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Teachers and Parents: How do You Handle the Technical Challenges of the NXT?

By Rick Rhodes
MSNBC did a review of the NXT this week. You can read it here.

The above-mentioned review is positive and good-natured. However, the reviewer also calls the NXT a "brain-buster" and "too complicated for adults".

In my opinion, Lego has done three things to make the NXT accessible to the "technically-challenged":

1) Lego made the user interface of NXT-G simple enough for even an adult to use. :-)

2) In the NXT retail kit, Lego packs the parts for the TriBot in a separate box with separate instructions. You can literally start building "right out of the box".

3) Lego's web site lists NXT books that include easy-to-follow building and programming instructions. An example is Jim Kelly's "Mindstorms NXT: The Mayan Adventure".

Still, the NXT can hold challenges for beginners. Teachers and parents: Do you have any pointers that would help other teachers and parents begin to master the NXT?

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