Spring Term OnLine Program - Frequently Asked Questions...

Installation of Zoom

Installation is extremely user-friendly and intuitive.

• Go to Zoom.
• Create a login.
• Install the software: Click on "Resources->Download Zoom Client"
  
• Make sure your computer is equipped with a microphone and speaker. Here is a video link about "How to Set Up the Zoom App for Students and Parents".

Students must make sure they complete these steps before attending a meeting.

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About particular Software necessary:

That depends on the course they are taking.

The following serves as a complete reference for all students including new ones. Most current students should have already had access to the tools necessary. However, for current "Robotics Projects" students (usually Gr.4-8), I want to draw your attention to the requirement below to ensure you will have them installed at home.

Group	Operating System	Software Requirements:	Others
Robotics Projects (Gr 4 to 8)	Windows	Robot Virtual World. If you do not have a copy, you must read the Question "Need to get a license for Robot Virtual World. " below.	Access to the following: Google a/c, such as gmail lucidchart.com
Algorithms in C/C++ (Gr. 8+)	Windows, Mac, Linux	Any C/C++ compiler/IDE. Ideally -: Visual Studio Community ; or OnlineGDB ;	Access to : Google a/c, such as gmail Programming book – 2nd Ed.
Robotics w/ Electronics (Gr. 9+)	Windows, Mac, Linux	Arduino / IDE;	Access to : Google a/c, such as gmail See link for materials.

Hands-on element is two-folded - mechanical and software. Unlike many other Robotics programs, SR heavily focuses on the engineering process and the software skills necessary for AI development in the future. Most others focus a lot more on just competitions alone and heavily on mechanical aspects.

Especially for the younger groups, the time working with the physical robot is only about 10% for a total term. The far more important aspect is the engineering process, and robotics programming - the analytical process; which mainly are learned through hands-on robotics programming.

Our virtual platform will continue our learning model. Students will still go through the same process and work as it would have been at the center. The only difference is that they won't physically build the robot, which equates to only a maximum of 10% of the work time at the center. We'll still go thru mechanical math work, which is one most important learning element in mechanical aspect for younger students.

The RVW did a wonderful job also to simulate environmental issues. That means the software did deliberately inject possible noises which could possibly happen while running in physical world. That's pretty impressive. Please see more detailed information in the "How can my child work on Robotics Projects online?" section below.

We have been encouraging students to utilize Robot Virtual World for practice work at home throughout the past few terms. Dedicating a few sessions in the Spring term to focus on working with the Robot Virtual World has already been planned.

Initially, we were going to do that mid-term. Under the current situation, Storming Robots has modified the plan slightly and put those RVW sessions for at least the 1st 4 weeks.

Gr. 4- 8 Robotics Projects students will continue to use the same software tool, Graphical-RobotC or RobotC, that we use in class. The difference is they will not be programming a physical robot but a virtual one. Most students should be familiar with this.

Is Online Virtual World a proven effective environment?

Yes.

Researches and studies have proven its effectiveness and high value of learning, such as this one, or this one, and more. It’s curriculum is supported by U of Pittsburgh, and Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Academy. CMU Robotics Academy's CS-STEM Network utilizes the "Robot Virtual World" as major learning tool. It’s goal aligns with SR’s – to develop and strengthen students’ requisite skills in the field of Computer Science and Robotics to compete in the AI world.    Research, done by the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy and Learning Research Development Center at the U. of Pittsburgh, shows that learning to program in RVW is 33% more efficient than using physical robots. RVW allows them to program simulated VEX® and LEGO® robots in 3D environments using RobotC as the physical robots. It is mainly because of faster iterative cycle from the elimination of mechanical flaws. (Here is the link to the research document . ) A caption from CMU Robotics Academy online video


So, the natural question is that “why don’t we just use RVW to begin with? RVW is an virtual environment, so it will not contain building concepts. However, the building portion is exactly the main reason which decreases the learning pace. Don’t worry. The lesson plan will involve the mechanical math - the most important learning value in pre-college robotics. For those who own a physical robot, not a problem. Instructors will go through a few resources for building at home.

NOTE: This applies ONLY to Gr. 4 to 8 Robotics Projects Group only.

For those students who do not own RobotC 4x for Mindstorms software and the Mindstorms Robot Kit, student should have had a copy of the RVW LEGO 4.x license as it has been part of the required software to do his/her homework assignment.

If you still have yet installed the RVW, please email to office ASAP to obtain a license and installation instructions.

A: Most of the students will have the parts at home so this should not be a problem. In addition we will be using an online simulator called Autodesk Circuits123d. This will allow the instructor to get across concepts in electronics and to simulate a project before physically wiring the project up.

A: As long as the student meets the requirement, there should be no problem teaching algorithm courses. We run over 10 Algorithm courses online during the week of March 13-15. It worked quite well, and also have received good feedback from students.

A: Good question… we have no definitive answer, and shall follow CDC guideline.

It is important for us to do our part to slow the spread of the Covid-19 virus by staying home; but also to maintain some level of normalcy for our children.

While we cannot give you a definitive answer as "when", what we can ensure you is that our program will continue to maximize students' learning. Storming Robots will do exactly that and turn this as an opportunity for our students to continue to excel in an alternative method with even higher potential in effectiveness.

Storming Robots has been working on a modified version of in-class plans to be utilized over a Virtual platform since January. We shall put this online platform in-motion for the first four weeks of the Spring term (March 24th - April 26th with April 7th - 12th as Easter Break).

If the CDC guideline should still recommend social distancing after April 26th. Not a problem, we will continue conducting the class online.

A. This is usually a concern for the younger Robotics Projects Group.

We are going to add an exciting element to excite the students. They will look forward to an online competition for different levels and/or given online badges for recognition. This should be pretty exciting difference for all participants. One possibility is to disseminate the RobocupJunior Competition Challenges into smaller competitive components for the younger ones.

This should pull the students’ spirit and motivation up to put in more effort to conduct an experiment at home.