Over the past few years, I’ve had the chance to visit schools and talk with teachers who use robotics with students. Although this type of technology is definitely fun, using a robotics curriculum with students helps introduce foundational coding and STEM skills strategically. But how can you make sure that you are addressing all of these essential skills?
When I learned that CoderZ had a new cyber robotics curriculum, I was excited to dive in. This curriculum builds on CoderZ’s Cyber Robotics 101 and is designed for middle school and high school students. Regular readers of the blog might remember that I featured the awesome resources from CoderZ in the past. CoderZ’s Cyber Robotics 102 is a sequel that takes coding and STEM skill-building to the next level.
Cyber Robotics Curriculum
What does a robotics curriculum include? Well, CoderZ’s Cyber Robotics 102 includes advanced gaming simulations for students. It teaches STEM through robotics and computer science with 15-20 hours of curriculum and practice. Cyber Robotics 102 can help educators make sure that they have engaging, game-based learning experiences for their students.
How does it work? Students using Cyber Robotics 102 work in an online virtual environment. They will interact with a robot named Ruby that will mimic real-life physics as well as a physical setting. As students make their way through the curriculum, they will advance through a variety of game levels.
With different game levels to explore, students learn STEM skills related to:
- engineering
- mechanics
- physics
- navigation
- control
- sensors
Although the Cyber Robotics 102 curriculum places robots front and center, students interact with skills related to coding and computer science. This curriculum includes an introduction to programming components like commands, variables, conditional logic, loops, functions, and more.
Teaching Coding and STEM Skills
If you are new to computer science instruction, the idea of teaching robotics might seem like a daunting task. I love resources you can easily access online and put into action right away. Cyber Robotics 102 is an online, gamified, turn-key curriculum.
Teachers have access to support materials to help them lead learning experiences for their middle school students. These supports include a variety of instructional content such as class presentations, teacher guides, and optional mission solutions. There are also webinars and rich-content blogs full of information for teachers.
Setting up Students for Success
When they are ready to get started, teachers can introduce the curriculum and set up students for success both independently and collaboratively. With Cyber Robotics 102, students can work on the course from any computer. This option makes it an excellent choice for after school programs as well practice that might take place outside of the classroom.
You can learn more about the Cyber Robotics 102 curriculum from CoderZ by visiting their website. If you plan to teach robotics and coding this school year, you’ll want to add this to your list!
