Tips for winning the Maze Rescue Challenge at Robocup Junior
This weekend, we — Elnaz and Emily — were judges at Robocup Junior Queensland for the Rescue Challenges. We oversaw two divisions: the Line Follow Rescue, and the Maze Rescue. Last year we gave you tips and tricks for the Line Follow Rescue Challenge; this year, the Maze Rescue Challenge was a new addition to Robocup Junior. From having watched many teams compete at many Maze Challenges, here are our tips and tricks for winning in 2018.
Visual-based vs. Text-based programming languages
We often get asked by people, “What are visual and text-based programming languages? What are the differences between them? Why do we as a company opt to teach kids a visual-based programming language like Scratch to begin with instead of starting them out on text-based ones?” Let us elaborate on these questions for you!
Coding is just like baking a cake
Coding is just like baking a cake. We look at the six fundamental concepts of coding — sequencing, looping, branching, arithmetic, data storage, and data in/data out — in the context of baking a cake.
Glossary for New Scratchers
Compared to a lot of other programming languages, Scratch has quite a gentle learning curve. Still, getting started can be a little bit of a doozy if you’ve had zero prior experience with the kind of terminology used in programming. To help you out a bit, we’ve compiled a glossary of terms for new Scratchers!
Create an interactive stadium project in the classroom for the Commonwealth Games
It’s that time of the year again — the Commonwealth Games are nearly here! Why not get into the sporty spirit by making your very own interactive stadium, complete with sound effects, a sprinting event, and an electronic scoreboard? We can show you how! All…
A code club in Thargomindah?
It’s more likely than you think! From the outside, Thargomindah is just a small town in the Shire of Bulloo, roughly 1,000 kilometres west of Brisbane — not too far from the Queensland/South Australia/New South Wales border. It’s a little remote, sure —…
Fun Palace Brisbane 2017
Fun Palaces Everyone an Artist, Everyone a Scientist What is the Fun Palace? The Fun Palace is a free annual and worldwide celebration of art and science. Every year, it takes place over the first weekend in October. In Queensland, the State Library of Queensland…
Digital Technologies in Year 3-4 Classrooms — On “Convict Crime and Punishment”
In a previous post, we discussed the integration of the Digital Technologies subject into Queensland schools. Just to refresh your memory on the subject, the Digital Technologies subject has a discrete curriculum, meaning that it is its own subject, complete with its own activities and learning outcomes. Part of the aims of the subject are to cover important concepts, such as algorithms and branching (also known as decision making).
Robotronica 2017
This year’s Robotronica at the Queensland University of Technology revealed some of the latest developments and trends within the field of robotics. Elnaz gives her account of the event, where she bore witness to a variety of demonstrations, workshops, games, and discussions that were informative, inspiring, and surprising in many ways!
Torres News: Robots in the Torres Strait!
Digital literacy is becoming as vital as traditional literacy and numeracy and Thursday Island school students are being introduced to robotics and coding to address this issue.
Primary and secondary school students, as well as members of the public, were given the opportunity to explore, play and learn about coding and robotics over a two-day workshop a couple of weeks ago organised by the Torres Shire Council.