OCTOBER 2016
SD38.BC.CA & RICHMOND-NEWS.COM
@RICHMONDSD38
Diefenbaker Elementary students James Wang, 12 (black hoodie) and William Huo, 11 (yellow hoodie) employ their math skills as they learn basic coding skills to control the Sphero. (photo credit Lauren Kramer)
Richmond Kids LEARN TO CODE with Sphero By Lauren Kramer
A series of robots the size of tennis balls are circulating through the Richmond School District’s elementary and high schools, teaching students about computer programming and the coding behind the technology so widely used today.
“It’s a really neat thing to watch kids learn to do this, and they catch on to it incredibly quickly,” he said. “It’s empowering for them to program it with a code and realize that they’re able to control a sphero or a robot, with the coding they’ve done.”
Sphero, the little robotic, is controlled by block-based coding written by students on an iPad app called Tickle, and Chris Loat, the district’s teacher consultant for technology integration, is loving the children’s reactions.
Many students in the district from Grade 1 up to Grade 9 are being exposed to Sphero, an open-ended app whose task complexity changes depending on the age of the kids using it. While they’re learning about repeat statements and writing coding functions, they’re also developing their soft skills, Loat said. “What I really
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like about this program is that they’re learning skills like cooperation, critical thinking and problem solving, too.” In the process, they’re writing codes that will make the Sphero move in different directions, navigate along a specific path, change colours, change directions or hop up and down. Students write the code depending on the challenge presented to them, engaging problem solving and trial and error along the way.
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Shout outs from Keith Liedtke
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Keith Liedtke would like to congratulate Teacher Consultant Kevin Lyseng for coaching Green Teams that resulted in 221,282 kWh