Recently, our students from Years 8 to 10 had the opportunity to meet a visiting professor from Queens University in Belfast as part of a joint initiative between our University Guidance Office (UGO) and our new Innovate+ programme.
Working in teams, students applied their problem-solving and collaboration skills as they took on the challenge of programming a robot sphere to perform a series of different tasks. Each task required them to think through the specification of the problem, then discuss different approaches to solve the challenge. Once they established a strategy, they then programmed the robot to perform the task using an iPad that wirelessly connected to the robot.
The robot sphere, called Sphero, could be programmed to move in different directions, over different distances and speeds, and could even change colour. The tasks were designed to encourage the students to think through the nature of each individual challenge, then through strategic discussion and collaboration come up with possible solutions, debating the advantages and disadvantages of each.
As our world become more integrated with different technologies and artificial intelligence (AI), our young people need to focus more on developing skills that will prepare them for a future where computers and AI are already taking over many structured tasks. It is opportunities like that is that help our young people to develop these essential problem-solving and collaboration skills that will be needed as they prepare for future careers.
Dr. Christopher Hurley
Puxi Secondary Innovation Coordinator