Session 3 - Digital Media & Computer Control

Hello Bloggers,

Week 3 and today we looked in to digital media and computer control. At first I was unsure what to make of this...... I knew about and used digital media (camera, video cameras, iPods etc) before so that part was easy. We discussed what the term ' computer control' meant to each of us, and came to the conclusion this was simply controlling what a technological electronic device is capable of or what we want it to do. For example in both these scenarios us as humans are, informing the devices what we would like to happen such as, using a remote control to program a television show in to the TV or pushing a button to make the lift work. Some devices will work when they receive a message from a sensor such as burglar alarms.

Why use computers to control things?
Computers are used because they:

·   never get tired,
·   never lose concentration,
·   don't make mistakes,
·   can repeat the same instructions over and over again in exactly the same way,
·   Are cheaper to employ than humans.

Workshop

In today's workshop we were given the chance to 'play' with three digital equipment used in schools, and explore how they can be used to support teaching and learning. These were:

                               

Data loggers                   Digital Microscopes               Programmable Toys



The learning device my partner (Megan) and I investigated was the programmable toys, in particular the bee-bot and pixie. The activity we carried out was programming the bee-bot to start at one person, move to the next (in a straight line), turn around 180 degree angle and the make its way back again. The video below shows an example of me carrying this task out:

I feel the bee-bot can be used in a majority of subjects as it is such a versatile tool which can be slotted in to any lesson. The idea of being able to move the toy in a forward, backward, left and right motion can work for subjects such as:

• Mathematics (shape, direction or co-ordinates),
• English (spelling),
• History (obsticle courses where the bee-bot moves from castle to castle),
•  Geography (maps),
•  Design Technology (pulling objects from A to B),
•  Languages (making the bee-bot connect up the correct words to make a sentence)
• Science (experiements testing pushes/pulls)

The bee-bot can bring the lesson to 'life' and make it engaging for the children. The key vocabulary can consist of forwards, left, right, degree, angle, reverse, pause, clear, go and turn.

The purpose of the bee-bot is to develop problem solving and social skills, as well as providing the children with the chance to use mathematical and linguistic language techniques. Plus building on their previous ICT knowledge, including the understanding of how technological devices work and can be incorporated in to everyday learning. There is even a bee-bot app available for children to use either during school or at home:

http://www.tts-group.co.uk/shops/tts/content/view.aspx?cref=PSGEN2293277

Another programmable toy which can be used with older children (KS2) is Pip. This devise can also be used as an extension or differentiation tool within KS1. Pip is a bigger, more sophisticated, independent programmable robot. It normally moves in centimetres and turns in degrees e.g. a right angle is right 90, and a 10 centimetre move is forwards 10. There is a hole in the middle of the toy which fits a felt tip pen, fantastic for mark making and assessment! An activity which could be carried out is turning pip in to a delivery car of some kind, and getting it to drop off packages to different destinations. The children will have to consider and work out the distance and turning angle when completing this.

The video below shows my other group member (James) creating a house picture using the pip:

Although the programmable toys are great fun for everyone, practicalities need to be remembered. Teachers will usually use these devises as part of ICT, and therefore will try to squeeze everyone in to the computer rooms (which can be a bit tight). There needs to be enough space for children to work on the floor to benefit from the bee-bot or pip experience. Another will be making sure groups are small enough so all children can get a go. One of the bee-bots is approximately £50 so schools may not have enough for every pupil.

Here are some useful websites I found about bee-bots pip:

http://www.ictopus.org.uk/downloads/sgp/SGP20.pdf- Robots in Early Education http://edtechlounge.com/bee-bot-activity-center/- Jacket Resources for Bee-Bot
http://www.terrapinlogo.com/files/TreasureMat.pdf- Activity

 

Next week I'll be looking in to webcams, cameras, videos and talking equipment so in the words of back to the future.................