This week designers took their starter projects to the next level and the results were beyond any expectations. Thank you to CodeJoy for the inspiration and starter project as well as the Infosys Pathfinder Summer PD for providing me the opportunity to learn and connect with educators to learn more about creative robotics. Week 1 Blog Post LinkDuring Week 1, designers co-created a windmill starter project. At the beginning of week 2, designers used Flip to view other designs and give feedback and suggestions to other designers of what they might change or add to their designs. |
Our designers debuted their designs with their mentor partners this Friday.
Using several days of designing interlaced with tutorial videos to expand coding options, the goal was to give teams a chance to really reimagine their initial design so that we would not have a mini golf course full of only windmills.
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LAUNCH of Talking Object in Flip
This project inspired by Cecilia Hillway's presentation at Make: Education Forum this past September was a challenge that required partners to work together both in their code and in their physical design. I'm going to start by showcasing the final product that was created through productive struggle.
Highlight and Fix
Create
Also plugging servos into the Bit:explorer incorrectly were aha moments. Reseting the micro:bit with a battery pack and then adding the micro:bit back to the Bit:explorer was part of the process for some teams who struggled to reach the reset button which is essential with iPads and micro:bits. Of course recognizing that a micro:bit can't be powered by a battery pack and the Bit:explorer at the same time was also an important discovery.
Navigate Ideas
Which code works better? I modeled the code that I had learned and quickly modeled how you can make mistakes. So I showed how both codes worked. No code is the only way to do something. My code has more than its share of room for improvement but it provided a starting point.
Understand
Having never done this project before, the only example that I had was the one that I created. It took me several hours to troubleshoot my design and I quickly realized that it was an important scaffold to show step by step how I created both the base of my physical design and my code.
Ask Questions
What do we need to know about the code? What do we need to know about the physical design? What do we need to know about servos? I used an edpuzzle to start building the understanding of one of the important components of the project.
Look, Listen, and Learn
Introducing the Bit:explorer as well as creating scaffolds for the use of the servo and a sample project built a beginning foundation to understand what we would be doing.
The Week's Plan
Working Together
So this summer the team, which has now grown to 5 amazing individuals, is offering 3 free all day virtual making and learning opportunities called Make A Thons. I was fortunate enough to participate in most of the first Make A Thon and am looking forward to this Friday. Morning Session
Evening Session
It didn't take long for me to understand why Rudy is so loved in the educational field. His positive approach to learning and sharing makes you feel immediately at ease. I knew that he was pretty amazing based on twitter chatter but I finally was able to experience this first hand.
Breakout Group
I was able to ask questions, learn how to convert temperatures using a function, how to download a data logging project to my Micro:Bit, upload the data to Codap, and manipulate the data. Rudy showed me the importance of live coding when doing a project with students as well as shared other resources to leverage the Micro:Bit and other robotic components like Breakout boards, weather:bit, and DFrobot for even more expansion ideas. Additional ResourcesClick on the above images to access the resources.
This lesson is based on the Infosys Pathfinders CodeJoy Hummingbird PD Day 1. Students will already know how to program an LED as well as a servo prior to this activity.
Design Thinking Story
I love using stories to introduce a project because stories are such an essential part of our culture.
Design Thinking Project: Tiny Drummer
Objective: Using the story To Be a Drum, find a song that moves you and can be animated with a tiny drummer. Use the design process to create and code your tiny drummer to the beat of the song that you have selected.
Resources: Video Tutorial Troubleshooting Coding Cards Day 1: Example of PlanningDay 2: Physical Construction (Plan and Create)Day 3: Coding Your Robot (Plan and Create)Day 4: Tiny Drummer Version 1 (Improve)
Designer FeedbackFinal Video Games
It was so exciting to see my designers reconnect and the pride they have in what they are designing. Listening to the feedback and questions that are being asked and shared reinforces the need for an authentic audience who not only influences a design but also experiences that design. My Designers Reflections
Next week my designers will be creating a video game for their mentee based on feedback through their creation process about the main character, the setting, the challenge and more.
Day 5 we had the opportunity to continue to learn with Katie and Mark who shared other ways to use the Makey Makey and accessibility controllers.
My version of the therapy ball was nothing like their awesome idea of using a yoga ball... but I just couldn't sacrifice my own ball so I improvised. No video was shared on twitter because my idea wasn't even close to the amazing example.
Below is the completely unrelated project that he inspired while I was at the dollar store.
Day 7 I spent more time learning about switches, alarm systems, and coding with the Makey Makey. Instead of doing the assignment I spent too much time at a dollar store and stripping wires my newest pastime thanks to this PD. I enjoyed learning about how to use both Scratch and Makecode with the Makey Makey. I played with the extensions but have yet to code a game.
As I blog about each day, I simply marvel at the amount of learning and making that this course provided me. I have always admired Colleen Graves's work but being able to spend 2 hours each day was a really special treat for me.
Project Trix
Lesson 6: Virtual PetLesson 7: CommunicatorMicro:Bit PD Courses
Day 1
Day 2
My LED Bunny
Dreams by Langston HughesDay 3
After an afternoon of thinking about my robot poetry and working within the time constraints and knowledge constraints, we stared Day 3 sharing our projects in breakout rooms. Day 3 was learning the next level of both the uses of the Hummingbird as well as the resources on the website. The website has so many resources that provide me the next steps of how to use different devices with bluetooth as well as projects. Honestly I can't determine which resource is my favorite - the step by step tutorials, the projects, or the reading list to connect to stories.
My Reflection
This was an exceptional virtual PD. Kelsey's energy and Matt's support in answering questions really made learning something new seem so much easier and doable for both me and my students. I loved how Kelsey introduced the different components and then it was tied to a project. I not only learned a lot about the components and programming the components but also an effective way to introduce these concepts to my students.
I am lucky enough to have CodeJoy with Micro:Bits in July so I will get to work with Kelsey and Matt again. Thank you Pathfinders for providing these opportunities! Introduction to UnitThe third unit that I developed using the Modern Classroom project framework has just wrapped up. In this post, I will share my thought process, the resources that I developed, and student examples. Resources for the UnitBelow are the student slides as well as the station posters for the unit. Student ExamplesMy favorite part of this unit is what the designers create.
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