Day 102: CODE Robotics Inquiry Launch at Prodomax

Scratch Dance Pad

The CODE Robotics Project is an opportunity for elementary students, from 13 participating schools, to engage in learning through robotics, leading to opportunities for the development of interactive, collaborative, entrepreneurial and problem solving skills.

To launch our inquiry we brought together a group of educators and co-op students, from the participating schools, for a day of hands on learning around robotics, STEAM and coding at Prodomax in Barrie. The teachers and co-op students were challenged through a series of gamified exploration spaces including: a WeDo coding table, EV3 coding space, robot maze with Dash and Dot, a Sphero Pollock Art activity, a virtual reality table (with Google Cardboard), Bayblade building battle with WeDo, a Scratch Dance Pad and a building station. After completing a challenge at one of the hands on learning stations, educators could award themselves a badge and check out their progress on the summary board.

Prodomax by @HT_Library08

We also had an opportunity to go on a tour of Prodomax and see real world examples of robotics in action. We would like to thank Prodomax for welcoming us today into their environment, which inspired our learning and gave it context. A special thank you to Jane McPherson, Bill Richardson and Marc Lemieux for sharing their knowledge with us, helping the day run smoothly and for the engaging tours!

In the afternoon we learned more about the EV3 robots through an interactive series of activities led by Ramy, Chris and Paul from Logics Academy. We were challenged to problem solve and think critically while exploring and creating with the EV3. With great support, we soon felt confident that we could take our robotic skills to the next level and creating our own programs!

See a Storify summary of the Tweets from our day of learning: CODE Robotics Inquiry Launch Tweets.

For SCDSB educators, check out our CODE Robotics Learning Story.

Follow #SCDSBbot on Twitter and our website http://scdsbbot.blogspot.ca/ to learn more.

Tyler Cave, Amy Szerminska, Chris Gilewicz, Marci Duncan and Pat Miller

Day 41: Coding in Kindergarten

Today a group of kindergarten students at Lions Oval Public School explored with Dash the Robot (who they affectionately named Dunk)!

It didn’t take long before these curious kinders were wondering… How fast does he go? Will he dance? How far will he go?  Using the Go App to drive Dunk, they tested his speed. Then they decided to guess how far Dunk would go by estimating and then counting the number of steps he moved from the iPad.

The laughter could be heard down the hallway as they used the Blockly coding app to teach Dunk how to dance!

If you’re intersted in learning more about coding or how to get started in your classroom, check out our SCDSB coding blog: http://scdsbcode.blogspot.ca/.

Thank you to Elodie, Charmaine and Melisa for welcoming Dunk and I into your classroom!

Follow or connect with their class on Twitter, or read their blog KinderWonders118.blogspot.ca.

Day 20 - Popsicle Stick Autonomous Robot (Technological Education)

Computer Engineering - The Popsicle Stick Robot

Nathan Fisher, Bradford District High School

     Often when thinking about trying a robotics project the main factor of intimidation preventing people from getting started is how to create a robotic chassis to hold all of the electronics, sensors and motors that make a robot function.  A metal platform requires machining and metalworking tools, plywood and wooden platforms still work best with access to a shop to create custom cuts and wood materials can still be cost prohibitive for an initial learning experience in a classroom.  That's why I decided to link craft stick crafting and robotics together.  All that is required to shape the structure is a pair of snips to cut the craft sticks and hot glue to reliably assemble the robotic platform.  It is a low-cost and highly creative 'canvas' for robotics solutions.

     Below is a final result of one of the craft stick robots working autonomously.  It encounters obstacles with the bumper sensors.  Depending which bumper circuit was completed, it will turn away from the obstacle it encountered.

Design Process

*Image from: Ontario Technological Education Curriculum 2009 , Page 23

     The creative design process is an integral part of Technological Education.  Creativity, design and innovation are all built into each and every technology course offered in SCDSB. As a teacher, it is a learning experience each and every time a project is assigned since every student can have a different take on how to accomplish the same task.  When we analyse the final design effectiveness, there is never one 100% perfect solution and all solutions have some merit which is very rewarding for students to see.  Creating a project is about maximizing merits while minimizing demerits of design concepts to create the most effective solution for a particular problem.  Different problems benefit from different design concepts being emphasized.

For this project there are 4 specific areas emphasized in the creative design process.

• Robotic platform design
• Bumper Sensor
• Bumper System
• Autonomous Algorithm

Students had to design a bumper mechanism using salvaged supplies that that would connect a circuit when an object is encountered. The main problem to overcome is getting the connection to break again after the bumper is hit.  One solution was to cut a spring from a dried out/broken pen or mechanical pencil. Another solution was to use foam that would expand again after the the circuit bumper was placed.  Finding out whether a bumper was fully functional on a wide range of obstacles took a lot of of testing and adjusting.  If a bumper was hit a certain way it wouldn't trigger, requiring the spring or contact to be adjusted.

Bumper sensor pictured on left.

     The design of the bumper system was another challenge for students.  Functional requirements of the bumper system required it to be held in place and be able to slide back and forth with a low amount of friction while having a wide range of contact to prevent the robot from getting stuck.

Bumper system pictured on right.

The final stage of building the robot is to program the micro controller which controls the input and output.  It is was set to constantly read the bumper switches, and adjust direction away from the object it encountered.

PicAxe microcontroller system pictured on left.

The Learning Experience

     As with all Technological Education classes there is valuable learning for both the teacher and the student. Trying out new projects that will be approached with new ideas or students having innovative takes on old projects that have not been seen before.  The number of potential solutions is near limitless, and we need to enable students' creative problem solving processes by giving them manipulative and constructive opportunities to solve authentic problems.  This is what technological education is. Thus the importance of Technological Education as a physical and practical learning experience for all students from K-12 is clear. And the opportunity to share this experience with students as a Computer Engineering, Computer Science and Robotics teacher is extremely enlightening and rewarding.

Day 11: Entrepreneurial Thinking and Learning

Today we had the privilege of spending time with intermediate students (and teachers Marci Hunter and Jason Fishpool) at Ardtrea-Cumberland Beach Public School, as two classes were engaged in a range of technology-enabled activities lead by Tyler Cave.  His passion for entrepreneurial thinking and problem solving through technology was evident in every challenge he offered the students.

   

In one classroom (as well as an outdoor space), students had opportunities to experiment with a carousel of learning with Makey Makey, littleBits, Reality Goggles, Dash and Dot Robots, Sparkfun Inventor's Kits, a Roominate Building Kit, a Snap Circuits Rover, Cubelets Robot Blocks, a Vex Robotics IQ kit, an Arduino kit, a Logics Bumble Bee, among others. Students customized their own learning in a digitally rich environment.  

           

In another classroom, students were navigated through discussions that developed an understanding of role collaboration, design thinking, construction and evaluation.  They were given kits that included a wide range of materials to develop a Hovercraft.  The groups were given time to plan, design and build!  Were all groups successful on their first attempt?  No.  But they went back to the original design, assessed the model, made modifications, and tried again!
What came out of this valuable experience was a great deal of student choice and voice, meaningful discussions, and collaborative learning.  What was most inspiring was the perseverance and determination these students demonstrated.  For this group, "giving up" was not an option!  
Ardtrea students discovered, experimented, constructed and created throughout their day, with few limitations and minimal guidance.  In short, the students found constructive, fun ways to LEARN!  

Thank you to Marci Hunter and Jason Fishpool for inviting us into your amazing classrooms. Thank you to Tyler Cave for taking student engagement and innovation to a new level!

"Think left and think right and think low and think high.  Oh, the thinks you can think, if only you try!" ~ Dr. Seuss

Marci, Jill, and Paulyne