AGTV Conference Workshop with Helen Kuehs
Bee-Bots are the slightly less advanced younger sibling of the Blue-Bot, they do not have the capability for remote programming, but are just as much fun.
Helen talked through how she introduced the language of directions in her early years classes (even in English some didn’t know left and right) and practised by “programming” students to act like robots and follow directions. Only after students showed they could understand these concepts did they start working with the Bee-Bots.
Helen showed us some of the mats she had created using plastic sheeting, how she used them with her students and asked us to create their own version of the challenges she sets her students. Combining language and programming makes the use of #BeeBots a simple STEM and CLIL activity for students, even in the younger years.
Unfortunately due to time restrictions and some technical difficulties we didn’t get to see what Helen had planned to show us with Scratch.
I am intrigued to find out how many of my schools have Bee-Bots and if I might be able to access them for my language classes in the future.