Maker Spaces: Interview with Maureen O’Reilly and Dr. Jenny Nash of Lego Education

Today we have a great discussion with Maureen Reilly and Dr. Jenny Nash of Lego Education about how Lego can be used to create a great school maker space and to support integrated and powerful learning opportunities. Maureen Reilly is an educational consultant specializing in LEGO, robotics, and Maker Education. She is passionate about encouraging students and teachers to take risks, expand their creativity, and make their inventive ideas come to life. Maureen worked in public and independent schools as a homeroom teacher, robotics coach, Maker Space facilitator, and as a STEAM specialist. For over fifteen years, Maureen has developed creative educational content and community engagement experiences for the LEGO Company. Prior to her work in education, Maureen was a TV commercial producer, a producer for CartoonNetwork.com, and a Senior Producer for the LEGO Company. Outside of her professional work, Maureen founded the NYC STEAM Think Tank, a monthly meet-up for STEAM educators to network and share ideas. She is the Youth LEGO Ambassador of Fun for LEGO MINDSTORMS, the Master of Ceremonies for FIRST LEGO League robotics competitions, and co-founder of the Jr. Explorers Club, a summer adventure program for children. Maureen holds a dual Masters of Science in Education with a specialization in Literacy from the Bank Street College of Education. You can follow her on twitter: @maureenrreilly Dr. Jenny Nash serves as the Senior Educational Manager for LEGO® Education North America, where she provides direction and leadership in delivering meaningful education opportunities for districts. She works closely with administrators to design implementation plans and support teachers in using inquiry-based teaching through hands-on experiences. Previously, Jenny was the Director of Clinical Experiences and Director of Professional Development Schools at Marshall University, where she conducted STEM outreach and programming for K-12 schools in addition to working with student teacher candidates. She was also a general science teacher for a middle and high school in West Virginia, where she focused on provided blended learning and project-based learning experiences for her students. Jenny is a long-time member of the National Science Teachers Association. She has a Bachelor’s of Business Administration from Marshall University, a Master of Arts in Teaching from Marshall University, and a Doctorate in Education from the University of Florida, specifically in the area of curriculum and teaching. Thank you to bensound.com for our theme music. If you enjoy the podcast and can review us on iTunes that would be amazing of you! We really appreciate your reviews as they help us continue to make the podcast and help other teachers to find us. Kindergarten Kiosk is a proud member of the Education Podcast Network, a network of podcasts for educators by educators. Check out the other great podcasts!