Ba-Boom! EdTech!
July 12, 2019
Education’s explosive ‘next’ observed through the lens of ISTE 2019.
Student Robotics
I was expecting to find Student Robotics in abundance at ISTE, especially on the exhibition floor. Even with this expectation, though, I was a bit overwhelmed by how this area has grown and how many new offerings are now available, with even more promised to be released soon.Borrowing Richard’s tagline, one is on firm ground seeing this as The Year of Student Robotics. Although I see no end of this exploding trend in sight, this body of resource and instructional practice has evolved to become a hyper-rich way to provide deep STEAM learning experiences, an approach that I predict will soon be offered by absolutely every school. How could they responsibly ignore it?
Deciding which approach, which way to fit it into the instructional program, and which varieties of materials to select, however—will take some ‘catch up’ as there is such an abundance of high-quality offerings to navigate.
Let’s begin right here, right now, though! Some of the exciting things I saw this year:
As part of the long admired PITSCO Education body of resources, Smart Buddies (to be formally released this coming September) was the first robotics item to grab my attention and shake me up a bit (in the best possible way, of course.) Not what I was expecting to find at ISTE, but so wonderful—this is a very appealing programmable robot, actually a small robot scooter on which a variety of action figures ride. But this resource has a powerful, beyond-just-STEM purpose.
I was won over quickly by Sharmi Albrechtson’s (CEO of SmartGurlz) as she ran down this breakthrough concept for me. The Smart Buddies: Teaching Everyone to Code program is designed to support students in better understanding and embracing diversity in the world in which they are growing up. The kits come with female and male figures of diverse backgrounds and cultures. Through identifying with these and programming the robots, students learn Coding and related STEM curriculum as well as being immersed in Social Emotional Learning and their diverse world. I can see how this will guarantee an important shift needed to encourage more girls—actually, kids of many demographics not historically successfully engaged in STEM—to embrace computer science and engineering and its applications. There are also deep connections to Literacy (here we go with that theme again) as students use the kits to program for important storytelling-based activities.
Pictured: LEGO Master Educator, Ian Chow-Miller, demoing SPIKE Prime.
Another item that really grabbed me is LEGO Education’s new SPIKE Prime kits. Engage Every Learner in STEAM with LEGO® Education SPIKE … https://education.lego.com/en-us/meetspikeprime
Any significant expansion of the LEGO Education body of robotics materials is a major event in the world of Student Robotics. LEGO’s body of materials, in my opinion, continues to provide the fullest, most accessible, most versatile range of learning possibilities: everything from designing a robot, either as an exercise in engineering imagination or as a solution to a real world problem, to programing it, to testing it, and on to making modifications and improvements in both the robot and the program coded to run it.
Recently released, ISTE 2019 was my first opportunity to get a good look at SPIKE Prime. I think that over the years LEGO’s “Mindstorms” material, which has evolved from original incarnation to NXT and on to EV3, has gotten more sophisticated (a very good thing). However, between the WeDo materials, intended for younger, earlier grades, and the current Mindstorms, is a sweet spot for teacher adopters of these great resources and SPIKE Prime will address it. Simpler, easier to understand, somewhat easier on classroom management and budget, I think that SPIKE Prime will get a great deal of well-deserved attention as teachers gravitate toward it. I think for many it will prove to be the best path into fully robust integration of robotics into their work with students, and one that will prepare them and their students for more complex robotics down the line. I’m on board!
Kinderlab’s KIBO Robotics kinderlabrobotics.com impressed me as offering serious coding through materials that are so accessible and appealing to young students. I very much appreciate that KIBO is scaling up its robotics materials in complexity of function. Originally intended for young students who need very simple materials,
KIBO is now expanding programmability to include ways to use sub-routines. As students mature and become more proficient at coding concepts and skills, KIBO will stay relevant and challenging for them. Supporting students to grow and reach without having to leave the comfort of a body of materials that they have become comfortable with (and love, I would expect) I think is a great plus in what KIBO is doing. I found myself marveling at how much these kits allow students to do using a ‘screen free’ learning environment. KIBO offers kids building block-like materials they can manipulate using visual cues, arranging them into robotic programs that model and illustrate coding in ways guaranteed to make great sense to young students who are now learning in an ever more sophisticated environment.
I got an early look at Birdbrain Technologies’ https://www.birdbraintechnologies.com/ new, updated FINCH 2.0, a more robust version of an established robot that’s proven to be a winner. When I think of STEAM, focusing on the A in the acronym, which stands for The Arts, I generally think about Birdbrain’s Hummingbird kit, often used by students in combination with traditional crafts items, like piper cleaners and cardboard, to produce handmade, robotics-driven expressive and whimsical creations. These kids create to explore imaginative themes and demonstrate and communicate learning; like bringing poems to life.
The Finch https://www.birdbraintechnologies.com/finch/ – Birdbrain’s other robot resource, is a pre-built robot (elegant design, I think) that can be programmed for traditional and challenging coding activities, like maze navigation, but also for Arts oriented activities, like synchronized robot dance performances. FINCH Robot 2.0, now upgraded to take advantage of the MICRO.BIT processor, appears to be an economic, highly versatile and capable classroom robot that students can program using a wide variety of coding platforms.
OZOBOT https://ozobot.com/ – Such a well thought out and executed end to end approach to bringing robotics into today’s Education. And I love the attractive, small scale EVO robot! Hard to imagine that a simple approach to coding, involving drawing and coloring with markers could involve such sophisticated computer science oriented learning outcomes. It’s representative of the overall elegance of design to be seen in the OZOBOT approach. And then, there’s the other option, using Google’s Blockly programming platform. So both screen-based and non screen-based coding is possible, giving great flexibility. This provider’s Feedback Loop, interface seems very promising, too, enabling students and teachers to collaborate in reflective, ongoing robotics learning.
Makeblock https://www.makeblock.com/steam-kits/mbot – The Makeblock robot I experimented with on the exhibit floor was intended for younger students, enabling them to learn about a variety of robotic machinery and electronic parts. I found it to be quite impressive with a highly engaging form factor and personality, moving around an imaginative, mat type environment. But this provider has 5 lines of hardware products, like its Motionblook materials, with sophisticated mechanical and electronic components, that are capable of performing a wide range of functions, and providing challenges for older students. Students use robotic modules that are simple to combine and easy to work with, supporting them in building any of ten cool preset forms, or even their own idea for a robot. I like that among these are industrial, non-anthropomorphic bots, like a sophisticated robot arm, which, while not being cute like movie bots, can support today’s students in learning about real-world industrial applications of robots. That’s strength in my opinion. Makeblock offers free programming tools and impressive curriculum.
UBTECH Education https://ubtecheducation.com/ – has a history in industrial robotics and has brought that experience to providing robots for education. The result of this is that the robots students work with have precisely operating components, servos for instance, that produce smooth robotic movements. UB Tech offers an advantageous range of robotics kits in 3 levels: Beginner (elementary), Intermediate (middle school), and Advanced (high school)… offering experiences from simple coding on up to sophisticated one. Their free UBTECH Education app provides easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions, 360-degree, 3D modeling tools that supports students build understanding, coding, and bringing robotic creations to life. Some of the bots I saw on display, Yanshee, for instance, were impressive instilling that ‘this is not a toy, this is a real robot’ feel that I’m sure will win over tech savvy students.
At the SPHERO https://www.sphero.com/education/ area – I saw some new, powerful items from a provider with an important track record of providing materials to schools. SPHERO is well known for its programmable round robots, Bolt and Spark, This was my first opportunity, though, to get an up close and personal look at their newer RVR robot, a powerful, flexible, robot with lights, sensors, add-on ports, etc. that students can program to operate as is or, importantly, to customize by adding elements, even those acquired from other producers of materials. This is a serious robot J I also got a look at Sphero’s (not a robot) SPECDRUMS, a music education oriented resource that involves putting on app-connected electronic rings and tapping colors to produce sounds. Cool!
But Wait, There’s More!
Some other bots from a very robot-crowded conference—can’t list them all, but here are a few that caught my attention:Matatalab matatalab.com – My first time seeing or hearing about these bots, which seem to have much to offer. This provider offers assembled robots that students can control, code, and use to gather information through sensors. This, I feel, might be a valuable STEAM resource as along with comprehensive coding curriculum; they offer Animation, Music, and Artist add-on items.
Click image for video: Robotis Robots can dance!
Robotis robotis.com/ – A robust, pre-built robot that can dance! (among other things) At their booth I saw a terrific demo involving a group of robots dancing in unison… the person manning the booth also showed a laptop interface which he explained facilitated students programming their robots to dance. They seem to have a wide variety of kits for students to assemble pre-designed robots.
Root Robot https://root.irobot.com/ – Classrooms that are going to begin with just one robot might select this one. At their booth I was how it is magnetic and can be programmed to perform on a magnetic white board, allowing a full class to focus on and appreciate the behavior of a single robot.
REV Robotics’ Class Bot REV Robotics – A sturdy, robust robot which struck me applicable for high school STEM Learning.
Photon – An attractive newcomer (to me) which struck me as an exciting item to introduce robotics to elementary schools. A pre-built bot with sensors, there are lesson plans and implementation tips. My sense is that there’s a lot here and a lot of good thinking behind it.
And my apologies to all of those other bots at ISTE 2019 I couldn’t meet personally.
There was also robotics in the Computer Science Playground.
Robo Wunderkind demo at the Computer Science Playground made it look so kid friendly with easy-to-use, fun physical components and intuitive software. www.robowunderkind.com
AIM Academy aimpa.org – so great to see a school this is “All In” with robotics. I chatted with Doug Markgraf, a full time robotics teacher there and with Robert Ervin, Director of Robotics and Engineering for the school. I had to be mindful of the very powerful, full-size robot prowling the floor, built by the school’s FIRST team and got a close look at their android phone powered robot built by their FIRST Tech Challenge team.
TYNKER tynker.com – Before seeing the new Tynker robotics kits at the Computer Science playground, I had associated this resource provider with coding in virtual environment. I think Tynker’s decision to also throw its hat into the ring of full blown robotics is indicative that many providers of materials related to robotics will follow suit and formal enter the Student Robotics space… and I think some important developments will result. Welcome!
And a special note here in case you haven’t heard: EdTech Digest will publish its first State of Student Robotics Report/Educators Guide to Practices, Resources, and Visions of Next Level Learning in the early fall of 2019—be sure to reserve your copy!
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Here's the Robotics segment from EdTech Digests's article following the January 2019 FETC Conference...
FETC 2019: The Right Stuff for the Future of Education
Highlights and insights from my personal adventures at the epicenter of edtech.UNPACKING EDTECH | by Mark Gura
Robotics, Robotics, Robotics!
Since my days as Director of STEM Education for the New York City school system, years ago, I have closely followed Student Robotics. I find it heartening that finally this variety of resource and practice is finding its way into virtually every school. Even more importantly, in many cases it’s beginning to migrate from the hinterlands of extracurricular and afterschool programs to being integrated directly into core subjects in the regularly scheduled daytime instructional program. Going hand and hand with this much improved appreciation for Student Robotics is an ever broadening range of materials from a longer and longer list of developers and providers; I encountered a couple dozen at the conference.This rapidly accelerating expansion of robotics materials types and their applications throughout instructional programs, no doubt, is leaving many educators who now want to make this exemplary best practice part of what they offer their students, not knowing where to even start. This growing need for information and insight will be addressed in an upcoming free special ‘State of Student Robotics: An Educators Guide’ that I am developing for EdTech Digest. The express purpose of this will be to make understanding the instructional and classroom management aspects of this area, as well as purchasing decisions, easier. Watch for the release of this item this spring.
Let me share a couple of outstanding student robotics items that caught my attention at the conference.
First, is a new item from LEGO Education. While there were a few other early entrants into the area of student robotics resource and practice way back in the day, items like the Bee Bot, something around for years and years and which was also being shown on the Expo floor, LEGO Education’s now famous Mind Storms robotics kits, in my opinion, truly broke this space open and introduced robotics to schools. I should know, I purchased and placed in classrooms a good amount of the LEGO materials, personally, back in the 1990s. It was an interesting step forward for them when, a few years back, they introduced their WeDo materials, bringing the age appropriateness down from upper elementary through middle and high school to early elementary.
Now, however, they are introducing Coding Express which is intended for very young children, say, in pre-K and Kindergarten. Essentially, with Coding Express, kids program (YES, program) a kid sized train to move as they direct it to by selecting color coded pieces that the kit scans and gives the train directions as it travels
Truth be told, there were many varieties of robotics and coding resources for very young children to be seen at the conference. What caught my attention at LEGO Education, though, is that this venerable provider has now established a full continuum of materials for the various ages. Under the same brand, there is now a range of materials to take kids from pre-K on up through and beyond middle school and with this consistency, I think; will come both important organizational and instructional advantages.
Demoed at BirdBrain Robotics booth. Click on photo to launch video.
I stopped by the booth of Birdbrain Technologies and, as always, I was impressed with how their approach to robotics blends with required curriculum in ways that teachers can understand and embrace easily.
I also very much appreciate the handmade look of the robotic creations students make with Birdbrain resources. This samples I played with at the booth very much illustrated how students can use robotics to deepen understanding of the work of writers and how they can participate directly in the genre they are studying while learning important STEM skills at the same time. A Birdbrain representative and a classroom teacher user of the materials showed me some highly inventive and artistic robotics creations, some of which I took to be student done kinetic illustrations of poems: quite a “Wow!”
Hello, Yanshee! (and Meebot, too)
Outside Apple’s workshop area, where they offered in-depth experiences for the many educators who lined up down that hallway to be admitted, I picked up their menu of offerings whose siren song was kicked off with the line “Join us as we explore new ways to raise the bar for what’s possible in teaching and learning…” (Sometimes I positively love the spirit that Apple imbues Education with!)
A little further down the hall was Apple’s intriguing “playground” titled Theater of Dreams Inspirational Stories. In both their teacher workshop “Teach Serious Coding in a Seriously Fun Way” and front and center on a table in the playground was UBTECH’s Meebot.
UBTECH’s Meebot.
I sat down with Jeff Piontek, UBTECH’s Head of Education, North America and tried to absorb the head spinning information about the rapid growth of popularity of their materials as well as some of the amazing things being done with them. All this while he gave a quick demo of the amazing Yanshee robot (see video below)
UBTECH Education is a welcome, relative newcomer to the American school scene. Importantly, though, it has teamed up with Pitsco Education, a long trusted and relied on provider in this area. Pitsco will be UBTECH Education’s national distribution partner, working closely with districts to launch UBTECH’s UKITs and Yanshee robots in K–12 classrooms. I think we’ll be seeing these robots in a great many more classrooms soon as a result.
Yanshee Rocks! Click on photo for video.
UBTECH recently announced the launch of its UKIT – a new robotics kit featuring curriculum that is fully aligned with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Its curriculum, developed by experts in their respective fields of science, mathematics and literacy, is designed to teach STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) concepts and skills.
The UKIT curriculum also ties STEM literacy into each unit through a literacy prompt that exemplifies the connection between the lesson content and real-world application. During classes, students collaborate or work independently within their “Big Idea Book” to make hypotheses, gather data, and formulate questions about how the hands-on activity with the robot applies in a real-world scenario or as scientific phenomenon.
“The Big Idea Book, in combination with UKIT, serve as a conduit for children to focus on the essence of engineering – their imagination,” Jeff explained. “When teachers use our kits, they teach that the study of robotics is truly interdisciplinary, and that robotics is in all types of mechanics and electronics today. They teach that robotics can use artificial intelligence and that robots can sense and perceive the world around them. Most importantly, teachers convey the possibilities of robotics and that the field will be a part of the future.”
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Here's the Robotics segment from EdTech Digests' ISTE 2018 follow-up article
Report on ISTE 2018: Education at the Top of the Pyramid
Highlights and insights from my personal adventures at the epicenter of edtech.UNPACKING EDTECH | by Mark Gura
This year saw the full flowering of Student Robotics at the conference, with a great many resource providers entering the robotics space.
And the variety of robotics materials, as well as the approaches to applying them to learning, is expanding at a dizzying pace.
“The variety of robotics materials, as well as the approaches to applying them to learning, is expanding at a dizzying pace.”
It’s clear to me that we are rapidly moving past the unfortunate situation of most schools having an afterschool Robotics Club or team that involves just a very few students out of the full student body—to a situation in which robotics is offered as part of the central instructional focus in subjects across the curriculum—and all students are given a rich STEAM experience through it.
LEGO Education, of course, had a very visible presence, both at its exhibit as well as through the use of its materials in many educator presentations throughout the conference.
I didn’t see anything major added to the materials this time, but there were some interesting things underway, like the partnership with Microsoft in which LEGO’s NXT/Mindstorms materials students use Microsoft’s Make Code platform to program their robots.
I was treated to a demonstration of the wonderful KUBO Robotics kit, offered in affiliation with the very well established company, Pitsco Education.
KUBO Robotics fills a serious gap we hardly even know we have:
A robotics platform for very young (K-2, early elementary) children.
The centerpiece is KUBO, a pre-built robot that is very friendly to little, little hands.
Most interesting is that KUBO is designed to teach programming ‘screen free’, without the use of a computer.
Kids program by arranging small, tile-like objects, each with an icon on it.
Students come to understand the concepts that underlie programming, hands-on, by trial and error, gaining insight and mastery as they have fun and progress with these simple yet sophisticated materials.
The KUBO Robot reads the program ’tiles’ as it moves over them, saves the program temporarily in its circuits—and then carries out the program on a small, table mat-like map.
There’s more, of course.
There’s teacher support through KUBO Education, which offers a downloadable Quick Start Guide, Teachers Manual and Cheat Sheet for everything needed to start using KUBO.Student can earn KUBO’s Coding License, designed to give students aged four to 10 a strong foundational understanding of coding.
The license consists of 12+ hours of lesson plans, introducing movements and routes, sequences, functions, subroutines, and loops.
It is beginner-friendly and gets progressively harder as students develop their understanding of programming.
There’s even a downloadable diploma.
In other words:
This is a very well thought out program, not only in the extraordinary foundational instruction planned for, but in the teacher support, as well.
I think KUBO is introducing exactly what education needs:
A vehicle by which the crux of 21st-century learning is inculcated and learned before students arrive at their upper elementary and middle school experience.
My mind races at the thought of where such easy, early preparation will take us, the creativity that will emerge from students who have already mastered the basic ideas and skills and who are liberated to work on how to apply them!
On the exhibit floor, a newcomer
Out on the exhibit floor I was captivated by the displays of a newcomer in the field, UBTECH Education, which was created in early 2018 by its parent company, UBTECH, an industry leader in humanoid robotics.The company states that its purpose is:
To support teachers with powerful digital tools and resources to help prepare all students for STEM careers through active engagement with robotics and rigorous NGSS-based curriculum.
But from where I stand, the variety of learning offered goes beyond career destination.
It’s stuff that greatly enriches one’s understanding of the world that is unfolding all around us—something much broader—and dare I say it, even more important than STEM in isolation.
The programming interface for the UBTECH robots I saw is elegant and offers several modes of view including block programming, and an arresting ‘avatar’ view, in which on the screen of the device used (a student-grade tablet for my demo), a beautifully and faithfully- rendered drawing-like representation of the robot appears—showing important information about how the robot will behave even before the program is tested out with the real robot.
Obviously, there are some deep classroom management advantages to this.
I also got a look at an augmented reality interface in which the robot is seen in a virtual reality setting provided by UBTECH, thus giving students the ability not just to see the robot they are programming on a desktop or classroom floor, but say, on the moon—through the view this interface offers.
The student robotics space is a dimension of education that is already 30 years old and showing it, in the offerings of other companies.
But UBTECH strongly freshens it up by bringing some very sophisticated and up-to-the-minute technological innovations into what they have to offer.
They offer a Family of Educational Products, including
- UKITS on the Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced levels;
- Jimu Robot Educational Bundles (e.g. AstroBot, BuzzBot, MuttBot, etc.); and
- YANSHEE for high school and college students—something worth special mention here, as it is one of the 2 or 3 most robust, sophisticated, and appealing robots I’ve seen, intended for student hands.
This one has, to name just a few of its remarkable features:
- facial recognition
- voice recognition, and
- gesture recognition.
Cutting-edge robotics for the classroom.
A category unto itself
In what strikes me as a category unto itself, another very attractive student offering I spent some quality time with is Microduino, which describes itself as:(Take a deep breath.)
‘Stackable electronic building blocks, related accessories and peripherals, and in-class science STEM learning systems which encourage and enhance inventors’ creativity, imagination, and ingenuity through project-based learning.’
Microduino offers a range of kits and materials that start with basic concepts, like circuitry for young kids—to far more complex and sophisticated kits that feature its ‘m-cookie’ building blocks, based on the Arduino processor.
The flyer I picked up boasts, “these materials are highly flexible”, are “compatible with LEGO products”, and “help bring LEGO to life” and further, “…enable creators to bring their inspirational and pioneering concepts to life.”
I walked away wanting to spend more time with Microduino down the road!
An eye-opening half hour
A quick mention, too, about ROBOKIND, which showed me a student robotics program intended for use with autistic students.
I sat for an eye-opening half hour with MILO, a robot that is so uncannily lifelike and appealing that describing it as:
“a socially advanced robot, whose proven effectiveness with learners with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) is over 80 percent as opposed to the 3 percent for traditional therapy”
…rang true—strongly.
It was just one of numerous ‘ah ha’ moments I had at ISTE that has me ever more enthusiastic about the new horizons for educational success that technology continues to bring us at an accelerating pace.
“It was just one of numerous ‘ah ha’ moments I had at ISTE that has me ever more enthusiastic about the new horizons for educational success that technology continues to bring us at an accelerating pace.”
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On A Roll. Having a STEM laugh with the old Toilet Paper Dispenser Robot—this version displayed as a possible student project by Robobloq, a Chinese student robotics material provider on the exhibit hall floor.
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