Students put creative ideas into action at Lego® Education Innovation Studio

Twenty-four students from schools on Dublin’s northside took part in the first ever “Entrepreneurship and Robotics” summer-camp organised by Dublin City University Institute of Education, DCU Ryan Academy and DCU Access Programme.

The five-day event took place at the Lego® Education Innovation Studio (LEIS) DCU St Patrick’s Campus, Drumcondra from June 12th to 16th.

The twelve participating DEIS schools were Cabra Community School, Chanel School, Beneavin De La Salle College, Donahies Community School, Grange Community College, Mercy College Coolock, Rosmini Community School, St Finian’s Community College, St Mary’s Holy Faith, St Michael’s, St Vincent’s and Trinity Comprehensive.

The camp focussed on three themes; Developing Creative Confidence; Understanding Entrepreneurial Thinking and Empowering Leadership Skills.

Students took part in entrepreneurship classes in the morning and each afternoon built prototypes of their business ideas with robotics lego.

Classes were delivered in the form of traditional lectures using teaching materials and also included discussion groups and opportunities for students to network and share ideas.

On the final day of the series, students presented a portfolio of their work as well as a business plan and a robotics prototype to a judging panel.

Professor Deirdre Butler of the Lego® Education Innovation Studio (LEIS) said: 

“The summer camp at the Lego® Education Innovation Studio demonstrates how an innovative and exciting learning environment can be created for young people by the synergies created when different members of DCU’s wider family come together (Institute of Education, Ryan Academy & Access Programme).

The young people we worked with impressed us immensely with how they developed and demonstrated critical thinking, creativity and communication skills, as they harnessed robotic materials and design thinking to develop solutions to a series of real-world problems.”

Niamh Collins, Chief Operations Officer, DCU Ryan Academy said:

“This week has proven to us that educating Ireland’s teenagers on the basics of entrepreneurship and innovation can open up a whole new level of skills and ambition for young people.

The summer camp has given them a new way of thinking to enhance their creative side.

The camp has been a fun environment for them to work in as individuals and in teams, learn new skills and most importantly it has increased their confidence.”