Beebots

I have experimented with the use of Beebots with our Year 1 and 2 students and discovered that the Beebot App is much more advanced in thinking than I expected.  The activities that I have set up with the Beebot robots on the clear mats seem much more appropriate and will enable the girls to develop confidence in directional movement.

An issue we ran into early was differentiating which way was 'left' and which way was 'right'.  So a solution that we are trying is using 3D printed Beebots with L and R to help students work out which way to turn when they are using the Beebot App.  On the robots I have blue tacked on L and R to help the children determine which direction to move on the mats.

Left: Using the Beebot App with the 3D printed Bees
Right: A possible solution to help students learn which way to turn

Spatial orientation is challenging at this age, especially when trying to programme the bot to move in a specific sequence.

The clear mats are versatile and can be adapted to a number of learning environments.  We are currently using colour, and numbers as target spots for our Beebots to pause on.  The year 2 students have also started to record their movements by using the whiteboard to write down their moves. They are being introduced to basic 'coding'.  Working in pairs and small groups has given the girls an opportunity to work collaboratively and to problem solve a range of challenges.