Mill Valley students learn to code with robots
Equipped with markers and a sheet of paper, the Edna Maguire Elementary School third-graders had one job: get the small, sphere-shaped device before them to move on its own.
Partnered up, students in Teresa Shern’s class followed the instructions as they carefully colored in a coded paper “map” to create a path for their robot. If programmed correctly, the robot would respond, by chirping high-pitched sounds and moving along the “path.”
They watched with awe and pride as their robots “talked” and moved along, powered by their quick thinking.
“It’s really cool. This is our second time using them,” student Henry Tomnay said. “I think,” classmate Stella Arwin added, “we’re getting better at it.”
Meet the “Ozobots,” Mill Valley schools’ new codeable robots.
Small, interactive spheres assigned to students, the Ozobots teach coding through programming. Elementary school students program the robots with colored markers, while middle school students are tasked with operating the bots by writing out computer codes.
Instructional technology coach Katie Fisher has been bringing the robots to classes so students from kindergarten to middle school can learn the basics of coding language.
The district bought the robots for every school for use through the entire school year. Fisher said the Ozobots and similar robots called “Cubelets” were purchased with the help of grants from the district’s school foundation, Kiddo, at around $1,200 for a class set of 12 Ozobots, and $2,200 for a Cubelets class set for 24 children.
“When students learn to code, they are learning how to organize, express, and share ideas in new ways, in a new medium,” Fisher said.
“Coding embraces perseverance, and critical thinking, in a fun and engaging way. It also teaches students to collaborate, problem-solve their work, and ultimately create sharable projects,” she said.
Superintendent Kimberly Berman said the school is focused on including concepts like coding to foster “critical-thinking, collaboration, communication, inquiry, knowledge, and perseverance in our students.”
Mill Valley school board member and parent Elli Abdoli said, “My kids couldn’t wait to continue experimenting with coding after their first lesson, and it’s exciting to watch their interests bloom in these areas.”
Fisher said the robots help expand children’s learning by teaching them to solve problems together as a team. The robots could not be successfully used during the district’s remote learning period, and are ideal for use in group settings with the return to regular, in-person learning.
“There’s research now saying that social-emotional learning … is a good way to get kids to communicate and get along,” Fisher said.
“Math and reading has improved with coding, as well as the social-emotional piece of learning to communicate, get along together and collaborate,” she said.
Fisher also uses code.org and Scratch, two free programs for teachers, and for a fee, Tinker, to supplement coding education. Some teachers also wrote grants for use of Dash and Dot, which are also programmable robots.
Fisher said maintaining an emphasis on equity in the program is important to her, to see that “every child gets the same opportunity.” Rather than having parents pay for their child to participate in a program outside of regular class, she said, this way all students learn in a classroom together.
“They’re actually using the scientific method without even being introduced to it yet,” she said. “And we’re teaching kids how to persevere, because it’s so much fun.”
Watching her students use the robots, Shern said, ”It’s super amazing, it’s fun for them to see how you can use coding to make something like a robot actually operate. It’s good for them to be able to problem solve in different ways.”