Our School is closed through April 10th. I teach 45 students in 2 different robotics classes at our school. I probably only have 30 students who are actually interested in machining and engineering. I have a degree in mathematics and understand precision machining having NIMS certs in those areas. Besides Robotics I teach Intro to Engineering Design, Computer Integrated Manufacturing, Precision Machining, Principles of Engineering.
For the programmers and Media I need help developing curriculum or offer them projects they can work on from home,
I am developing this curriculum as a menu style. Choose your own adventure, Offer the students options they can choose from. I need help in the areas I do not know enough about. I’m looking to be pointed n the right direction for cool things these teams can research or work on through the next month.
Also, I am not an engineer so if you have cool CAD or engineering projects please let me know.
Edit: These are all projects they must be able to do on their school issued laptops at home. No Adobe, Robot
They are in a digital media class and have been learning how to edit on adobe Premiere. They use illustrator to develop our newsletters. Photoshop to design our shirts and logos. One thing we do not have is a solid style sheet, i.e. fonts, colors values, ect…
Also, I just realized the students are only only allowed to use what ever software they currently have on their laptops as anything new would need admin rights to install, which they cannot get. They do have Fusion 360. So any curriculum would need to be website based or stock Microsoft suits i.e. powerpoint, word, onenote. ect… which are all available to our students in cloud versions.
What level of internet can we expect for students?
None - No internet connection
Low - Can check assignments once a day, do not have constant connection (i.e. using a phone hotspot with limited data)
Low Medium - Have constant slow internet connection (Could open up documents, but videos would have to be downloaded as opposed to real time streaming.)
High Medium - Have constant internet that could stream videos, video calls usable but with some lag.
High - Constant internet connection that is strong (Real-time simulations, video calls crystal clear, etc.)
We are title one so low income, but a local major school system is parking Wifi enabled business all over the city for students to tap into to work on E_learning. I would bet 75% would have low Medium or High Medium.
• Robotics
â—‹ Gant Chart Creation Tutorial
§ Create a Gantt Chart for how you utilized our 7 week robotics build season.
â—‹ Research Chief Delphi for potential projects
§ Submit 3 - 5 possible projects
â—‹ Narrow it down to 1
§ What is your goal for this project by April 10th
â—‹ Create a Gantt Chart
For this project
How to think like a Computer Scientist - T
Assuming this is high-school level, I know a really good book for teaching CS called How to think like a Computer Scientist. It has been translated into a lot of different languages. The python version has an interactive version that students can code along side. While I haven’t personally used the Python one, only the Java version, a skim of it looks good.
Trinket - E, T
Trinket is a great site for letting students write python projects. It’s base functionality is completely free, and comes with the turtle library build in, which allows students to more easily visualize coding projects. It also has lots of great activities build in.
Scratch - E
Scratch was a create by MIT. This site is a lot more rudimentary than the other two, but it’s much easier for students to develop games. Projects can be a lot more open ended. This allows for more flexibility to the teacher. Also, more advanced students tend to go above and beyond with the projects, causing them to be able to work at their own pace.
Let me know if any of these are what you (or any other teachers) are looking for, or if you have special niches you need filled. I just contacted one of my past high-school teachers to see if I could get access some of his work.
E - Easy turn in, projects can be shared via links or other means, so it’s easy to collect for a grade
T - Large amount of typing required
These are fantastic. We use java and I know enough about C++ and Python to be dangerous. Our programming teach was in the middle of building a button box, working with sensors, practicing encoders and getting vision, using limelight, working for the first time. My assistant coach is a master programmer and got PID working on the shooter and the turret, but he was getting ready to teach the students everything about those system, which he learned this year, and how to implement them into our command base style program.
I know that How to think like a Computer Scientist, Trinket, CodingBat also have a Java side to them, so you can used that if you want. Let me know if you can’t easily find them and I can add links.
I’m currently in the process of developing some teaching resources that would be more specific with FRC robotics, but for now focusing on building core programming skills will be the most effective.
Here is another resource to look into from my past high school teacher. It’s written for python but might have some projects you can use. Think Functional
Dyson engineers have designed these challenges specifically for children. Ideal for home or in the classroom, they encourage inquisitive young minds to get excited about engineering.
