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Any Recommendations for Teaching Robots

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Steve Thomas

Any Recommendations for Teaching Robots

I am going to be teaching a course in Robotics starting in late January/early February, any suggestions on the which robot/robot parts to get?

Kids: Age 10-13, they are familiar with Etoys.
I am actually considering using Scratch for this (sorry) but I think its good for kids to learn a second language. I may have them also try to program it in Etoys as well to test/help develop their understanding.

In any case I want to be able to use the same robots for teaching with Etoys in the future.

Ideally I want inexpensive and mobile.

Also any good ideas for problems to give them would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Stephen

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Ricardo Moran

Re: Any Recommendations for Teaching Robots

Hi Steve!

We've been working on making Etoys a good platform for teaching robotics, check out our blog (it's in spanish, sorry): http://tecnodacta.com.ar/gira

I would recommend using Lego Mindstorms Nxt or Arduino, depending on the kids age. Arduino is cheaper but I believe Lego Nxt is more suitable for working with children (that's just my opinion, though).

Of course, both can be controlled from Etoys:

Lego Nxt for Etoys: http://tecnodacta.com.ar/gira/?page_id=79

Arduino for Etoys: http://tecnodacta.com.ar/gira/?page_id=196

You should also get in touch with the guys at Planète Sciences, they've been teaching robotics with etoys for a while now (http://lists.squeakland.org/pipermail/etoys-dev/2009-December/004212.html).

Cheers!

Richo

On Tue, Dec 8, 2009 at 2:49 AM, Steve Thomas <[hidden email]> wrote:

I am going to be teaching a course in Robotics starting in late January/early February, any suggestions on the which robot/robot parts to get?

Kids: Age 10-13, they are familiar with Etoys.
I am actually considering using Scratch for this (sorry) but I think its good for kids to learn a second language. I may have them also try to program it in Etoys as well to test/help develop their understanding.

In any case I want to be able to use the same robots for teaching with Etoys in the future.

Ideally I want inexpensive and mobile.

Also any good ideas for problems to give them would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Stephen

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squeakland mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland

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http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland