In a recent coding club session, 7 Junor pupils were introduced to Marty by our VS Computing Science pupils, an educational robot designed to teach coding and computational thinking. The experience was nothing short of delightful for the pupils. They began by using block coding—a visual programming language designed for beginners. This hands-on approach enabled them to understand the basics of coding by arranging predefined blocks of code, which Marty executed in real-time.
The girls, in particular, found it thrilling to experiment with various blocks of code. Their initial endeavours began with the motion blocks, resulting in Marty performing a range of actions. He kicked, waved his hand, and even joyfully performed a circle dance, much to the pupils' delight. The voice command feature became an instant hit among the girls. They were ecstatic as Marty replayed their recorded messages, mimicking various sounds and even whistling tunes they had recorded. One of the most memorable moments was when they explored the customisation of Marty's visual features. A particularly creative twist was giving one of the robots 'heterochromia', with eyes that shone in contrasting shades of red, blue, and pink!
As the session progressed to machine learning, the pupils trained Marty to recognize specific gestures and respond with predefined moves. This experiment provided a glimpse into how machines can learn from data and adapt their behaviour.
Observing Marty come to life with their coded instructions was a joy for the 7 Junior. The robot served as an interactive medium, making abstract computational concepts tangible. The buzzing enthusiasm in the room was evident. Not only did they learn crucial computing skills, but they also discovered the fun in experimenting and problem-solving. Overall, the session was a perfect blend of learning and enjoyment, leaving the pupils eager to explore more in the world of Computing Science.
We really enjoyed seeing how well the 7 Juniors interacted with Marty. They were specifically interested in the machine learning features that Marty offers and were working independently with him by the end of the session.