Why is playtime important for students? We often recognize the need at the elementary level, but even secondary students can greatly benefit from playtime during the school day. According to Dr. Hilary Conklin (Time.com) Playtime Isn’t Just for Preschoolers—Teenagers Need It, Too (2015).
Ozobots are tiny little robots move all around, delivering a whole ton of fun and engagement into your curriculum. There are two models - Evo and Bit. The Evo model can connect to their app and has a few enhanced features (such as Bluetooth connectivity, Expressive Sounds, and Drive Mode), but both models have endless possibilities for use in the classroom!
How Do They Work?
You can use white paper and 4 marker colors to tell Ozobots where to go and what to do right before your eyes, or you can use their website ozoblockly.com to program them, put them up to the device’s screen, and load the programs with a bunch of flashing lights! The OzoBlockly site is amazing because there are 5 levels students can choose from, allowing non-readers to expert coders participate in an activity and providing teachers opportunities for differentiation in the coding requirements. Students/teachers can decide how complicated they want this drag-and-drop coding experience to be or start with the basics and move up!
This all might sound intimidating, but within a few minutes, you will be on your way to becoming an ozobot pro. It’s inspiring to see applications for Ozobots in the classroom from kindergarten through high school students - engaging students every step of the way! With a little prep work, you can create a lesson with lasting impact.
Get Excited!
There’s no point in going any further until you get some ideas about how these can work in your content area though, right? Think about coding robots for teaching slope, retelling stories, tracing paths of famous voyages, learning about orbits, or solving brain-teasers with critical thinking… We’ve gathered links from the Ozobot site, Pinterest, YouTube, Twitter, and anywhere else we could find and linked them all up for you HERE. Browse for a bit and come up with a few ideas - then, use this LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE to help you get started!
Don’t Be Intimidated!
New technology can be really scary, but these are very user friendly. Kindergartners can get them working in a few minutes! Accept that something will go wrong, and that’s okay, a great deal of learning happens through that problem solving process. You have to be able to embrace a bit of controlled chaos to really get to that magic where connections happen and learning takes place. When success happens, the learning experience will be solidified!
THIS SITE is super helpful and has a bunch of information and videos to check out when getting started. You can also take yourself through THIS TUTORIAL ahead of time to get more comfortable using them. Even better, we have some general SETUP & TROUBLESHOOTING TIPS for you to check out.
Where do you go from here?
Talk to your building integrator to take your Ozobot ideas to fruition! Classrooms everywhere are making this leap and reaping the rewards of engagement, ownership, retention, and FUN!
Resources
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| Meet Evo + Bit, ozobot.com/img/products/products/tile-color-codes.ab0d3c62.jpg. |
She says, “Giving students occasions to learn through play not only fosters creative thinking, problem solving, independence, and perseverance, but also addresses teenagers’ developmental needs for greater independence and ownership in their learning, opportunities for physical activity and creative expression, and the ability to demonstrate competence. When classroom activities allow students to make choices relevant to their interests, direct their own learning, engage their imaginations, experiment with adult roles, and play physically, research shows that students become more motivated and interested, and they enjoy more positive school experiences.”
We are here today to tell you how Ozobots can be a tool to help you add this type of playtime back into the center of your curriculum.
OZOBOT. “Ozobot - It's Your Move.” YouTube, YouTube, 31 Mar. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=zm_H8HXWFZ4.
What Are They?
Ozobots are tiny little robots move all around, delivering a whole ton of fun and engagement into your curriculum. There are two models - Evo and Bit. The Evo model can connect to their app and has a few enhanced features (such as Bluetooth connectivity, Expressive Sounds, and Drive Mode), but both models have endless possibilities for use in the classroom!
 |
Meet Evo + Bit, ozobot.com/img/products/products/tile-color-codes.ab0d3c62.jpg.
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How Do They Work?
You can use white paper and 4 marker colors to tell Ozobots where to go and what to do right before your eyes, or you can use their website ozoblockly.com to program them, put them up to the device’s screen, and load the programs with a bunch of flashing lights! The OzoBlockly site is amazing because there are 5 levels students can choose from, allowing non-readers to expert coders participate in an activity and providing teachers opportunities for differentiation in the coding requirements. Students/teachers can decide how complicated they want this drag-and-drop coding experience to be or start with the basics and move up!
This all might sound intimidating, but within a few minutes, you will be on your way to becoming an ozobot pro. It’s inspiring to see applications for Ozobots in the classroom from kindergarten through high school students - engaging students every step of the way! With a little prep work, you can create a lesson with lasting impact.
Get Excited!
There’s no point in going any further until you get some ideas about how these can work in your content area though, right? Think about coding robots for teaching slope, retelling stories, tracing paths of famous voyages, learning about orbits, or solving brain-teasers with critical thinking… We’ve gathered links from the Ozobot site, Pinterest, YouTube, Twitter, and anywhere else we could find and linked them all up for you HERE. Browse for a bit and come up with a few ideas - then, use this LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE to help you get started!
Don’t Be Intimidated!
New technology can be really scary, but these are very user friendly. Kindergartners can get them working in a few minutes! Accept that something will go wrong, and that’s okay, a great deal of learning happens through that problem solving process. You have to be able to embrace a bit of controlled chaos to really get to that magic where connections happen and learning takes place. When success happens, the learning experience will be solidified!
THIS SITE is super helpful and has a bunch of information and videos to check out when getting started. You can also take yourself through THIS TUTORIAL ahead of time to get more comfortable using them. Even better, we have some general SETUP & TROUBLESHOOTING TIPS for you to check out.
Where do you go from here?
Talk to your building integrator to take your Ozobot ideas to fruition! Classrooms everywhere are making this leap and reaping the rewards of engagement, ownership, retention, and FUN!
Resources
Conklin, Hilary G. “Playtime Isn't Just for Preschoolers-Teenagers Need It, Too.” Time, Time, 3 Mar. 2015, time.com/3726098/learning-through-play-teenagers-education/.
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Authors
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Stacey Wright is nearing the end of her first year as a CCPS Technology Integrator after teaching thirteen years (five in CCPS) teaching MS and JR High band. A mother of two, she treasures time with her family - especially enjoying time outside enjoying nature and time inside being crafty.
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Kristine Vester is finishing her first year as a Technology Integrator for Chesterfield County Public Schools. Prior to this position, Kristine was 6-12 math educator who enjoyed creating STEM lessons for the students all over the Central Virginia area. Kristine has experience teaching students mathematics, science, and VA history. When not learning different ways to incorporate technology into the classroom, she is spending time with her family. You can usually find her on the soccer field cheering on one son or in the crossfit gym with the other son.
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