1 Apr 2009
LEGO Learning Institute’s 10-year-Anniversary
To celebrate the first 10 years of the LEGO Learning Institute’s existence we’ve interviewed director Cecilia Weckstrom about past and present research projects and what the future might hold for the institute.
Why was the LEGO Learning Institute [LLI] founded?
The LLI was founded in 1999 to share the research the LEGO Group had accumulated over the years about child development, creativity and learning and to make it available internally as well as to the wider LEGO Community. Financially, the LLI is independent of the LEGO Group and is funded by the LEGO Foundation. These days the LLI continuously refines its knowledge base to be the leading source of child development, learning, and creativity to further boost the LEGO Group’s mission of inspiring and developing the Builders of Tomorrow. Currently, research is carried out by internal LLI researchers and in collaboration with leading academic institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Westminster (to name but a few).
How does the LLI work with academia and what qualifies researchers for this collaboration?
The LLI identifies research topics of interest based on educational, societal, and technological trends that impact children in today’s world. These topics are framed into foundational research projects and relevant researchers are identified according to expertise and interest. Researchers connected to the LLI are individuals with relevant academic credentials who, most importantly, also share our mission to inspire and develop the Builders of Tomorrow.
Currently, the LLI is finalizing a study of ‘Systematic Creativity’ – utilizing the latest findings in the fields of creativity and learning to define how creativity and learning can be developed and be something individuals engage in methodically. Furthermore, the study highlights how open-ended systems, like the LEGO building systems, support this development. The research project has been carried out by the LLI in collaboration with Professor Edith Ackermann of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Professor David Gauntlett of the University of Westminster.
Can you mention a completed LLI research-project and describe its impact?
The Whole Child Development Guide [WCDG] was commissioned by the LLI in 2004 and was carried out by Professor Edith Ackermann. The WCDG details the developmental stages of children and examines how children use play to learn about themselves and the world around them. Initially, it was intended for internal use only, serving to support our product development. These days the WCDG also forms the foundation of the Child Development section on the LEGO Parents Website. Here the WCDG has been turned into a series of age related articles that explain what parents and caregivers can expect as their children grow up and how best to support them at each stage of their development. The WCDG is available in its original format and entirely free as a PDF download (click here to download). We at the LLI believe that by sharing our findings we help bring about a greater understanding of the developmental needs of children, how to inspire children to develop into all they can be, and nurturing the creativity in children of all ages.
What challenges and opportunities do you think the future holds for children, the Builders of Tomorrow?
For many adults the physical and virtual worlds are fixed entities with firm borders. In contrast, children these days are so-called digital natives for whom the boundaries of the physical and virtual worlds are more fluid. Digital play like computer gaming and online worlds constitute both a challenge and an opportunity. Challenges are that kids’ imaginations travel freely from digital to physical and from physical back into the digital world. They need elements that can help their imagination and play continue whether the digital devices are on or off, and travel to whatever context they find themselves in, whether it’s mobile or in the living room. Virtual ideas become more real when we express them physically and conversely, ideas built in the physical world take on a life of their own virtually. Being conversant with both and being able to creatively move between these worlds is challenging, but once mastered, also hugely rewarding.
What are the future plans for the LLI?
The LLI will launch a website in 2009 to make all our knowledge available to the LEGO community and to the public. The plan for the website is to support a research community of professionals interested in sharing and collaborating on developing knowledge on child development, creativity, and learning. Several research projects are in the pipeline and academic researchers interested in collaboration should get in touch via the email link below.
LEGOLearningInstitute@LEGO.com