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How the Ozobot, Award-Winning Coding Robot, Teaches Kids How to Code

Posted on May 29, 2019 by Lubica Misevski

Ozobot, the award-winning coding robot, is an invention that aids kids to use their innate curiosity to create. This tiny bot packs a big punch; crafted with ingenuity, it uses coloured lines and a more mature coding language (OzoBlockly) to teach children and adolescents the beauty of programming. Whether in the classroom or at home, children learn the skills necessary to succeed with Ozobot.

Meet Ozobot Bit 2.0

Ozobot Bit 2.0 is a small robot that is mostly manipulated through the use of Colour Codes and OzoBlockly (discussed later). Colour Codes are lines drawn with coloured markers denoting specific actions. Without the use of a screen, children can discover the wonder of programming with a few strokes of a marker. These thick lines will indicate whether Bit should turn, dance, pause, celebrate, change speeds, and much more. Creating games, mazes, puzzles, and more creative structures, such as roller coasters or drawings, require ingenuity, creativity, and the brandishing of a coloured marker. Introducing children early to the surprising complexity of programming simple movements for a robot ensures they will understand the basics of code before opening a textbook.

Meet Ozobot Evo

Ozobot Evo is just as tiny but offers more technological incentives for your buck. This generation of Ozobot teaches children how to use recorded macros with the help of a remote-control app. With a simple tap, children can input direct actions for their Evo to perform rather than having to draw lines or manually program.

Evo has several functions different from Bit. Children can beam programs to Evo using Bluetooth rather than holding it onto a screen for a few seconds to calibrate. Evo also has a social networking capability, allowing for owners to send sequences of actions to their friend's bot for playtime even when separated. Alongside these new features, Evo has a gamification application that encourages extended play sessions. Children can feel accomplished by earning XP and leveling up through programming their Evo to perform their favourite actions. These features add value to the bot, increasing kids' confidence and ability to tinker for hours and using their creativity to learn through crafting.

OzoBlockly

OzoBlockly is the visual block language children use to power up Ozobots and get them moving. Built on Google Blockly, it teaches kids how to build programs for Ozobots to follow. The user interface is intuitive and provides a playground for children to visually learn code and how to manipulate blocks to create narratives for their Ozobots to act out. Extra material for using OzoBlockly to its fullest extent can be found on the OzoBlockly website.

How Ozobots Teach Children

Through a mimicry of coding language, Ozobot Colour Codes and OzoBlockly simulate building instructions for bot response. This combination of colour coding and block building teaches children how multiple tasks given to a bot can be acted out, allowing for pliability. Kids can also attach implements to their bots, guiding them to illustrate a complex image or act out a scenario.

Ozobots provide children with a physical and visual element to coding. By giving them an object that performs each task as instructed, children learn how to build rather than merely memorising. Failure soon becomes a part of the problem-solving process, in addition to playtime, just as playtime becomes a part of the learning process.

Collaboration is an essential component of learning with Ozobots. Standard classroom activities with textbooks and sheets of paper can come to life with ease. Students will be itching to figure out how to next use their Ozobots to fulfill their dreams.

These skills of providing accurate instructions, problem-solving, building, learning, failing, and collaborating are instrumental in coding. These are also essential components of becoming a STEM student. Children who learn how to accept failure as a part of the process for creation, and thus in experimentation, will have an easier time in developing those skills. The STEM field is wide-ranging, full of interesting careers in academics and active production, and it is part of the future of tomorrow.

Ozobots are a tool that provides a blank canvas for kids to experiment upon, tweaking and tweaking them until they have finally perfected their desired end-result.

The Ozobot packages offered are as follows:

* Ozobot Bit 2.0 Single Kit (Crystal White or Titanium Black)

* Ozobot Evo Coding Robot Starter Pack (Crystal White or Titanium Black)

* Ozobot Education Bit 2.0 Coding Robot Classroom Kit

* Ozobot Education Evo Coding Robot Classroom Kit

More of the Ozobot accessories are coming soon. For the entire collection available and to purchase an Ozobot for home learning or in the Classroom, please click here.

Posted in Ozobot Evo Australia, Ozobot Evo Classroom Kit, Ozobot Robot Coding Toy

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