Lego Robots

   What's going on in Honors Physics class these days? I found out by wandering into Larry Bostian's class to check up on some recently installed laptops. Not surprisingly, the laptops are being put to good use; they are being used to program the robots students are building with Legos.

 

Prepping the laptop for coding work.

    After spending fifteen minutes in the class observing and talking to students, I now have a deeper appreciation of the range of uses for Legos.  In this class, students were given kits that include a wide variety of Lego pieces as well as some other components of motorized robots: wheels, gears, motors, sensors, wiring, etc.  

Students begin robot assembly using pieces from the Lego kit.

  Teams of students had two tasks. They needed to construct a robot using the pieces in the kit and they had to program the robot to accomplish some set tasks.  I wandered into a busy and engaged classroom, with small groups of students gathered around kits of pieces and open laptops. Conversations were quiet but animated as these students worked through the challenges of construction and coding.

  

A perfect example of STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) education.

      Two other groups working through the activity:

   A terrific addition to this lesson plan was a writing component. Students established blogs and were able to write about the project, including reflections on their approaches to problem solving.  These blogs are posted online so students can read each others' blogs and thereby deepen their understanding of robot building and coding. If you're interested in reading the students' blogs, links are below.

Blog #1

Blog #2

Blog #3

Blog #4

Blog #5

Blog #6

The words Lego and Legos are used above to indicate a specific trademarked brand: The LEGO® Brand. You know it as well by it's graphic logo.

 

Hour of Code II

   I saw this infographic on the Classroom Aid: Connecting Dots of Digital Learning web site. It seemed like a nice follow up to the previous post about the Hour of Code program.  
   That said, I don't want to leave readers with the view that the Hour of Code program, or computer science instruction in general, is about career planning.  Learning computer science is about learning, and in that respect, it fits comfortably with disciplines like science, literature, history, mathematics, world language study, etc. When students are intellectually challenged to develop new skills, acquire a broader base of factual information and be encouraged to learn more about a given subject, sound education is an inevitable outcome. As with older, more traditional academic disciplines, computer science can facilitate genuine, long-lasting learning. That, in my mind, is the main reason to promote the Hour of Code. It will help students to see yet another learning possibility.
 

Hour of Code

   There's a nationwide movement underfoot and it's been titled "Hour of Code." The idea behind it is simple: our nation is not educating enough students in computer science fields, and the shortfall will limit our nation's economic growth.  The video below, just a few minutes in length, offers a clear explanation of the Hour of Code.

   The Hour of Code program is seeking 10,000,000 students, K-12, to participate in a coding activity that would last about one hour. The hope is that during the week of December 9, 2013, schools across the country will introduce students to the power of computing and create an interest in computer science.  The long range goal is to inspire greater numbers of students to consider computer science as a field of study as they move forward in their educational careers and begin to think about professional career goals.
   It's interesting to note the absence of computer science as a required field of study in most school systems, public or private.  There are, of course, historic reasons for this omission.  Our current requirement framework dates back about 100 years when the credit system built around studies in English, math, science, social science, world language, art and physical education was formulated. Computers were the stuff of science fiction. And over the last couple of decades, as computer science has comfortably become part of the academic world, it's been difficult to create space in secondary curricula for additional required subjects.  In schools lucky enough to have the resources to support computer labs for younger children, the GSB model has been popular. Students, in a weekly schedule, spend time in the lab learning age-appropriate computing skills.  But when these same students get to high school, their curricula is largely built around requirements, and elective choices compete for students' attention in a free market. This happens at GSB and at most schools. The result is that a great many students study very little computer science during their high school years and not surprisingly gravitate towards other academic majors in college. As the video above reminds us, the result of this system will be 1,000,000 unfilled jobs in a few short years.
   The Hour of Code program is the first concerted effort to address this challenge, and a great many luminaries from business, government, etc. are interested in promoting the program. They know the issue is important. But exactly how, in one hour, do you get students interested in computer science? The answer this program provides is that you show students the power of their computer through computer coding tutorials.
   All tutorials are age appropriate, K-12. Coding tutorials are also offered in what's called object-oriented language.  Basically, this means students will move objects on a screen to create coding instructions, as opposed to typing characters.  It's easier to learn and far more intuitive to first-time coders.  
   At GSB, we're in the middle of planning Hour of Coding sessions.  Lower and Middle School students will do activities during their weekly lab visits during the week of December 9.  In the Upper School, all students in computer science classes will use class time for the activity. In addition, our ninth graders will utilize Physics class time to work through the tutorials. And I would invite any other teacher of students 10 - 12 to contact me for more information if you'd like to make the activity part of your class during the Hour of Code week.
   Two web sites have been developed with information about the program. The Hour of Code web site has information designed to offer background information as well as publicity-oriented materials. The Computer Science Education Week site has more specific information about signing up a class to participate. Tutorials are also housed on this site and can be reviewed by teachers now.
   As always with a program like this, it's hard to predict long-range effects.  Will greater interest in computer science develop because students spend an hour in December learning about coding? It's iimpossible to know as of this writing. What's clear, however, is that this program draws attention to a serious educational challenge facing our country, and that continued emphasis on the importance of computer science is critical.  
   It's worth noting that as a nation, we're not alone in recognizing the challenge of improved computer literacy. In England, for example, requirements are changing. There, computer science is joining more traditional disciplines in the academic core making England the first country to require computer science of all primary and secondary students. This Telegraph article explains the changes: Teaching Our Children to Code: A Quiet Revolution.