“The use of games and IT-tools in education is often a challenge – will the students learn anything? Is it just for fun?
The days at VUC in Næstved showed that games and digital tools are useful for collaboration, both regarding communication but also in order to guide and help each other through an assignment, and most important of all, it raises the motivation.
We tried out different kind of games and digital tools. I noticed especially Lego WeDo. Lego WeDo is a computer programming tool, which gives students the possibility to construct a robot. Through the computer you can program different kinds of robot models with different movements and sounds.
We were divided into small groups of four or five. We had to install an app or download the program to our PC. We started immediately to explore and examine, we looked at the other groups and noticed how quick they built robots, with funny noises and movements. We experienced that the assignment made us capable of problem solving, communicate and collaborate in a second language.
This experience has given me the eager to try Lego WeDo with my students, especially my DSA-students (Danish as a second language). My students’ biggest challenge is to communicate in Danish. I think Lego WeDo can motivate the students to collaborate and communicate in their second language. You can also use Lego WeDo at semester start, where the students can get to know each other and learn to collaborate with students they don’t know yet.”
