Helloandwelcomebacktomodule4wherewehavetalkingabouthowtoprogrammemachines.InparticularwehavebeentalkingaboutEducationalRobotics,andinthelastvideo,wehadalittleintroductiontoEducationalRoboticsfromTullia,andinthisunit,wearegoingtobethinkingaboutpracticalexercisestogetusstartedwithEducationalRobotics,andagaininordertodothat,IamgoingtohandovertoTulliaUrschitz,whowilltakeusthroughthisunit.TherearemanyexamplesthatdemonstratethatwecanincreasetheinterestinSTEMsubjectsifwechangethewayinwhichwework,startingfromthefirstgradeofschooling.TodayIwouldliketogiveyousomesuggestions,selectedfromsomeofmylessons,onhowtomakechildrengrowmanycompetences,startingfromproblemsolving,mathskillsanddigitalliteracy.Usingunpluggedcodingactivitiesfirstandsomesimplegamesandprojectsinvolvingalsosomeroboticskitslater.Robotscapturetheinterestofthestudentsbecausetheyarerelatedwithgames.Robotspromoteteamworkingandcollaborationamongstudents,whicharepowerfulmeansofdeepeningthelearningmethodology.Inkindergartensandearly-elementaryclassrooms,manipulativematerialsandgamesplayanimportantroleinchildren’slearning,enablingchildrentoexploremathematicalandscientificconceptssuchasnumber,shapeandsize,throughdirectmanipulationofphysicalobjects.Iwouldintroduceyoungstudentstoaprogramminglanguage,bymakingthempracticewithalittlegametobesuretheyunderstandwhataprocedureis.Aftersuchanintroduction,wecanstarttouserobots.Blindonevolunteerwithascarf:hewillbeasubmarine.Askanotherparticipant,thepilot,toputinhandsonthesubmarine’sshouldersanddriveitfromonepointtoanother,followingtheinstructionsofclassmates.Aswewantedtoworkonlywithlowerlevelinstructions,theonlypossiblecommentswouldbe:“onestepahead”,“turnthatside”meaningbythisturn90°ontheright,“turnthisside”meaningbythisturn90°ontheleft.Afterthefirstice-breakinggame,itisnowtimetoputonthefloorsomecolouredcirclesfortheorientationgames.Participantsaresplitingroups.Oneofthemistheexecutorwhomovesoverthegamesurface.Theothersaretheprogrammerswhohavetocompiletheproceduretomaketheexecutormovefromthestartandreachacertaintarget,whilesolvingsomeproblemsandcompletinglevelslikeinadigitalgame.Littlechildrenlovegames.Tohelpthembecomemakersandbuildtheirowngames,itispossibleafterpractisingthecodinghands-onactivityontheground,tointroducethemtouseasimpleprogramminglanguagelikeScratchJunior,andaskthemtohelptheseahorsetoreachtheseafish.Thentofixtheconcept,somelessonswillusetheBee-Bot.Thatisperfectbecauseitusesascriptforword:“left”,“right”,makingitmovingthroughcolours.Teacherscanuserobotstoteachmanysubjects.Theycandevelopforinstanceconceptssuchassensing,thatistheperceptionoftheenvironment,byexploringtheuseofsensorofrobots.Ofcoursewhenworkingwithlittlechildren,theapproachisdifferent.Ifwewanttostudysomefactsaboutcrocodiles,thingsaremoreengaging,usingthisdistancesensortomakethecrocodile’smouthclosingwhenanobjectiscomingnear.Inthevideo,youcanseethattheteacheranywayhastomakesomelittleadjustments,stoppingtheprogrammetoincreasethesenseofmysteryinthenarration.Aschildrengrowolderandlearnmoreadvancedconcepts,theeducationalfocusshiftsawayfromdirectmanipulationtomoreabstractformalmethod.ItbecomesveryusefultoemploysomelearningmediatorsthatMichelResnickcalls“computationally-enhancedmanipulativematerials”,whichaimtoenablechildrentocontinuelearningwithakindergartenapproach.Andithelpsthemtolearnconceptsandgrowcompetencesthatwerepreviouslyconsideredtooadvancedforthem.ForexampletheuseofroboticskitsliketheLegoWeDotogetherwithScratchprogrammingimprovesthelearningprocess.Infact,thechildrencanunderstandthelinkbetweenthehardwaremovementandthespecificprogrammethattheywrote.Asimpleactivitythathelpsinthispurposeshowsussimpleeffectsofrotationsandtherotationdirection.Workingwithallthestudentslikethoseinthefourthorfifthgrades,itispossibletointroducecause-effectsaction,likethosewegainwhenblowingintothemicrophoneorusingthedistantsensor.Thepowerofmotorsandtheturnsofthewheelsinfactdependsontheintensityofthebloworthedistance

measured.Bestresultscomewhenobservingthevelocityofthewheels,whileblowingthesoundsensorofaLegoMindstorm,whileusingthetestsensorprogrammeonthebrake.Ihopethattheseexampleshaveprovidedyouwithanideaonhowandwhyyoucanstarttouserobotsinyourclassroom.ThankyouTullia.Againloadsandloadsofinterestingandpracticaladvicethereforustotakeawayandthinkabouthowwemightusethatinoureducationalsystems,inourlocalareasandinourclassrooms.Iprobablyshouldpointoutthatsomeofthematerialsthatwehavebeenusinginthelast2videosactuallycomefromthecomputerprogrammingprimaryschoolclass,whichagainisavailableontheEuropeanSchoolnetAcademyYouTubechannel,evenifthecourseisnolongerrunning,thematerialsarethere.Wearenearlyattheendofmodule4.IwillseeyouinthenextvideowherewearegoingtobetalkingabouttheInternetofThings.