Robotics

What is it?

A robot is a mechanical device that can be programmed to follow a set of instructions. Robots have processing units, sensors to help them perceive things in the surrounding environment, and motors and actuators so that they can move. Robots may also have the added programmable functionality of lights, sounds or speech recognition.

Educational robotics is a broad term that refers to a collection of activities, programs, physical platforms and educational resources. In addition, behind the physical elements lies a pedagogical philosophy that matches the new Digital Technologies curriculum.

The benefits of teaching robotics in schools include:

students find it engaging and enjoyable
students learn 21^st-century skills, which are useful for future employment
robotics is suitable for students with a range of abilities
robotics develops students' critical and computational thinking skills
it is an effective way to introduce programming to students.

Real-world examples

RESOURCES

Learn more about it

What is a robot?

With the proliferation of robotic devices in the human world, this article raises the question: what is a robot? It also raises associated ethical considerations.

Macquarie ICT Innovations Centre

MacICT is a collaboration between the NSW Department of Education and Macquarie University, Sydney. It provides professional learning for teachers.

The NMC Horizon Report: 2015 K–12 edition

The report highlights the emerging emphasis on 'deep learning approaches', including project-based learning and collaborative learning.

SPRK Education Program

The video is promotional in flavour but is useful in outlining possible pedagogical benefits.

Coding counts

This discussion paper provides an opportunity for the community to join a conversation about coding and robotics skills.

Robotics in the 2016 Classroom

This discussion paper provides an opportunity for the community to join a conversation about coding and robotics skills.

Lesson ideas

How to teach it

Primary

Buzzing with Bee-Bots

Students follow and describe a series of steps to program a floor robot. They plan a route to program a robot to follow a path and write a sequence of steps (algorithm).

Wonder workshop

This is a collection of interactive activity ideas for the Dash and Dot robot toys for young computer programming learners.

CS Unplugged: Harold the robot

In this activity students give verbal instructions to a person role-playing a robot as an introduction to programing language.

APPLICATIONS & GAMES

For the classroom

Parrot: mini-drones rolling spider

The rolling spider is a programmable mini-drone, designed to teach students different aspects of programming and robotics.

Sphero

Sphero is a programmable robotic ball, designed to teach students different aspects of programming and robotics.

Raspberry Pi

The Raspberry Pi is a small, low-cost computer designed for schools.

A teacher’s Guide to the Intel Galileo

The Intel Galileo is a small, single board computer designed for schools and hobbyists.

Wink—Learn to code with this entry level robot

Wink is an Arduino-based robot that enables students to transition from graphical programming to more powerful text code languages.

Ozobot

Ozobot is a tiny robot that uses a colour-code language to navigate game-based activities.

Lego WeDo 2.0

Lego WeDo 2.0 enables students to create and program solutions using science and engineering practices and computational thinking.

Bee-Bot

This is a programmable bee robot that completes a sequence of directional steps to produce a desired outcome.

Lego Mindstorms

Lego Mindstorms is a set of building blocks and programmable components that students can build into various robots, designed to teach students different aspects of programming and robotics

Pro-Bot

Pro-Bot is a programmable turtle robot, cleverly disguised as a race car.

Ollie

Ollie is a two-wheel programmable robotic ball, designed to teach students different aspects of programming and robotics.

Dot and Dash Robots

Dot and Dash robots can be programmed by iOS and Android devices to fulfil designed behaviours, including moving and singing.

Tickle

Tickle uses visual programming to enable you to control programmable robots, including the Star Wars BB-8 droid, Sphero (SPRK) robotic ball, Ollie two-wheeled robot and the Dash and Dot robots.

OzoBlockly

OzoBlockly gives you the power to fully control Ozobot Bit's movement and behaviour.

Bot Logic

This interactive game helps students develop early programming skills by creating simple sequences of instructions based on logic.

Lightbot

This programming puzzle app, is available for use on multiple devices, teaching students coding concepts as they guide a robot to solve problems and light up tiles.

CASE STUDIES

What other schools are doing

Association of Independent Schools of South Australia (AISSA)

AISSA Humanoid Robot Research Project

Thomas and Pink are two humanoid robots that are making programming and robotics exciting and intellectually stimulating learning frontiers for students in Independent schools in South Australia.

Ravenswood School for Girls

'Now we are sort of testing the limits'

Sir John Monash Science School

The journey towards an integrated approach to digital technologies

COMPETITIONS & PROGRAMS

Students share and extend learning