A Global, Collaborative, Robotics Pilot Course

METHODS

All participants were required to have access to LEGO® Mindstorms robotics equipment and programming software. All curriculum and materials for this pilot course were created digitally and delivered online via Blackboard courseware and distance communication tools. Course materials consisted of text documents, CAD (Computer Aided Drafting) drawings, digital photos, and other online resources. Hiltz (1995) recommends that instructors should organize assignments to be self-paced, but with firm due dates so that students move through the course together and help each other. Instructional projects were organized so that participants worked together to complete each project before the next project began. This allowed the participants to stay on track, help each other troubleshoot and problem solve, and reflect on each project as a group.

The objectives of the pilot course were to determine whether participants could design, build, and program robots collaboratively in an online global classroom, and if, through this experience, they would build an online global community of practice and create their own learning. Also of interest was whether this online collaboration and learning experience could be sustained and transferred to other K-20 classrooms.

Building a Learning Community
Palloff & Pratt (1999, p. 110) state “collaborative effort among the learners helps them achieve a deeper level of knowledge generation while moving from independence to interdependence.” Pallof & Pratt (1999) go to emphasize that real learning will start to take place after groups in an online class get connected. For this pilot, the instructors designed several threaded conversation forums for small groups and the whole class to participate in as strategies to facilitate communication and the development of an online learning community. Several of the forums are described below.

Introduction Discussion

Hiltz (1995) recommends that instructors should provide warm-up exercises for students to adapt to the online course environment. Instructors set up an introduction discussion thread where participants introduced themselves to the other participants. They were asked to share where they lived, what subject and grade level they taught, describe how they have been involved with Mindstorms and robotics, describe their experience with distance learning, and share their motivation for participating in this project. Participants were asked to share what programming language they use with Mindstorms, and whether they were familiar with CAD software. Participants were encouraged to respond to the other participants’ introductory comments.

Water Cooler & Mini-Figure

Hiltz (1995) recommends the use of humor and metaphor to stimulate participation in collaborative assignments. Palloff & Pratt state, “students need to gather in cyberspace, just as they do on the campus of the university. To accomplish this, they need to establish a sense of presence online; that allows their personality to come through to others in the group” (1999, p. 11). A discussion forum called “Water Cooler” was designed as a virtual meeting place for off-topic discussions and provided additional opportunities for participants to get to know each other. They were encouraged to share personal hobbies and make comments about topics other than robotics. Each participant was also asked to create a personal webpage with information about themselves and their country. Many participants also uploaded personal photos and shared websites of their schools and communities. For another community building exercise, the instructors added a discussion thread for a “just for fun” activity where participants created a visual identity or personality mascot. Participants designed digital LEGO® mini-figures with a
variety of accessories and costumes that represented their personality and interests. These figures were accompanied by written comments regarding their choices of accessories and costumes.  The LEGO Minifig shown here was created by a participant that describes himself as a “gadget guy” who grew up watching Spiderman, loves electronics, plays tennis and squash, and loves to cook. To create your own LEGO® mini figure go to: http://www.reasonablyclever.com/mini/solo2.htm.

 

Communication Clarification and Technical Difficulties

Hall, Gordon, & Black (2000) recommend that instructors provide an interactive environment where students can easily air their problems and get solutions from the instructors or other students. Two discussion forums were developed to provide opportunities for participants to post questions or comments regarding any part of the project. The Communication Clarification thread addressed potential communication problems due to the global nature of the project and encouraged participants to post questions regarding project directions and discussions or any other communication. Participants were allowed to post their questions in this forum anonymously if they wished. The Technical Difficulty thread encouraged participants to ask questions about any technical problems they experienced during the pilot course. This was especially relevant because of the diverse variety of technology used by the participants. To foster the learning community, all participants were encouraged to respond to each other’s questions and comments.

Distance Experts

One of the advantages of virtual learning environments is the ability to invite guest experts to participate from across the world. Four LEGO® experts were available for question and answer periods during synchronous chats via Blackboard’s virtual classroom tool. Resource information about each expert and their work was posted for participants to review. Due to time differences, the synchronous chats were archived for review by those participants who were not available during the actual chat. Question and answer forums were also established for asynchronous communication between participants and each of the experts.

Project Discussions

Palloff and Pratt (1999) indicate that it is logical for participants in an online community to connect around shared problems, interests, and experiences. Participants were placed in small collaborative groups based on their technology availability and experience. They were given small group communication and file sharing capabilities to discuss their collaborative progress on projects. For each of the three projects, discussion threads, open to the whole group, were also available for participants to share their ideas, comments, questions, successes, and failures. In, addition, a reflective discussion thread was created to share “Lessons Learned” for each project. In these forums,
participants were encouraged to discuss ways to improve their projects and share what they learned about their global partners. They were also asked to reflect on the kinds of learning opportunities the robotics projects might provide for their students.

Resources

Hall, L., Gordon, A., & Black, P. (2000). Supporting flexible learning over the net. In G. Orange & D. Hobbs (Eds.), International Perspectives on Tele-Learning and Virtual Learning. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Co.

Hiltz, S.R. (1995, March). Teaching in a virtual classroom. Paper presented at the 1995 International Conference on Computer Assisted Instruction, Hsinchu, Taiwan.

Palloff, R. & Pratt, K. (1999). Building learning communities in cyberspace. San Francisco: Josey-Bass Publishers.

Questions or comments, please contact: Tonya.Witherspoon@wichita.edu or Karen.Reynolds@wichita.edu