Robot Diaries Summer 2010 - Wrapping Up

The summer residency of middle school teachers Rob Ruddle and Tanner Huffman at the CREATE Lab concluded on August 6. We are grateful for the outstanding quality and volume of work both have contributed to the project. The documentation included in this blog is only a partial representation of the new Robot Diaries curriculum they have created. It was fun to work together and test out the new activities. We look forward for the in-class implementation of the new Robot Diaries curriculum, starting this October.

Last Day Celebration from CREATE Lab on Vimeo.

 

Concluding Statements

During the last few weeks, it has been my pleasure to contribute the the Robot Diaries project at the CREATE Lab located at Carnegie Mellon University. The lab introduced a unique opportunity to fully immerse myself in curriculum development while being surrounded by competent experts, state of the art facilities, and educational resources that were second to none. As a classroom teacher, it is often difficult to reach out and obtain such a rich location of resources. Being invited to work at the CREATE Lab truly contributed to a much more inspired curriculum.

The learning curve that is associated with technology was well supplemented with the availability of experts that developed the software and hardware for the project. Questions that would usually be addressed via email or phone could be answered in person with quality explanation and hands-on troubleshooting.

The classroom and facilities were well equipped during both development and sample lessons. Often, as educators, it is difficult to obtain appropriate classroom space during the summer for mock classrooms and lesson. The residency at CMU allowed us to utilize fully functional classroom space that was instrumental in the curriculum development. 

Lastly, the educational inspiration and resources at CMU were by far the most comprehensive I have ever experienced in my career as an educator.  We had first hand access to leaders and experts in several fields of art, engineering, literature, and history.  The unique workshops and presentations developed for us at CMU were both informative and inspiring. These experiences are well reflected in our activities and lessons and will afford our students with content that is engaging through real world relevance.

I look forward to continuing my experience with the CREATE Lab and CMU during my upcoming school year. During future summer curriculum development, I am hopeful we can continue the residency format and reach out to invite other educators as well.

Tanner J. Huffman

 

We spent a month writing the Robot Diaries curriculum at Carnegie Mellon University’s Create Lab.  We created two separate curricula: one is intended to be a standalone curriculum for use in the Technology Education classroom and one is designed to be a multidisciplinary curriculum implemented by multiple teachers.  It was extremely helpful having access to the staff of the CREATE Lab.  Anytime we required resources, they made them available.  For example, when we needed to acquire ideas for the Museum Bots curriculum, they arranged for a private tour of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. When I needed books related to ancient civilizations, they made arrangements at the library.  By working at the lab, we had opportunities to test lessons each week, receive feedback, and make revisions.

Rob Ruddle

 

Special thanks to Clara Phillips for providing most of the images and videos on this blog, and for her tremendous efforts behind the scenes of the summer residency and in preparation for the lesson implementation ahead.