ROBOT FLUENT
ROBOT FLUENT
Signature Portfolio
ROBOT FLUENT ONLINE COURSE WEBSITE
MY PROJECT
In this project, the goal is to create more opportunities for middle school students to learn more about robotics and discover the world of robotic engineering. I will be creating an online learning course for students from 10-14 to teach them how to build their first robot. The course will have multiple lessons with instructive videos and written descriptions of the steps.
ABOUT ME
I am a junior from Emma Willard School who is interested in educating students about robotics. I took a software programming course in middle school and created my first video game which got an award at the technology fair. After that, I took an interest in robotics and started to build my first ever robot which was a line tracing robot, following that I built my own toy helicopter. And now I want to educate young students about robotics and teach them how to build their own robot in a fun easy way
NOVEMBER
I picked out the robot I wanted to make an online course, I first chose a sound-sensitive robot that followed your voice around but then I asked for some feedback from my sister and her classmates who are in middle school, and they informed me that it was a little bit complicated so I changed it to a walking robot without the sound detector. It was a good change to make because I wanted the students who take the online course to have easy access to the materials and a sound detector was a slightly harder material to find.
I created a list of things I plan to add to my online course website, from the article I read about best teaching methods (Kebritchi, M. (2014). Preferred teaching methods in online courses: Learners’ views. MERLOT Journal, 10(3).) The data showed that narrative, discussion, and feedback-based learning is more effective in online classes so I decided to add a discussion/question part on the website where the students can ask questions and discuss their robot. I also wanted to have a place for them to show off their final product so I decided to make a photo submission part where the students can upload the pictures of their robot and share with us what they named it. I made all the necessary decision for the course and the next step is to start working on creating it.
DECEMBER
My focus for the month of December was to obtain all the necessary pieces to build my robot but I hit a wall when the COVID restrictions in my country, Turkey, did not allow people below 18 years old to leave the house so I was put in a quarantine period and my parents were only allowed to leave the house for work so acquiring those pieces were impossible for me this month. So I started working on creating my online learning platform, the first website I used was Kajabi but it was really expensive to purchase so I had to search for other ways I could create my online course. My search was not very successful during this month and I failed to find a platform that would meet my criteria and fulfill my needs. So I did research on robotics engineering to both educate myself more on the subject and also to use the information on my website as additional information for students who are more interested in the field and want to pursue a career in robotics.
JANUARY
In January I planned to get my website mostly done and find a way to embed the videos I would upload to the website. After a long search, I found that Google Sites would meet my needs and with the help of Youtube I could upload my videos to my own private account to then embed them into the website. I designed an outline for my website and researched ways to make a website easy to navigate and aesthetically pleasing and decided on more warm colors since it would be more middle school students. With the help of a family friend, I was able to obtain some of the pieces for the robot. I was able to get my motor, electrical cords, and the silicone gun. There was an announcement sharing that the covid restrictions will be eased for February so hopefully, my parents will be able to get me the missing pieces of my robot.
FEBRUARY
In February I had to go in a different direction with my robot because of the limited time I had left. Even with the COVID restrictions eased, because of the economical difficulties many stores did not offer the pieces I needed, or they were closed. With this, I decided that considering another robot would be more effective for my project. I came up with two different designs: one with easier to find materials but a slightly more complicated structure and one with harder to find materials with an easier structure. I then consulted my dad who is an engineer and he offered a replacement of the metal piece needed with plastic straws which would give me the missing piece needed for the robot with the easier structure. So I have all my pieces together and the robot is ready to be built. This month I interviewed Aykut Işık who is a computer engineer and we discussed the importance of teaching young kids robotics and technology at a young age since we live in a world that is dominated by technology. You can find the transcripted embedded below.
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ziya Bahtiyar. (2013). Temel elektronik ve robotlar: Çıraklar için robot yapımına giriş kitabı (Basic Electronics and Robotics: Beginner's Guide to Robot Making). İstanbul ; Pusula Yayıncılık.
The Author Ziya Bahtiyar who majored in electrical engineering and currently works with Microsoft uses a basic and understandable language for beginners in electronics and robotics. The book covers all the basic pieces for a robot (their uses, how to install those pieces together), the variety of robots we can create at a beginners level ( sound sensitive robots, walking robots, light-sensitive robots, line tracing robots), and where to find the pieces. This source teaches the basic language for robotics which I will be using so the beginner middle school students will not be confused. It is also a useful source for any challenges I get with the building of my robot. To conclude this book is a beginners guide to robotics and teaches robotics by simplifying the complicated world of technology.