Today’s Tech Challenge:
Teach This Robot
How to Dance
How one school is using an army of miniature
robots to introduce kids to coding.
Standing just over an inch tall, they can race. They can dance. And
perhaps most impressively, they can teach students of all ages to code
— without kids being any the wiser.
They’re called Ozobots. And at Notre Dame de Lourdes Elementary
School in Swarthmore, teachers and students are embracing this
robotics technology as a fun way to bring STEAM (science, technology,
engineering, arts, and mathematics) subjects to life.
The idea is simple: each Ozobot has a sensor allowing it to read
and follow lines on paper or on tablet screens. Students draw lines
composed of different colors — using combinations of black, red,
green, and blue — to tell the tiny robots to speed up, make turns,
or perform spins.
In the classroom, that has translated to a multitude of engaging
activities allowing students to combine coding and creativity.
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