Sixth grade STEM students at the +William Davies programmed Sphero, a smart toy or robot, to calculate time, speed, and distance using their own devices.
After the students downloaded the MacroLab app, paired Sphero with their device, and aimed the tailgate of Sphero, they were ready to learn and use the MacroLab App. The MacroLab app, is an app that allows you to program Sphero. It is available at iTunes and Google Play stores.
First, I mirrored my iPad using Reflector to my laptop which is hooked up to a projector so that I can model the use of the app, as shown below.
Next, the students were instructed to create a new macro, which included the roll and stop commands. The students used the attributes in the roll command to change the speed, heading (direction), and delay (time) of Sphero when executed. Once Sphero stopped, they had to measure the distance from the starting point to the ending point and record their findings. Here are a few pictures of the students working on the assignment. I will continue to use Sphero and soon, Ollie, to teach students programming.
