Valiant continue their research programme on the use of Roamer and Educational Robots. Dave Catlin’s paper A Day in the Life of an Educational Robot has been accepted for the RiE 2013 The 4th International Robtics in Education Conference. The Conference will be held at the Lodz University of Technology, Poland 19th to 20th September 2013. Continue reading
Roamer spent four days at the Big Bang Event at London’s ExCel Centre. Over 60,000 Students attended this STEM Interactive Spectacular. Primary and Secondary schools children were challenged to program Roamer to find a route through a matrix of numbers and operators. The school who got the best score on the day went into a draw to win a Roamer. Kate Hudson reports on a great four days and announces the winning schools.
We are not exhibiting at BETT this year. However, both I and Roamer will be there and we will be happy to meet anyone over coffee and doughnuts. To arrange a meeting time please contact me on kate@valiant-technology.com
After looking at 2808 playing cards (54 packs) once, eight times World Memory champion Dominic O’Brien correctly recited their order, making only eight errors, four of which he immediately corrected when told he was wrong. I met Dominic about 10 years ago, and he explained it was all a matter of technique. Having studied memory techniques I believe it is possible to use Roamer help students remember factual information. We are now about to test this idea with the help of Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School. Today I start to mentor two students as they work to achieve their Gold Crest Award. Their project, called “Investigations into Memory Enhancment Using Educationa Robots”, aims to develop and test these theories.
Teacher Jocelyn Gordon said, “This is a very fascinating area of research with many potential uses and benefits within an educational setting. I will be interested to know the outcome of the investigations conducted by our students as to the efficacy of the robot as an aid to memorisation”.
Dave Catlin
Catlin, D. Smith, J.L. Morrison, K. (2012) Using Educational Robots as Tools of Cultural Expression: A Report on a Project with Indigenous Communities
A paper presented at the RiE2012 3rd International Conference on Robotics in Education 13 – 15 September 2012 Prague, Czech Republic Continue reading
2012 NAEYC Annual Conference and Expo Atlanta Georgia: November 7th to 10th 2012 Continue reading
What does Roamer bring to the teaching of mathematics? Is it just for young children?
The answer to the latter question is a simple no! The traditional view is that educational robots are for younger students. But according to Seymour Papert, founder of educational robotics: What is good for thinking is good for thinking, whatever the student’s age.
It is much tougher to answer the first question. The X-Factor, is a vital ingredient. You can’t quite define it, but you recognise it when you see it. It has this strange quality, you see it in one situation, then you see it in a different scenario and mysteriously, it is not it is not the same thing. But it does have the same effect. It makes you think, that was good; that was valuable. So what better way do describe it but through a few examples. Continue reading
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