If you went to school around the same time as me, you may have been lucky enough to play, I mean learn, with the amazing bigtrak robot. I can clearly remember this trundling across the carpet as we used its control panel to issue instructions. Happy days. It’s fantastic that students nowadays are doing so much coding. Free programs like Scratch make it so easy for children to learn core concepts, such as selection, repetition and the use of variables, but if we don’t also provide opportunities for students to work with external hardware, they’re missing out. Whilst BeeB... (Read More)

It would be fair to say that I have been looking for a really great control technology solution pretty much since I started my teaching career. I’ve tried out lots of devices, each with their own set of pros and cons:   Pros Cons Lego Mindstorms Very capable Includes a range of sensors Latest versions can be controlled by mobile devices Expensive. As a result, students would have limited access. Lego Wedo Simple device that is easy to learn Includes a range of sensors Can be integrated with Scratch Supports a... (Read More)