I'm just starting a 3-week stint as an instructor of Lego robotics in a day camp. The participants in my course are 14 11-12 year olds. All boys (surprise!). I did this last year, and we had a blast. Really, what's better than having ALL DAY to play with robots? Answer: nothing.

While I can't post pictures because of camp guidelines, I hope to post some thoughts over the next 3 weeks. I love robotics because it's such a great combination of fun and learning. It's hands-on, discovery-based, problem-based, experiential, constructivist, and in this session, communal (or social) learning. I start the first day with a brief explanation of the open source philosophy and emphasize that's the way we'll be working. We're not there to hoard knowledge and "beat" others. Giving to the "community" enriches us all. The "Firefox model" has certainly given us a better browser than the "IE model".