Coding and educational robotics

The Coding and the educational robotics are now research topics already since the 2014. They find their field in many school projects that over the years developed labs and activities focused to encourage the students to build artifacts. Let’s see together how and why these projects are developing.

What is the Coding?

For Coding we mean the activity of computer programing that represents one of the implementation phases of the whole cycle of development of softwares and robotic engines. The last purpose of this activity is the one to satisfy specific functions.

Who does coding so works next to who does robotic. A sector with ever more youth right because it’s highly growing.

For this reason it’s important to start to talk about it since school, since the primary school, by trying to develop in the children problem solving skills focused to look for solutions to improve the life style and the productive processes, mayve by saving the environment and by avoiding the wastage.

Robotic and Coding at school

Robotic and Coding, at school, support the learning by promoting the transversality thorugh the subjects, encouraging the reworking of the knowledge and of its usage in many different contexts.

The experimentation is the base of this school proces. Over the years infact many teachers tried school projects connected by curriculum and to the notions left to the alumns.

These labs allow to the students to experiment the coding and to build robots able to do what who planned and command them asked them through a device or a computer.

Thanks to the robotic and to the coding activity the mind of our youth learns how to wonder the right questions and to practically answer to them.

School projects of robotic and Coding

In the school projects of Coding one assumes aspects that have global impact and interest, that need to be studied and developed through software.

One set the targets that bring the students to devolop concrete projects and observations in the field of the learning, of the knowledge or even of the school organization.

An example? Many schools use the program Scratch which is used by the students to code interactive stories, games and animations.

Scratch teaches the youth to creativelly think, to sistematically reflect and to work cooperatively.

In some Institutes instead they use the LEGO to work on projects that join the computer coding to the robotic.

LEGO MINDSTORMS Education EV3 is an instrument developed with qualified educators that activitelly involves the students in many fields.

The students are called to answer by following notions of coding, science, technology and math. Subjects that are becoming funny and at the same time that remain in line with the national curriculums.

During all the proces, while they build their model, the students continue to learn, thanks to the combination and the application of science, technological and math skills. 

The support platform of LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 is MakeCode by Microsoft. Thanks to its coding blocky graphical interface drag-and-drop the students are able to learn the basic schemes of the Coding to move their LEGO robots.

Arduino Software

Another software that is used in the schools to learn the Coding and the robotic is Arduino. It is an electronic platform open source with software and hardware easy to use.

It’s thought for everyone would like to build interactive projects. Infact, the idea of the creators of the software is the one to make available objects and programs perfect to build electronic devices.

Inside of the Arduino Student kit there is the mother board and the software to code it. The board was invented by a group of researchers of the Interaction Design Institute of Ivrea.

The idea of Arduino is that everyone can build something useful or only funny with it. A system that gives the possibility to make different kind of projects and experiments.

Especially the students with this kit can realize quickly and easily small devices as remote controllers for lights, engines speed, light sensors, temperature and humidity and many other projects that use sensors, actuators and communication with other devices.

Arduino is the perfect instrument to introduce the school class to the Coding, the electronic and the robotic.

This post is also available in: Italiano