Let the Robotics Learning Begin

Meeting the children and learning the language made for a chaotic first experience, but thrilling all the same.

We arrived early to the Library before the children in order to set up the classroom. Sam, Rocket, and Patrick arranged all of the materials while we parents arranged the tables and chairs. The humidity here is oppressive and so hot, the air barely moves. There is some help with floor and ceiling fans. But for us Northern Americans it’s basically no use. Our schedule for the week consists of working with a group of 15 children in the morning, from 9am-12pm and then another group of 15 from 1pm-4pm. The ages are 8-14. Our original goal was to post regularly everyday. But, with spotty internet and regular power outages we had to be flexible. Following are descriptions we were able to post, as wifi allowed.

Day #1: Sam Paulson's description Waiting in the library, we were unsure of what to expect. Kids trickled in not knowing who we are and us not knowing who they are. Everyone was nervous when introducing themselves including us. Thank God we had a translator and now a new friend Junior to help us communicate. Having Junior with us helped us relax knowing we would be able to communicate relatively easily. He is so knowledgable and amazing with the kids. Lots of energy. He makes learning fun. 

We started by demonstrating the components of the robot and how they connect to software. We then had them assemble an easily modulated robot. From there we taught them simple commands using the program’s interface. What’s amazing is that these kids came into class barely knowing how to use a computer and by the end all of them could use the computer software to give the robot simple commands to make it do what they want. 

Patrick, Rocket and I all thought it was awesome to share something we are passionate about with other kids who were just so excited to learn something new. Sharing our knowledge with these kids to teach them new skills left us smiling. We felt immense gratification knowing how much we accomplished in just a single day. In addition, we feel really good knowing that once we leave these kids they will have skills to further their own robotics abilities and be able to teach others themselves.