Coding and Robotics

 

      Coding much like any tech skill these days is very important to teach our students. Coding is simply the actions that tell computers, robots, and even websites like Facebook what to do and how to run. Our daily life is ran by technology, students need to know how these things work to better improve their lives, but the whole worlds. Students can start with simple tasks to learn the skills of the trade. There are tons of jobs left unfilled every year. These jobs come at a high demand but have few graduates to supply them. Robotics and Coding is a great opportunity for our students to have the skills and interest needed to continue down the path once they start college. Technology isn't going anywhere, our students need to be the front runners of this field. 

  Dash and Dot are one set of robots used for elementary age students. I hadn't heard about Dash and Dot until I entered EED 409, but since then I have seen commercials on television advertising them. These are compatible with a range of devices and are easily used by students. Dash is the move able robot while dot is the stationary robot. These robots are a blue color that is appealing to children and even play games. Thames and Kosmos are actual robots that you build and get to code. This would not only hit robotics and coding but engineering as well. The lego robots we saw in the video is a great one as well. These robots can be used to do a task, like kick a ball, or block the ball from the goal.  

          

       

The Osmo is by far the best thing we saw the last time we met in class. This allowed students to play a word game using their spelling skills but also helps students build patterns. We also saw the portrait kit, which blew me away lets anything you want to draw be at your fingertips. I loved how the video showed the little girl drawing a portrait of her dad. Can you imagine the endless possibilities for that? 

Here are a few in class strategies for the Osmo.

1. Letters- I would love to have this in a center and make a sports bracket of the students. This would be a fun, competitive, and engaging way to use this. Students will play letters against there opponent and the winner moves forward, til there is a ultimate winner. The ultimate winner will get a reward relating to school (quiet reading time, teacher's helper for the day,show and tell). This will be a reusable bracket so we can start a new tournament with the letters every month. 
2. Drawing- This could be used if the students were doing a project on different types of animals. The students could pic a image of their drawing and create a poster that has their animal on it. This could be a tremendous asset to the students who do not have computers or help at home. 
3. Tangrams- These could be used for early finishers to work on. It gets there minds working about which piece goes where and in what position. I do wish that the tangrams were one color. In gifted we played like this but each individual student had a set. The shape she showed us was black and we had to figure out how to make the shape without seeing the colors on the picture.

Here are some apps to help your student start coding:

-Hopscotch: Make games- This is a app that lets you create your own games by coding, and even create graphics for the game. 

-Lightbot One Hour Coding- Introducing kids to coding without any prior knowledge. Was created for "The Hour of Code" in schools. 

-The Foos Coding: Also created for "The Hour of Code' this app is the basics of coding. So easy that anyone from 5-105 can learn how to code. Uses fun games and investigations to engage students. 

-Move the Turtle: Students will become familiar with loops, procedures, variables, and spatial orientation. This also helps the students move the turtle around.

-Robot School: Students will help a robot who has crashed his spaceship get back home using coding.