New Tech Challenge- Sphero Robots!


Image result for sphero sprk+

This week I was finally able to use my set of Sphero Sprk+ robots with my students. This is a new piece of technology that I had seen at the MassCUE conference last year. I wrote a Cape Cod 5 mini grant and paired that with a PTA grant to buy a set of 10 robots. Since that funding was secured last March I have struggled to get the robots paid for by the school district and shipped by the company. Ultimately, I was unable to get them by the end of the school year.

The robots finally arrived over the summer and I have been working to collect enough ipads to actually use them. This week has felt like such an achievement as the students used my hodge-podge collection of broken ipads, old cell phones, and recycled kindles to used their knowledge of block coding to control the devices.

The first challenge that I gave my students was to make their robot move in a perfect square. This is a sort of pre-test to see where their computational thinking skills are as well as their manipulation of the block-style of coding. At the end of each class, the different teams shared their programs with the group. The skill level was widely varied. Very few groups could code the square. Some could make the robot go strait and then turn a corner. All could make the robot move in a strait line for a determined amount of time.

I am planning to continue to help them grow their basic knowledge of using the coding blocks by helping them, as a whole group, problem solve how to make the robots move strait and then turn a corner. After all groups are able to code the square, I'll introduce the loop block.

My thought is that I can help them gradually grow their computational thinking skills and that later in the year we can begin to introduce more difficult "challenges" and obstacles; eventually having the students design their own challenges for others to complete!

Students using block coding to manipulate actions of Sphero Sprk+ Robot


 Sphero photo credit- bestbuy.com


Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 27, 2017 at 4:51 AM

    How fortunate your students are to have a teacher such as you providing them with this exiting opportunity to learn how to code and develop computation skills. Your continued guidance will surely help them improve and further develop their skills in computational thinking. The long term vision you have for introducing "challenges" and "obstacles" will allow more advanced students to move ahead. It's always a pleasure to read your posts about what you are doing in the classroom!

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