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
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
http://tecnodacta.com.ar/gira/?page_id=196You 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 sthomas1@gosargon.com 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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