Sphero Robots Support Playful Learning in RSU 40

RSU 40 staff are finding ways to use robotic technology, funded by the Maine Department of Education's (DOE) Maine Teaches CS Initiative, to support interdisciplinary learning across grade levels The school's acquisition of Sphero Bolts and Indi cars is making learning experiences playful and engaging for both students and educators.

Holly Doe, Director of Technology for RSU 40, applied for the grant last school year to foster experiential learning through technology for even the youngest students. Sphero Indi cars introduce coding at the simplest level using color tiles to tell the robot what to do. While this is an ideal tool for younger students, it is also great for older students when the goal is not coding itself but supporting other learning outcomes.

By leveraging robotic technology, students in RSU 40 are exploring new ways to retell-or tell-stories.

Students in grades 1-3 used Sphero Indi cars to retell stories they had read in class while seniors in Spanish IV wrote their own stories in the foreign language and crafted narrated films using the Indi cars.

In the elementary classrooms, the robots foster natural collaboration as pairs of students work together to plan a path of color tiles that represent their story summary. Crafting a simple costume for the Indi car and scenery or other characters to be placed along the car's path engages students' creativity and requires students to consider symbolic representations. The simple, flexible lesson quickly adapts to accommodate students' and teachers' needs.

At the high school, the ease of using the Indi cars allows students to combine story mapping with other technology. Students film the cars in front of a green screen and use Canva's AI image generator to create backgrounds for their movies which they then narrate in Spanish.

Recently, Heather Webster, RSU 40's technology instructional coach, shared her experiences using Sphero Indi robots in elementary ELA classrooms and high school Spanish classrooms at the Maine Council for English Language Arts spring conference. Participants were introduced to Indi cars, watched video clips of RSU 40 students engaging in the lessons, and then had the opportunity to try the activity themselves, working collaboratively with their tablemates to retell a familiar story. They left the conference session with a concrete example of how technology like the Sphero robots can support cross-curricular lessons and boost the playful spirit in a classroom.

(Maine Council for English Language Arts spring conference photos curtesy of Katie Kelley Photography)

The Computer Science Mobile Labs Grant has enabled RSU 40 to uniquely support playful learning. Robotic technology has enhanced students' collaborative skills and their understanding of symbolic representation. Encouraging a playful approach to learning, this technology has increased student engagement and has inspired educators to rethink traditional teaching methods. The immersive learning experiences enabled by Sphero Indi and Bolt robots are set to shape the educational landscape at RSU 40 for years to come. Maine leads the nation in providing interdisciplinary computer science education to all Maine schools at all grade levels.

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