21st Century Learning and Teaching

Microsoft has unveiled its latest research project today, Project Zanzibar. It’s a smart mat that’s designed to blend the digital and physical worlds by sensing touch, gestures, and objects. A team of researchers, with a love of toys, created the project at Microsoft’s research labs in the UK. The mat folds and combines sensing, near field communication (NFC), and multi-touch to imagine a future where you could place objects on this smart mat and play games.

Microsoft’s video (above) demonstrates a number of different games that track the position, movement, and orientation of objects — all thanks to NFC stickers. The smart mat, that reminds me of the Surface Music Cover, can even detect inputs like button presses, and works with existing devices via Bluetooth. While the software maker demonstrates basic games for learning, programming, and augmented reality, this looks like the perfect hardware to combine the company’s Minecraft game with real-world Lego blocks. Objects can be easily tagged with NFC stickers, so you could stack them and have the mat translate that physical object into Minecraft.

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https://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?&tag=makered

Bisher waren Legos Roboterbausätze teuer und lockten mit ihrem Ingenieurs-Charme bestenfalls Erstsemester an. Boost soll nun auch die Jüngsten an das Programmieren heranführen.

Lust auf Lego? Das Set 17101 – Code-Name „Boost“ – hat einiges zu bieten. Herzstück ist der Move-Hub – ein per Bluetooth LE ansprechbarer Controller, an den sich bis zu zwei zusätzliche Aktoren/Sensoren anschließen lassen; er wird mit sechs AAA-Batterien bestückt. Zwei Motoren, ein Gyrosensor und eine RGB-LED sind im Move-Hub bereits integriert. Ein weiterer Motor und ein kombinierter Farb-/Entfernungssensor sind im Set enthalten. Der Move-Hub bildet die Basis für fünf spannende Grundmodelle vom klassischen Roboter über eine Technokatze bis zur Legofabrik. Die Modelle lassen sich per App in Bewegung setzen und programmieren.

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https://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?&tag=LEGO

Ein neues Klebeband verspricht eine ebenso einfache wie geniale Idee: Wände, Stühle und Spielzeug lego-kompatibel machen. Die Crowdfunding-Kampagne ist nach einer Woche bereits deutlich überfinanziert.

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http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?&tag=LEGO

Circuit Cubes are magnetic electronic building blocks that teach kids STEM skills and add sound, motion, light, and sensors to LEGO projects.

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http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?tag=Ideas+for+makerspaces

http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?tag=LEGO

https://gustmees.wordpress.com/2014/08/20/maker-space-a-new-trend-in-education-and-a-big-responsibility/

The San Francisco startup today began selling build-a-drone kits for kids age 14 and up comprised of: LEGO bricks, boom arms and motors that don’t require soldering, and other off the shelf and Flybrix-designed parts.

Once assembled, Flybrix drones are lightweight and meant to be flown indoors. They can be operated with a Bluetooth flight control app for iOS or Android smartphones, or a manual flight controller purchased from the company.

Flybrix drones are also, notably, “crash-friendly,” meaning they can be re-assembled time and again as kids experiment with their designs, and learn how to pilot them.

Co-founders of the startup, Amir Hirsch, Robb Walters and Holly Kasun, want to get teens, or younger kids with adult supervision, interested in things like geometry, aerodynamics and electrical engineering.

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http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?tag=LEGO

https://gustmees.wordpress.com/2014/08/20/maker-space-a-new-trend-in-education-and-a-big-responsibility/

Lego train level crossing automated by Arduino. Another lego train crash at the lego train level crossing! It turns out that the guy working there just wants to relax all day long. Only one solution: automating the thing!

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https://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?&tag=ARDUINO

Flybrix's drone kit lets you build and fly a custom drone using LEGO bricks - and it made for one of the best Tinder dates I've ever been on.

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https://gustmees.wordpress.com/?s=maker

https://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?&tag=Ideas+for+makerspaces

https://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?&tag=LEGO

Lego tape is such a great idea, we're amazed it's not an official Lego product already. This product is being funded on Indiegogo.

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http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?&tag=Ideas+for+makerspaces

http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?&tag=LEGO

Lego's new robot building and programming kit could turn anyone into a mad(ly) happy scientist.