April 10, 2019

Robots are Invading Ignite!

By: Jackie Humphrey

Ozobots are coming soon to the kit library in Ignite studio. Small yet mighty, Ozobots are programmable robots for ages 6 and up. Children can draw code using colored markers or visit the Ozobot website www.ozobot.com and use drag and drop block coding to program the robots to do a series of moves.  The possibilities for challenges and creative solutions are endless.

Start with drawing a racetrack with markers and add series of colored dashes to get the Ozobot to do simple commands. You can progress up to block coding on the Ozobot website using Ozoblocky. There are lots of lessons and challenges on the website that progress up to using algebraic equations.

Coding is an important skill that teaches young people how to think differently.  It’s more than just learning how to make robots do things. It introduces logical thinking and how to break down problems into smaller parts so they can solve them more effectively.  If one attempt doesn’t work, they learn to try again and again until they find an answer. Perseverance isn’t just an important math or computer skill, it’s an important life skill.

Our kit includes the Ozobot Bit robot, markers and worksheets.  You can check out one of our laptops to use the Ozoblocky drag and drop block coding on the Ozobot website. You can also check out their YouTube channel for more Ozobot ideas!

Whether you’re just starting to code or are an experienced coder, Ozobots are a fun, interactive coding experience. So, stop just consuming technology and start creating it!