Education

Robotics at Denair students’ fingertips

Bee Staff Reports
Denair Elementary Charter Academy third-graders Araceli Andrade, left, and Hilary Perez watch the result of their coding of the Dash robot during a class designed to introduce students to computer programming in Denair on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016. Students learned basic coding concepts to control a small robot. The program was taught by Jose Marquez, the Science Technology Engineering and Math coordinator for the Stanislaus County Office of Education.
Denair Elementary Charter Academy third-graders Araceli Andrade, left, and Hilary Perez watch the result of their coding of the Dash robot during a class designed to introduce students to computer programming in Denair on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016. Students learned basic coding concepts to control a small robot. The program was taught by Jose Marquez, the Science Technology Engineering and Math coordinator for the Stanislaus County Office of Education. Andy Alfaro aalfaro@modbee.com

Small robots dashed around Denair Elementary Charter Academy on Tuesday, teaching kids basic computer programming skills. Dash robots were designed for younger users. In fact, students do not need to be able to read to do visual programming, said teacher Kelly Beard. In Path, the visual programming app, she explained, a student drags his or her fingertip across the screen to create the shape (course) the Dash will complete. Because the computer screen is a grid, students are able to use the number of squares to predict the exact path of the robot.

This story was originally published February 3, 2016 at 1:15 PM with the headline "Robotics at Denair students’ fingertips."

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