Micro Information Systems Programming With Lego Mindstorms

In this paper we discuss and compare how LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT can be used to teach information systems (IS) students selected computer science subjects. We present the wide-spread robotics platform named LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT from LEGO Systems. It is an educational platform with an open source operating system. This open source property of LEGO MINDSTORMS has resulted in several alternatives to LEGO’s own operating system. Therefore this platform can be tailored used to teach students a programming language that fits their needs. Teenagers and non-programmers usually settle for LEGO’s graphical programming environment, while other groups choose a different language. We demonstrate some of the most obvious choices of programming language for IS students