“Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads” – Dr. Emmett Brown, Back to the Future
The quote above was spoken by Dr. Emmett Brown in Back to the Future (BTTF) at the end as he returns to 1985 urging Marty McFly and his girlfriend Jennifer Parker to get in the DeLorean and join him in going back to the future to address an issue with their children. I bring this quote up as BTTF is one of my favorite movies and even after all of these years still leads to discussions as we watch the movie. It is also my hope for education that we start moving in a direction that gets away from documenting student learning through a standardized test on a pre-determined date. Learning doesn’t happen at a given time but instead is something that happens through out the entire day.
It was at the end of 2012 that LEGO revealed that a BTTF DeLorean set was to be distributed. At that moment my dad and I knew that we must build the DeLorean and so this past weekend I purchased two sets (one for my dad and one for myself) and proceeded to build.
The build process was quite interesting as an overall experience. As you will read later in this review the lack of written directions were quite intimidating but it wasn’t a show stopper, in fact I sort of laughed it off and didn’t let it hinder me. In the end the sad part was the the directions provided by Lego were easy to follow and understand much more than some other directions I have had for building a TV stand or desk. It would pay dividend for companies to examine how Lego has crafted their instructions and simplify their build process. I actually felt challenged by the lack of written directions. The best part for me was the fact that the building process was a departure from the rigorius structure of the work through the week. The previous week I was finishing up ERATE for the 14-15 funding year and was stressed by making sure that every thing was filed prior to the deadline in the correct manner.
As I began the building process of the DeLorean I stepped back and thought to myself that I should record this process and see how we could apply it in education. My review process was simple and included the use of my cell phone as a camera and my cell phone as an audio recording device to capture my thoughts as I went through the process. My thoughts recorded over the 7 hour build are detailed below.
**Total Build Time – 7 Hrs. over 2 days**
The DeLorean Lego set is 401 pieces and retails for $34.97 on Amazon. The price point to entry into the Lego market is very low for this build compared with other Lego sets. The 401 pieces are split between five clear plastic bags. There appears to be some organization in pieces being grouped together in like manner based on type and size. The pieces are black, grey and white in color while ranging in size from very large to very tiny. It is important to note the color of the pieces as you are building the DeLorean because you won’t have the correct pieces when they are called for later in the build.
As I began the build process I observed that the directions provided by Lego were all pictures and their were no words written on how to begin or how to proceed. After making this observation I stepped back and asked myself “Is it really possible to build this complex machine with directions only containing pictures?”. In almost every thing else we do in life comes with directions that are either written word or a mixture of written word and pictures. The directions were simple to follow as I began but became more complex as the build went forward. A great example of the complexity is when you are building the doors for the DeLorean. The doors are 6 or 7 pieces that are built together and then put in place. You don’t realize you are building the doors until you connect them to the machine. When I made this realization I had a haha moment and started laughing because yes the doors do open up like they do on the DeLorean.
The directions as stated previously were all picture based with no words. The top part of the page had the piece type and number of pieces needed to make the build. If it was a piece that required multiple other pieces to make the end result they provided a step by step picture representation. The last part of the page had a picture of the car as it was being built and where the recently built piece was to be placed. It was in this process that I realized the importance of making sure you have the correct pieces (color). About a quarter of the way in I realized I had to start over because I was out of a certain piece because I had used it in place of another piece. I had trouble in making the distinction between the black and grey pieces in the directions as they looked similar in color.
If I was embarking on another Lego build of this scale in the future I would change my approach in an effort to make the build easier. My process for locating the pieces involved searching through the 5 bags which contained all the pieces and if needed dumping the contents of the bag into the box while searching for the piece I need. The major change I would make is organizing my pieces so they are grouped together by color and size. I think in doing this it would save me time in the build process compared with the method I had selected for this build. I would also have a dedicated work area where I could create the build and not worry about loosing pieces.
In making my observations above the next step in this process was to figure out how it could be applied in an education setting. After all at the end of the day you are playing with Lego’s and while their is educational value in my opinion to simply playing in an unstructured setting I felt that we needed to tie this to the education process for validity.
**Watch Back to the Future and Back to the Future II**
There are many instances within Back to the Future and Back to the Future II where Marty has to make a decision that has the ability to impact the space time continuum and possibly alter the course of history. This is observant in Back to the Future II where Biff gets his hand on Grey’s Sports Almanac and becomes rich in the process. There are other instances where this decision making process can be used to evidence and discuss good decision making skills. I think this could be tied into a 21st century setting related to the creation of a positive digital footprint and the consequences of posting that unfavorable comment to the Twitter or any of the other social media platforms. While we can’t say with definite understanding that this is a possible reality if time traveling were real we can use it as a catalyst to educate students about decision making.
**Research the DeLorean Motor
Company and other car manufacturers of that period**
Researching the DeLorean Motor Company (DMC) and other car manufacturers of that period will provide the student with an insight as to why DMC failed where others succeeded. We could also look for ways that we could evaluate the car industry of the mid to late 80’s to the car industry of today. Are there similarities?
**Team Building and Communication**
The price point of entry at $34.97 per kit makes it a challenge to provide each student with their own DeLorean kit but that maybe a blessing in disguise. The thought process here was that you divide the class into three shifts (groups). The shifts would need to have roles that you would find in a real world situation so as to simulate reality as much as possible. Each shift is responsible for completing a certain number of steps in the build process each day. You put in place requirements such as the only form of communication amongst the shifts is to be done through Google Docs. The Google Docs is a written and photographed log of what was done to the machine.
As you review the logs you work with the students to refine their writing to be detailed and precise oriented. This will help them not only now but in the future to tell their story and do so in a direct manner. They could use a program such as Skitch to create annotated screen shots detailing changes. When the build is finished each shift creates a report that is both written and visual detailing the pieces of the project they were responsible for, the challenges they faced and what they gained through the whole process. All of this in the end would be posted to the student’s digital portfolio and become an artifact in their portfolio.
These are three ideas on how “playing with Lego’s” could be used to teach concepts within education that students often find boring in my opinion. If this was something that was part of my learning as a child I would have found it to be fun. In knowing that we tend to teach in the same manner we learn I realize this may not be the best option for all learners.
