Author: Kim Calkins

True Confessions: Who has the time?

Programs, True Confessions

Our team met last week to update each other on what has been going on in our various libraries and in the programs we are running.  The consensus seems to be that we are all very busy.

Surprise surprise.

One of the reasons I wanted to do this project was because I don’t have the time to dedicate this work in my “everyday” work life.  I had hoped that the ILEAD U project would give me the push I needed to incorporate more technology into my programs.

And to be fair, it has.  I do STEM programming regularly, on top of the Robot Test Lab programs I run.  I have been successful in this endeavor.

BUT

I’m still not 100% there.  How much should we be doing?  How much should I know about this stuff?

I don’t have time to sit around and play with robotics kits.  When I walk into a program, I am just as green as the kids who are testing the kits.  We are discovering together.

This is something I am coming to terms with.  The idea of “co-creation” and “co-learning” is a new idea to me.  I have always felt like I needed to be an expert on something before I could present it to the kids I work with.  Because of the time constraints, I cannot do that.  I open up the class with a disclaimer: I am not an expert here.  We are going to learn together.

This is good and healthy for kids.  I truly believe that we need to be self motivated to learn.  Kids need to own the responsibility of learning.  And I need to be okay with not knowing everything.

It is all a challenge.  I don’t feel like I have enough time to get EVERYTHING out of these kits.  But, on the other hand, no one said I needed to.  We are experimenting, growing, changing.  Our libraries are trying new things and we are not experts.

So as we come to the close of this experiment, I can take that away from this project.  We need not be scared to try.  We will likely not have enough time to do all that we want to do, but we can put one foot in front of the other and give it our best shot.

Review: The Finch

Programs, Reviews, The Finch

Robot Basics:

From the website,

“The Finch is a new robot for computer science education. Its design is the result of a four year study at Carnegie Mellon’s CREATE lab.

The Finch is designed to support an engaging introduction to the art of programming. It has support for over a dozen programming languages and environments, including several environments appropriate for students as young as eight years old.

The Finch was designed to allow students to write richly interactive programs. On-board features include:

  • Light, temperature, and obstacle sensors
  • Accelerometers
  • Motors
  • Buzzer
  • Full-color beak LED
  • Pen mount for drawing capability
  • Plugs into USB port – no batteries required”

What’s in the box:
The Finch robot and cord.

How much is it:
The Finch robot costs around $100.  You can find the product here: http://www.finchrobot.com/

Age Range:
This one varies.  It uses the same programming language as Scratch, so if you have kids who are familiar with MIT’s Scratch program, they could probably handle the Finch.  I would say 6th grade and up.

How did we acquire it?
ILEAD USA grant funds.

Ideas for Use
I had two Robot Test Kitchen sessions with 9 middle school kids.  I brought out our two Finch robots for the kids.  In one session, two kids worked together to figure out the Finch.  The other session had a single girl, about 12, playing with the robot.  In both cases, none of the kids had experience with Scratch or any of the other programming languages recommended to run Finch.

In both sessions, the kids had a difficult time making the Finch work.  I tried to work with them and had a frustrating time getting the Finch synced up with the laptop.  Each computer must download the software needed (it’s free software) to make the robot run.  Getting this to work was a struggle for all of us.  It took a lot of unplugging, plugging in, restarting, and patience to get the software to sync up with the Finch.  When the programming language and the robot finally worked together, it was interested for the kids to create simple commands to move the robot.

One of the other issues with the Finch is that it is not a wireless device.  The Finch robot has to be plugged into the computer at all times.  Because of this, it limits the amount of space and movements it can perform.  The kids found this to be frustrating because they wanted to include commands the Finch couldn’t fulfill due to space restrictions.

Time Involved
You do not have to do any prep for this except for downloading the free programming language you want to use to control the Finch. After that, you play for as long or as short as you want.

One Time or Recurring
I think making this a reoccurring program would be good.  It took so long to figure out that by the time the class was over, we were only able to play around for a little while.

Skills Needed
It would be good to have a knowledge of Scratch.  I did not want to prepare myself for this program because I wanted to be at the same level a new person would be at if they walked into the class.  It is not an intuitive program for those who are not code-savvy.

I would recommend that anyone who wants to lead this program play around a little with the Finch before unleashing it for the kids to use.  It requires a very specific skill set and if no one knows how to do it, it makes for a long class.

Good Stuff
Honestly, I do not have a lot of great things to say about the Finch Robot.   I saw two young middle school boys who read through the directions and tried several problem solving techniqures to make the robot work.  They were able to work well together and that was a positive outcome.

Bad Stuff
I did not care for this product.  Perhaps it was me.  I am not super excited by computer programming or these types of robotics.  It would be better to do this program with kids who are familiar with programming language and are willing to take the time to solve problems.

Overall Rating
Not for a beginner.  I’d say one an a half thumbs down.  The other half a thumb might just be for my lack of experience and patience.  It is worth trying if you know Scratch.

True Confessions: Kim

True Confessions

Here I sit: listening, learning, overwhelmed.

“Arduino”
“Makey Makey”
“Mind Storm”
“Raspberri Pi”

People, the only raspberry pie I’m familiar with is the one with whip cream.

What is it that I am getting myself into?  Where is the value in this?  How can I pretend to care?

And then I tell myself this:
You don’t have to care about this.  This is one of those topics you had in school.  It is homework.  You are doing this for your job.  This is making you a well rounded person.  This is important because it may be important to some kid who walks through the door.

Here’s the thing: I don’t have to love this!  I don’t have to be passionate about robots!  Here is what I am passionate about: learning.  I am passionate about taking risks.  We as librarians are not going to fan-out over every book we read.  We will not love every magician who walks in the door to do a program.  And the good news is that we do not have to care about everything we do.  We will not love everything.  As a professional, and as a woman attempting to be a grown up, I am putting aside my personal disinterest.  There will be something to learn.  There will be something that sticks.

The only requirement for this type of programming is willingness.  Willingness to not know.  Willingness to be humble and tell the truth.  Willingness to ask for help. Willingness to fail.

I can get on board with that.

 

And that’s what I can get behind.