Playing with robots-Digital Media and Computer Control Week 4

Another week, another fun interactive ICT lesson. This week we were looking at Digital Media and Computer Control. Digital media refers to any electronic media where data is stored in digital form and transmitted over the internet or through computer networks. This is done through text, graphics, audio and video. Computer control on the other hand is a set of instructions programmed into a machine, which then causes it to operate. This can be anything from microwaves to washing machines to CCTV cameras.

In this weeks session though, we did look at something far more exciting than microwaves. We looked at toys and robots! You certainly can't get much more fun that that, especially when we got to have hands on experiences in all the areas. Although possibly a bit too much hands on experience especially with the flexiscopes when they are aiming up somebody's nose!

We were lucky enough to spend a good amount of time looking at the various programmable toys and robots. There were the beebots, which were programmed to move, and the pippins that were programmed to draw with a pen. Dataloggers were used to measure and record temperature whilst the digital microscopes and flexiscopes could be used to take close up snapshots and videos. It was easy to see how each would benefit and be enjoyable for a primary class. It certainly got 25 adults over excited and acting like children!


James is using the datalogger to
record the temperature of the soil.

Andy and Sam are programming the
beebots to find specific colours
and shapes on the board.



The pippins had very good cross curricular links to mathematics, as you're required to know not just the direction (as with the beebots), but also the angles that the pippin needed to turn. The programming side of this was slightly tricky and it certainly confused me a bit but after some trial and error it was great to see the shapes drawn without needing to write a thing. Something I'm sure that would definitely appeal to children and a more enjoyable way of doing maths. It could also be used for project work and art. In the video below we can see how Jack uses the pippin to draw an equilateral triangle.

However, my favourite digital tool of the day was definitely the flexiscope. The flexiscope is perfect to use for any investigation and has excellent cross curricular links to Science. I actually preferred it to the digital microscope as I found it was far more flexible at looking at different objects and wasn't limited to just seeing a small space as with the digital microscope. The Digital Blue website describes the flexiscope as being able to "capture high quality images at magnifications of up to 200x" and also has an LED light should lighting be poor. The flexiscope can also be used, as with the digital microscope, to record videos, take snapshots and even has a microphone should you wish to record a documentary of the object you're investigating. They are also compatible with the Interactive Whiteboards to help make the lesson more interactive and enjoyable for the children. It means that they can be used individually or in a whole-class setting, they can even be used in assemblies in front of the whole school! I remember we had one in the school I worked at last year and the children really enjoyed it when our teacher showed the whole class a close of up of his hair.

Children are able to combine their science with ICT as they learn how to upload the snapshots and videos. The more able children or older year groups could perhaps make a whole science project on the computers using this uploaded information. This is also a good way of being able to assess their skills due to the quality of the image and what they have to say about it. Have they managed to tie in ICT with their project well!?

It helps with differentiation as the flexiscope can be used interactively and is an excellent visual aid. It also encourages children to work collaboratively together.
However, there are some limitations to take into consideration. Sometimes the flexiscope can take a while to focus and this may cause children to become impatient and perhaps snatch the equipment from one another. As it is an expensive piece of equipment, it is important to ensure that children are aware of this and look after the flexiscope properly. Overall I think it is an excellent tool and considering what it does, I don't think it is too expensive. You can even get them with your school vouchers at Tesco for Schools.

Peter shows us how the flexiscope can be used to provide
a detailed image of his eye.

It was a really fun, interactive lesson last week and I'm looking forward to working with more digital media this week!