Work in progress: Serving rural communities: A K-8 LEGO robotics case study

In this paper we describe approaches to better assist teachers in rural areas to participate in an annual LEGO robotics competition offered at Texas Tech University. While local schools have a student mentor visiting the robotics teams on a weekly basis, schools that are more than 20 miles away from Texas Tech University do not benefit from this service. Although there is a significant amount of literature available on LEGO robotics, teachers and students seem to prefer personal interaction. We propose daylong fieldtrips and webinars to partly overcome distance and still provide direct interaction.