtsandparticipateinconstructivedialogue.

Agroupof4-year-oldsuseLEGO®DUPLO®brickstobuildthecaterpillarsShorty and Stretch.They find things in the room that are“longer than”,“shorterthan”and‘exactlythesamelengthas’theircaterpillarfriends.Thentheybuildtheirowncaterpillarsandusethemtoinventcaterpillarstories.

Eachyear,childrenaroundtheworldformteams(representingschools,clubs and families) to build and programme robots to complete aroboticschallengeusingLEGO®MINDSTORMS®sets.Teamscompeteinregional,nationalandinternationalcontests.TheFIRSTLEGOLeaguechallenge includes a research project on a given subject. In 2009teamsresearchedtransportation.Theyidentifiedthesafestandmostefficientwayspossibletoaccesspeople,places,goodsandservices.Team performance is measured on the quality of the research, therobotdesign,theteam’sprogrammingskillsandtheabilityoftheteamto work together.Today the FLL involves more than 150,000 childrenaged9to16worldwide.

InallofthesecontextstheuseofLEGOmaterialsconsistentlyhelpstofostercollaboration,imagination,resourcefulness,andequality.Wheneveryone is building with LEGObricks,theyareonalevelplayingfield,sharingtheirworldviewsinthesameinternationallanguage.

Conclusion

Twenty-first century learning is about providing children withopportunitiestoexperimentwiththeirsurroundingsasaformofproblemsolving;itisaboutimprovisationanddiscovery,constructingdynamicmodelsofrealworldprocessesandinteractingwithmeaningfultoolsthatexpandmentalcapacities.Itisaboutbeingactive,creativeandcollaborative.

Educatorsnolongerneedtobeartheburdenofteachingpredominantlythroughknowledgedissemination,butmustinsteadbecomecreatorsandleadersofeffectivelearningexperiences.

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Conclusion Bibliography

Bruner,Jerome:The culture of education,HarvardUniversityPress,1996

Czikszentmihalyi,Mihalyi:Flow:The psychology of optimal experience,Harper&Row,1991

Drotner,Kirsten:‘Leisureishardwork:Digitalpracticesandfuturecompetencies’, inBuckingham,David(ed.),Buildingthefieldofdigitalmediaandlearning, TheMacArthurFoundationDigitalMediaandLearningInitiative,2008

Duschl,Richard,Schweingruber,Heidi,andShouse,Andrew(eds):Taking science to school.: Learning and teaching science in grades K-8,TheNationalAcademiesPress,2007

Dweck,Carol:Mindset:The new psychology of success,RandomHouse,2006

Edwards,David:Artscience – Creativity in the post-Google generation, HarvardUniversityPress,2008

Forman,G,andFleet,H:Constructive play: Applying Piaget in the preschool, Addison-WesleyPublishingCo.,1984

Gauntlett,David:Creative explorations: New approaches to identities and audiences,Routledge,2007

Gee,JamesPaul:‘LearningandGames’,inSalen,Katie(ed.),The ecology of games: Connecting youth, games and learning,MITPress,2008

Jenkins,Henry:Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21st century,MITPress,2009

OECD:The creative society of the 21st century,2000

Papert,Seymour:Mindstorms: Children, computers, and powerful ideas,BasicBooks,1980

Pink,Daniel:A whole new mind,MarshallCavendish,2008

Rogers,Carl(1967):‘Theinterpersonalrelationshipinthefacilitationoflearning’,inKirschenbaum,H.andHenderson,V.L.(eds),The Carl Rogers Reader,HoughtonMiflin,1989

Vygotskij,LevS:Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes, edsMichaelColeetal.[transl.fromRussian],HarvardUniversityPress,1978

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