As I mentioned elsewhere, I am toying with the idea of sorting out some kind of after school robotics club and am looking for ideas for the curriculum.
I know some members are currently running clubs themselves so really I was just after a bit of input there. What to start with, what order to go through things etc. etc. etc.
What I want to do is get everything in order so I can go to whoever and say "Here's what it is, here's where it aims to get to, this is how, are you interested?", so more of a paper shuffling exercise at the moment.
And while typing this, I just thought, why limit it to after school clubs? I now have the idea of a series of webinars etc.
Anyway, any ideas, any guidance etc. to help get something set up would be really appreciated.
That's brilliant Rex, that's just the kind of thing I was looking for
And thanks for the links Troy.
Rich I have checked the distance from here to Cheltenham and its a 3 hour drive so coming down for a day to your possible class is doable (say 3 hours down, 1 hour robot demo, 1 hour Q&A, 3 hours back) it can be all done in a day.
I would be bringing an EZ:1 or EZ:2 down (not an AIMEC:3) as I want to promote the EZ-B and ARC versions of my robots and that should tie in nicely with your EZ-B projects.
I think getting robotics into main stream education will massively expand the Worlds robotics industry. Its all to do with cost, if we can produce an advanced robotic platform (like the EZ:2) at the right cost point that schools can afford then we are halfway there.
I am wondering if its best to offer to go into the actual schools to do the classes.
Thanks Rich. Glad I could help you this time.
Rich, I think it is a great idea, and I wish you well with it. I do not know what advice I can offer you, but for what it is worth, although I am not a teacher, I worked in a juvenile detention center for ten years. The kids lived there, and had school onsite. I was the dayshift supervisor on Mon. through Fri. The kids were in school most of the time that I was there, and so I coordinated a lot with the education department. I often taught classes when they were shorthanded.
I think that toymakers suggestion is a good one. Perhaps you could put together a two hour presentation that you could put on in some local schools to get yourself started. I would use some PowerPoint, on a big screen to keep it on topic, incorporate lots of question and answer time, and take volunteers to do some hands on experimenting.
You would have to start out with basics. What is a robot? How is it different from an automated machine, like a car or an automatic door? Then work your way into logic, and simple programs. At each step, you would do a demonstration to keep their attention.
You wouldn't get a whole lot into a few hours, but I suspect that most schools would not want to give you more than that, and you would be pushing the limits on their attention spans considerably.
I know it's not exactly the workshop that you are looking for, but it would be a good first step. As you gain experience and a reputation, you could create seminars for different levels of experience. You would then be better situated to start a course of your own somewhere.
You have a talent for robotics, but more importantly, you have a talent for explaining things in a down to earth way that is easy to understand. If you want help to educate kids, it would be a shame for you not to follow through on that.
Being across the ocean, I can't physically help you, but any advice I can offer in creating curriculum, or help in designing artistic brochures, or hand-outs, or anything like that, just let me know.
Rich, any updates on you idea for an After School Club Curriculum?
It's taken a little bit of a back seat at the moment due to one thing or another but currently I'm still wrapping my head around all of the red tape and paper work that's needed. They do like to make people jump through hoops where young people are concerned.