Robots and Physical Computing

Taken from:  University of Northampton recognised for being one of a handful of institutions teaching and researching Blockchain The University of Northampton has been recognised as one of only a handful of Higher Education (HE) institutions worldwide which are teaching or carrying out Blockchain research. Blockchain is a shared, replicated ledger that underpins technology such as cryptocurrency, but also sets out to provide the foundation for the next generation of transactional applications. Blockchain analyst website  Diar  has included the University of Northampton in a  list of just 28 HE providers that teach aspects of Blockchain and/or conduct research into it . Northampton does both. Postgraduate students on the  MSc Computing course are taught elements of Blockchain , including a general introduction to the basic concepts, plus coding and programming techniques. Meanwhile, various Northampton academics, led by Senior Lecturer in Educati...

A recently released book  Teaching Computing Unplugged in Primary Schools   edited by Helen Caldwell (University of Northampton) and Neil Smith (Open University) has a number of interesting chapters by authors who are passionate about how computing is taught in schools. The central theme is unplugged activities, without using computers, but still teach the fundamental of computational thinking. Ok, confession time. I co-wrote, along with Katharine Childs (Code Club), Chapter 3 Artists so I am biased here, but I believe in the central theme of Unplugged Computing. Computing, and Computational Thinking in general,  is not  just  about programming and using a computer (though using computers and  programming are vitally important to Computing) but it is also about many other things including problem-solving, being creative and working collaboratively. Chapter 3 is about linking these computational thinking ideas to produce visual art, by app...

Robotics within the teaching of Problem-Solving Volume/Issue:   Vol 7, Issue 1 Date: Sunday, 1 June, 2008 Journal Name:  ITALICS Author(s) Scott Turner Gary Hill Abstract This paper considers the experiences of teaching on a module where problem-solving is taught first, then programming. The main tools for the problem-solving part, alongside two problem-solving approaches, are tasks using Mindstorm (LEGO, Denmark) robot kits. This is being done as a foundation step before the syntax of a language (Java) is taught to enable a Graphical User Interface (GUI) emulation of a previous robot problem. Results of student evaluation and feedback will be presented and the use of two simulators will be considered. Full paper available at:  https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/robotics-within-teaching-problem-solving  or PDF version https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/ital.7.1h.pdf All opinions in this blog are the Author's and should not in any w...