[robocup-humanoid] Humanoid Robots- NEED EXPERT ADVICE

[Damien Kee]

I'm going to be "that person" and ask what I believe is the fundamental
question, "what are you trying to teach?"  I view robotics not as a subject
but as a tool for teaching STEM topics.  We're not teaching robotics, we're
using robotics as a really engaging way of teaching STEM concepts.  All
educational decisions need to first address what is trying to be achieved,
and then as a secondary measure, identifying the tools that can be used to
teach those concepts.  If robots are a good fit to teach those concepts,
then that's great, otherwise you look to other technologies / tools to
teach those concepts.

Why do you need to use humanoids for teaching?  This is a genuinely open
question.  Is there something that a humanoid platform enables that other
platforms don't?  More engagement?  More context to robots in society?  All
are valid approaches.

If the concepts can be taught with a simpler / cheaper system, then as an
educational organisation this is probably a better way to go.  How many
LEGO/VEX/Arduino kits can you purchase for the same price as one humanoid?

Me personally, I'd prefer to buy 100 arduino kits and reach 100x more
students than a NAO (US$20,000???)

Just my 2cents worth (although worth a lot less with the current AUD/USD
exchange rate!)

cheers
damo

On 9 October 2015 at 02:23, AMY EGUCHI <amy_eguchi at bloomfield.edu> wrote:

> Hi Sara,
>
> I know some school teachers (all from private schools) using NAO in the
> U.S. With NAO, you can use Choreographe to start programming NAO. The code
> created with Choreographe can be opened with Python. Those students (event
> they are high school students) are all using Choreographe at this point.
>
> If you are interested, I can introduce you to the teacher who has been
> using NAO for last two years.
>
>
> cheers amy
>
>
>
> On Thu, Oct 8, 2015 at 12:14 PM, Sara Iatauro <siatau at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Dear RoboCup Colleagues,
>>
>> Hope this message finds you well. As some of you may know, I am an
>> educational consultant for 68 schools in STEM (Science & Robotics) for both
>> primary and secondary inclusive education groups. I have received a large
>> grant to implement robotics in all our schools over the next 3 years. The
>> system we are using are EV3, VEX, some Arduino right now. I am trying to
>> move the Secondary schools especially to all use Arduino. I am in the
>> process of getting them all set-up for material and training. With this
>> initiative, I am hoping to adopt a more computer science/ technical model
>> as many of your international schools would probably have. The province of
>> Quebec, Canada Secondary schools are really lagging behind compared to many
>> of your country schools or programs. I have also witnessed and seen this
>> from many RoboCup events over the years.
>>
>> One of my next school programs I am looking at is Humanoid Robot systems.
>> I am looking to all of you as experts to enlighten me on which humanoid I
>> should look at implementing at the Secondary level in the near future.
>> Would it be the NAO or Darwin or another one?
>>
>> Thank you for your help,
>>
>>
>> --
>> *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
>> Sara Iatauro, PhD. (STEM scholar)
>> “Educating the mind without educating
>> the heart is no education at all.”   - *Aristotle*
>> <http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2192.Aristotle>
>> *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
>>
>
>
>
> --
> **************************************
> Amy Eguchi, PhD
> Associate Professor of Education
> Bloomfield College
> 467 Franklin Street
> Bloomfield, NJ 07003
> 973.748.9000 ext. 1122/1110
> amy_eguchi at bloomfield.edu
> emiamy at post.harvard.edu
>
> ******* Peace on Earth ************
>
>
>