Sm(art) robots - H(app)y kids
▶Summary
In most public schools the teaching methods used do not keep up with the requirements of nowadays, in terms of the required professional qualifications but also the interests of the students. Τo a large extent they are still teacher-centered and children are passive recipients of the teacher's knowledge. There is a lack of experimentation and interaction. The lesson is not an experiential experience, which reduces children's interest. And finally, students are skeptical about the usefulness of the material taught. The main need of this project is to embody STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics) in the school life and curriculum, utilizing all the pedagogical advantages it provides. By Utilizing STEAM and robotics, children learn to work in teams, are trained in decision making, discover inclinations and interests that they did not know they had, learn to handle technology responsibly and lay a solid foundation for their future lives. With this project our goal was to transform traditional teacher-centered methods to teaching where problem solving and exploratory learning playing a dominant role. The playful and creative activities and solving real life problems will boost the interest of children to school life
▶Objectives
The main objectives of the project are: 1. Promotion of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics) teaching methods at the participating schools. 2. Enhance of key competences of the students 3. Enhance the interest of all students to lessons with innovative student-centered, interactive, experiential teaching methods. 4. Improvement of the extroversion of participating schools 5. Boosting the self-esteem and socialization of the participating students, by working in mixed nationality groups, solving real life problems. 6. Embodiment of new teaching methods at the curriculum of the schools.
▶Activities
The main activities were: * * Robot tour guide at a museum model * Robot saving goods and people from school area * Robots interaction * 3D printing * Video recording Individual activities related to the above are: * Creations of museum models, decorating them with macquets or phots of art pieces. * Finding information about art pieces. * Creation of sound message or videos about them * Ideas about robotic story. * Construction and robot programming.
▶Impact
* Robot photos * Robot programs * Museum models * Power point about art of each country * Videos about art of each country * Videos of the activities * Presentation of promoted logos * Etwinning project with the same name: Sm(art) robots - H(app)y kids * Web page with the overall acrivities: https://sites.google.com/view/smart-robots * Youtube channel of the project: https://www.youtube.com/@smartrobots-happykids * Charts about the evaluation of the activities * Educational scenario (Learning Design): https://www.ucl.ac.uk/learning-designer/viewer.php?uri=/personal/nikosp/designs/fid/77c5ff47af1e1553a097c09b479393231be70f0cb4fe2f0ffd116d2ac518ff73&v=3.00 Padlet with the proposed logos: https://padlet.com/nik_papalazarou/8nhfhpzir60x64la