Peter Rawitsch bought his first robot more than 25 years ago from Toys ’R’ Us.
The Glenmont Elementary School teacher made the purchase in an effort to introduce technology to his first-grade students. Nearly 30 years later, the technology has improved, but the heart of the lesson has remained the same.
“This is their future, so it’s always better to start them early,” said Rawitsch.
One of Rawitsch’s first robots was a Terrapin Turtle, which plugged into an early Apple computer. Rawitsch said the mechanism looked like a motor on wheels with a large bowl on top. Using the sensors installed in the robot, students were able to control where the “turtle” moved.
The Glenmont teacher’s current first-graders are getting a much different experience with the introduction of Ricky the Robot, who looks more like a person and has more functionality.
Rawitsch said he was introduced to Ricky at the third annual Tech4Teaching Academy held over the summer at Bethlehem Central High School. Ricky is a “humanoid robot” operated by the Capital Region BOCES’ Northeastern Regional Information Center.
“As soon as I saw Ricky I fell in love, and I knew this was something first-graders would fall in love with,” said Rawitsch.
Ricky is mainly operated by Hilary Dee of NARIC. The pair travel to schools throughout the Capital District and help students of all grade levels learn about programming. Older students learn how to code Ricky’s functions themselves using the Python Programming Language. Younger children, like those in Rawitsch’s classroom, learn a more simplified version.
Ricky visits Glenmont Elementary once a month. In November, each student in Rawitsch’s class programmed Ricky with a riddle and clues that the other students were asked to guess the answer to.
Students worked with Dee in a separate room throughout the day. Every boy and girl was given a different riddle, and Dee then helped the children program Ricky with the answer and three clues. To give each clue, the children pressed a different part of Ricky’s head. Answers were given by pressing Ricky’s feet.
Dee said working with the robot not only helps students learn about programming, but also helps with fine motor skills, reading and writing, problem solving and communication skills. Students needed to type the clues and answers into different boxes. Then, they used the computer program to connect inputs and outputs so Ricky would react when specified areas were touched.
At the end of the day, each student was asked to stand before the class and help Ricky give the clues to their riddle. The student could call on a friend, and if they answered right, Ricky would give the answer and wipe his brow.
Rawitsch said he thinks Ricky is easier for smaller children to interact with because he looks more lifelike than prior generations of robot technology.
“I’m trying each month to introduce them to different capabilities of the robot,” said Rawitsch. “Last month, we learned how to make the robot say our words. The kids wrote stories and typed them into the program to make Ricky read them.”
By the end of the year, Rawitsch said, he would like his students to be able to program Ricky using all of the skills they have learned.
Rawitsch said one of the challenges to his technology-based unit over the past few years has been the state’s implementation of Common Core standards. The new guidelines have made it harder for Rawitsch to find the time to incorporate the unit into his lesson plans.
“At this time, the Common Core is narrowly defined as reading, writing and math skills. It does not include social studies and science, and Ricky is a great way to bring those lessons to life,” said Rawitsch. “Bringing the robot in allows us to integrate some of our reading and writing with technology.”