With wide eyes and smiles all around, kindergartners watched as Elwood, a pint-sized humanoid robot, read a book, with the aid of the sixth-grade robotics class at Sidney Central School on Tuesday, October 7.
Elwood, who is DCMO BOCES’ NAO Robot, has been programmed to scan an image and connect it to a portion of the story. The end result was the robot being able to read the book, ask comprehension questions, and respond to answers students give.
To get Elwood to the point of reading to the kindergartners, sixth graders learned about the software, and completed the programming during class, recess, study hall and after school for the past few weeks. Students had to consider concepts such as natural movement, anticipated response, and age-appropriate comprehension check questions to accompany the book.
The first attempt at reading didn't go smoothly, however. After strolling to Mrs. Lyon’s class, the program and robot didn't work. The sixth graders couldn't figure it out right away, so after demonstrating how Elwood dances, they headed back to their classroom with a promise to eventually have the robot read to the class.
After getting back to the robotics classroom, the group quickly solved the issue and the kindergarten class was soon treated to a story and another dance by Elwood, this time with some music.
“Disappointment and frustration are frequent visitors within the walls of a robotics classroom,” teacher Deb Vaughan said. “It’s unavoidable. Since it’s unavoidable, it is necessary to learn the skills to with through it. These students get better at dealing with these situations because they get plenty of practice. They’re learning that when they get to the point of frustration, they’re usually not too far from success.”
The group experienced that Tuesday with Elwood.
After returning from Mrs. Lyon’s class, the students had to look at their program work, as well as react to the robot demonstrating behavior they hadn't seen before. They came back to the class, regrouped, rebooted and retried and found success, all in about five minutes.
"These students are steadily gaining strength as problem solvers," Vaughan said. "(Tuesday’s) demonstration didn't go as students had anticipated. It was supposed to be a nice walk to Mrs. Lyon's class, a fabulous presentation in which the students in Kindergarten were amazed, and the sixth grade students experienced the thrill of a job well done.
"Instead, they were embarrassed by unanticipated problems," she continued. "However, the amazing part kicked in when they returned to this classroom and pulled it back together. That is the strength of these students. They will not quit until the job is done, and they are gaining the ability to work through some pretty tough problems."
For a video from the event, please click here.
For a gallery of photos, please click here.
Elwood, who is DCMO BOCES’ NAO Robot, has been programmed to scan an image and connect it to a portion of the story. The end result was the robot being able to read the book, ask comprehension questions, and respond to answers students give.
To get Elwood to the point of reading to the kindergartners, sixth graders learned about the software, and completed the programming during class, recess, study hall and after school for the past few weeks. Students had to consider concepts such as natural movement, anticipated response, and age-appropriate comprehension check questions to accompany the book.
The first attempt at reading didn't go smoothly, however. After strolling to Mrs. Lyon’s class, the program and robot didn't work. The sixth graders couldn't figure it out right away, so after demonstrating how Elwood dances, they headed back to their classroom with a promise to eventually have the robot read to the class.
After getting back to the robotics classroom, the group quickly solved the issue and the kindergarten class was soon treated to a story and another dance by Elwood, this time with some music.
“Disappointment and frustration are frequent visitors within the walls of a robotics classroom,” teacher Deb Vaughan said. “It’s unavoidable. Since it’s unavoidable, it is necessary to learn the skills to with through it. These students get better at dealing with these situations because they get plenty of practice. They’re learning that when they get to the point of frustration, they’re usually not too far from success.”
The group experienced that Tuesday with Elwood.
After returning from Mrs. Lyon’s class, the students had to look at their program work, as well as react to the robot demonstrating behavior they hadn't seen before. They came back to the class, regrouped, rebooted and retried and found success, all in about five minutes.
"These students are steadily gaining strength as problem solvers," Vaughan said. "(Tuesday’s) demonstration didn't go as students had anticipated. It was supposed to be a nice walk to Mrs. Lyon's class, a fabulous presentation in which the students in Kindergarten were amazed, and the sixth grade students experienced the thrill of a job well done.
"Instead, they were embarrassed by unanticipated problems," she continued. "However, the amazing part kicked in when they returned to this classroom and pulled it back together. That is the strength of these students. They will not quit until the job is done, and they are gaining the ability to work through some pretty tough problems."
For a video from the event, please click here.
For a gallery of photos, please click here.