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A Finch in Your Classroom?

A Finch in Your Classroom?. Using the Finch in Elementary/Middle School. Introduction. Steve Carr Information Technology FP Lincoln Public Schools Lincoln, NE. Introduction. Background info Hardware Software. Introduction. BirdBrain Offers 1000 Robots for CSEdWeek CSTA Members:

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A Finch in Your Classroom?

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  1. A Finch in Your Classroom? Using the Finch in Elementary/Middle School

  2. Introduction Steve Carr Information Technology FP Lincoln Public Schools Lincoln, NE

  3. Introduction Background info Hardware Software

  4. Introduction BirdBrain Offers 1000 Robots for CSEdWeek CSTA Members: We are pledging to loan out robots to up to 20 school districts or educational organizations. We will cover all shipping costs, as well as costs associated with any robots that break in transit or during the program (we have high confidence in the Finch's robustness!). We will send five robots to each participating organization at the beginning of November, as an advance squad to ensure that there are no software or IT glitches on school computers, and to allow teachers participating in the program to practice or modify the activity. September 10, 2013

  5. Introduction I'm pleased to inform you that your application to the 1000 Finch robots program was accepted! We will be sending you 50 robots in the month of April. Tom Lauwers, Owner, BirdBrain Technologies LLC

  6. Introduction I'm pleased to inform you that your application to the 1000 Finch robots program was accepted! We will be sending you 50 robots in the month of April. Tom Lauwers, Owner, BirdBrain Technologies LLC April 2nd, 47 Finch robots were received -- 22 were delivered to Huntington Elem. & 21 to West Lincoln Elem. Those schools were chosen since their CLCs had been participating in a special program involved in teaching students to code in Scratch.

  7. What is a Finch?

  8. What is a Finch? Design goals based on 5 characteristics: 1) works everywhere; 2) rich interactivity; 3) aesthetically appealing; 4) robust hardware; 5) minimal curriculum changes.

  9. Hardware • Light Sensors

  10. Hardware • Temperature • sensor

  11. Hardware • Obstacle Detection • System • (Infrared sensors)

  12. Hardware • Accelerometer

  13. Hardware • Motors

  14. Hardware • LED & speaker

  15. Hardware • USB port • with 15’ cable

  16. Hardware Note: the Finch has no “onboard” power and must be tethered to a computer via USB to operate. • USB port • with 15’ cable

  17. Software • Most of the following languages, except those listed at the end, can be found for multiple OS and are free downloads.

  18. Software • Java - initially designed to work in courses in which Java was the predominant programming language.

  19. Software • Java • JavaScript - Javascript Finch package for your OS

  20. Software • Java • JavaScript • Python – supports Python in two ways: native Python library; access to Finch's Java libraries through Jython.

  21. Software • Java • JavaScript • Python • Scratch - to connect Scratch 2.0 with the Finch, you need to install a helper app, the "BirdBrain Robot Server”

  22. Software • Java • JavaScript • Python • Scratch • Snap! - a descendant of Scratch and adds a number of key features like creating custom blocks, recursion, running in a browser and dedicated Finch/Hummingbird blocks.

  23. Software • Java • JavaScript • Python • Scratch • Snap! • I chose Snap! for two reasons: • 1) CLCs were learning Scratch;

  24. Software • Java • JavaScript • Python • Scratch • Snap! • I chose Snap! for two reasons: • 1) CLCs were learning Scratch; • 2) Scratch and Snap! are FREE, multi-platform and IOS.

  25. Software • Java • JavaScript • Python • Scratch • Snap! • C, C++, C# - The C, C++ and C# library was written from the ground up and has a different feature set from the Finch Java library. Not available for Mac or Linux

  26. Software • Java • JavaScript • Python • Scratch • Snap! • C, C++, C# • Visual BASIC – not available for Mac or Linux

  27. Software • Java • JavaScript • Python • Scratch • Snap! • C, C++, C# • Visual BASIC • Greenfoot, Processing, Calico, RoboRealm, Scala, MATLAB,LabView, etc.

  28. Programming the Finch • The Snap! interface

  29. Programming the Finch • Introducing CS concepts: input/output, conditionals, loops and more. Input/Output

  30. Programming the Finch • Introducing CS concepts: input/output, conditionals, loops and more. Input/Output

  31. Programming the Finch • Introducing CS concepts: input/output, conditionals, loops and more. If Block – single alternative

  32. Programming the Finch • Introducing CS concepts: input/output, conditionals, loops and more. If Else Block: multiple alternative

  33. Programming the Finch • Introducing CS concepts: input/output, conditionals, loops and more. Loop

  34. Programming the Finch Loop and compound conditional

  35. The Community Learning Centers • What did we learn? Integrating the Finch robots into the Scratch curriculum has been amazing. The transition from Scratch to Snap was so easy given all the time we spent using Scratch. The students are so excited to use the Finch robots and I was so shocked at how fast they were able to get the Finch robots to do exactly what they wanted them to do. Having the Finch robots the last month of club was perfect timing, because the students were able to use everything they learned from Scratch and turn it into something so real. Thank you again, Ali Forey-Rohach West Lincoln Elementary

  36. Purchase Options - Finch • Price: $99 each

  37. Purchase Options • Price: $99 each • Quantity Purchase: • $99 1 - 4 • $94 5 - 19 • $89 20 - 49 • $84 50 - 99 • $79 100+

  38. Purchase Options • Price: $99 each • Quantity Purchase: • $99 1 - 4 • $94 5 - 19 • $89 20 - 49 • $84 50 - 99 • $79 100+ • Purchase Programs: • Finch Eggs Program • Finch Eggs • Golden Eggs

  39. Purchase Options • Price: $99 each • Quantity Purchase: • $99 1 - 4 • $94 5 - 19 • $89 20 - 49 • $84 50 - 99 • $79 100+ • Purchase Programs: • Finch Eggs Program • Finch Eggs • Golden Eggs • Grant Assistance Program

  40. Alternatives to the Finch • Other robot systems Sphero and Ollie gosphero.com Sphero - $129.99 v 2.0, original - $79.99 Ollie – available fall 2014 - $99.99 Bo and Yana – pre-order for Christmas 2014 play-i.com Yana - $59 Bo – $169 TinkerBots indiegogo.com/projects/tinkerbots#home various models from $159 - $499

  41. Resources: • Finch Website: • finchrobot.com • finchrobot.com/finch-hardware • finchrobot.com/software • finchrobot.com/downloads • finchrobot.com/software/snap

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