The programmable robots in our classes of programming and robotics.

The robots "Dash and Dot" that our students use in our robotic classes require a mobile or tablet to play and programme. There are several free apps for Dash and Dot all designed for specific learning. In our first robotic classes, we've used: Blocky, Path and Go.

Go

This app is the easiest to start with. You can interact with the robots, give instructions change LED colours, record your own sounds, drive Dash and get to know the robot.

Blockly

Blockly is the coding app, where you drag block and connect them to make Dash and Dot do things. Learning to code with a physical robot is fantastic, as you get immediate feedback on what you just created.

Path

This app uses a graphical interface to teach kids the concepts of robotics and coding. It is very visual and tactile as your kid draws a route for Dash on the tablet and gives commands.

For the first sessions, the students go through the user experience tutorial in the Blockly app. This tutorial will guide students through the different block types in the Blockly app, getting students familiar with programming in Blockly.

Once they have familiarised with the programming app, the teacher issues a small programming challenge for students to complete. Here are some Code examples for the challenges: