[00:00.000 --> 00:01.460]  To see the art in action.
[00:01.740 --> 00:03.920]  Now, these are the snap-on marker commands.
[00:04.060 --> 00:06.120]  This is some actual robot art made by students.
[00:06.380 --> 00:11.220]  It is very, very, very similar to what you just saw with BeBot in terms of basic functionality.
[00:11.420 --> 00:15.780]  The key difference is you have some, for lack of a better word, extra hardware.
[00:15.940 --> 00:18.520]  Little things you can snap onto it to make it function somewhat differently.
[00:18.840 --> 00:20.840]  It also has that very fun dance command.
[00:20.980 --> 00:22.600]  Let's take a look at the art right now.
[00:54.740 --> 00:59.680]  Those of you who could hear over a din of the students might have noticed it's playing a little bit of a music or a tune in the background.
[00:59.680 --> 01:00.800]  It's a very musical robot.
[01:00.800 --> 01:08.260]  So this is another one of what we call... For those of you who entered the room just now, what you missed is that we're going over screen-free robots.
[01:08.560 --> 01:11.440]  Robots that are self-contained that require no use of a device.
[01:11.680 --> 01:12.620]  We've gone over BeBot.
[01:13.160 --> 01:15.640]  TailBot, again, very similar in terms of its functionality.
[01:21.720 --> 01:23.640]  Now, let's talk about Sphero Indy.
[01:23.780 --> 01:27.920]  Sphero is a very, very popular name right now in the educational robotics sphere.
[01:28.040 --> 01:29.460]  You're probably familiar with Sphero.
[01:30.040 --> 01:36.080]  Indy is something that is designed very, very specifically for the kindergarten through second grade market that I've discussed.
[01:36.260 --> 01:39.820]  Though this is accessible enough for older children as it's more sophisticated.
[01:40.160 --> 01:44.340]  I've used it with fifth graders successfully and I would recommend that you could do exactly the same.
[01:45.080 --> 01:48.980]  So, the way Indy works is it reads colored tiles for visual programming.
[01:49.120 --> 01:54.640]  It scans the colors and your commands are a little more sophisticated than what you saw of BeBot and what you saw of TailBot.
[01:54.640 --> 02:01.700]  You have the basic directionals of forward and left and right, but you can also turn 45 degrees or dance or adjust the speed.
[02:02.120 --> 02:05.020]  It comes with an educator guidebook and it gives you...
[02:05.020 --> 02:12.320]  You can purchase it with ideas on how to relate it to various topics, cross-curricular connections like math, science, etc.
[02:12.640 --> 02:19.780]  And this here is actually a program designed by fifth grade gifted and talented students, which I think really attests to Sphero Indy's versatility.
[02:20.480 --> 02:22.040]  So, let's take a look at that right now.
[02:26.310 --> 02:26.970]  Okay, go ahead.
[02:43.420 --> 02:44.440]  Very nice, thank you.
[02:48.960 --> 02:50.320]  Now, you may have noticed...
[02:50.320 --> 02:50.840]  Okay, go ahead.
[02:52.720 --> 02:56.260]  You may have noticed toward the end the purple tile, it did a little bit of a spin.
[02:56.400 --> 02:57.780]  That is Sphero Indy's dance.
[02:58.000 --> 02:59.080]  It's a very popular function.
[02:59.520 --> 03:00.820]  And again, versatile.
[03:00.820 --> 03:04.580]  I definitely recommend it throughout the entire elementary school levels.
[03:05.700 --> 03:06.540]  Let's move on.
[03:12.880 --> 03:14.480]  Now, this is Intelino.
[03:14.720 --> 03:21.020]  Intelino, even though I said we're focusing on screen-free robots, this one works with an app as well.
[03:21.160 --> 03:22.740]  And we're going to delve into that a little bit later.
[03:22.880 --> 03:25.840]  But let's talk about Intelino's screen-free capabilities.
[03:25.840 --> 03:31.040]  So, basically, what we're looking at is a really high-tech variant of the classic model train kit.
[03:31.240 --> 03:35.640]  If we use the screen-free approach to it, we're using action snaps.
[03:35.820 --> 03:40.980]  And what we're basically doing is snapping in colored tiles onto the tracks to give it specific commands.
[03:41.340 --> 03:43.680]  Forward, backward, adjusting the speed, etc.
[03:44.400 --> 03:46.920]  And the apps we're going to get into a little later.
[03:47.120 --> 03:51.600]  This one is versatile enough to work as far up from elementary to college level.
[03:51.760 --> 03:54.780]  Because it can teach block-based and Python programming.
[03:54.940 --> 03:56.200]  There will be more on that later.
[03:56.520 --> 04:03.460]  But again, since we're talking about screen-free options, here's an example of how students constructed this to, in essence, make a kind of loop.
[04:03.460 --> 04:11.780]  So, very useful for teaching basic rudimentary computer science concepts, algorithms, loops.
[04:12.000 --> 04:13.700]  Here's an example of one such loop.
[04:44.880 --> 04:46.540]  And let's move on to the next section.
[04:46.700 --> 04:49.360]  Now, I had an audience member talk to me about Scratch earlier.
[04:49.600 --> 04:54.220]  Scratch, as we know, is a form of block-based or visual coding, an example of which is right here.
[04:54.220 --> 04:59.580]  The classic Hello World program represented in block-based code, series of icons connected together.
[05:00.080 --> 05:12.400]  So, when we talk about block-based coding, Scratch, Tinker, anything that provides students with a very, very highly visual introduction to code, I find this best for the first-time coders in grade three to five.
[05:12.540 --> 05:17.560]  Those of you of children have probably, almost certainly talked to them or they've talked to you about Scratch.
[05:17.800 --> 05:23.860]  So, for a Scratch user, for someone who's got their feet wet, this next series of robots is a great starting point to go from.
[05:28.160 --> 05:30.820]  Now, most of you are probably familiar with Dash.
[05:31.200 --> 05:34.040]  For those who don't know, Dash has two options.
[05:34.340 --> 05:38.180]  You're going to see a visual flowchart approach as one of the apps.
[05:38.260 --> 05:38.900]  This is over here.
[05:41.640 --> 05:47.320]  Which, while not block-based coding, is very visual and the flowchart arrangement does help teach computational thought.
[05:47.580 --> 05:53.000]  The actual block-based app, you can see right next to it, and you'll note the similarities to Scratch or Tinker.
[05:53.000 --> 06:01.240]  Now, what you may not know about Dash is that you can add Lego attachments to build on top of it, and there is a remote control guide.
[06:01.520 --> 06:08.960]  For teachers or parents who are interested in homeschooling, I highly recommend the curriculum guide and the challenge cards for the kids available.
[06:08.960 --> 06:16.900]  It gives you a lesson to follow and a card with an assignment for them to do, which makes these very versatile for the education environment and homeschool.
[06:18.400 --> 06:19.700]  Now, here's Dash in action.
[06:19.920 --> 06:26.520]  There's my two daughters and I going at it, and I can guarantee, if they can touch it without destroying it, then you've got to admit this is a good program.
[06:26.520 --> 06:28.280]  So, let's have a look at it.
[06:34.190 --> 06:37.750]  So, I built on top of this robot.
[06:38.010 --> 06:44.750]  I had just built this little, like, hill with a flower.
[06:45.270 --> 06:49.070]  And I thought, hey, that's a cool idea.
[06:49.310 --> 06:49.970]  A robot.
[06:50.190 --> 06:52.570]  But it has a little garden on top of it.
[06:52.630 --> 06:53.950]  So it's double useful.
[06:54.250 --> 06:56.470]  Plus, it looks really cute.
[06:56.890 --> 06:59.170]  Plus, you can do useful things with it.
[06:59.170 --> 07:03.530]  Like, you can use this thing right here, which is the plow.
[07:03.910 --> 07:07.310]  It's sort of like you're mowing the lawn, in a way.
[07:08.510 --> 07:12.830]  And this is the lawn, some of the lawn, and you're plowing.
[07:13.090 --> 07:15.770]  But just say this is the lawn and this is the lawn lawn.
[07:23.210 --> 07:27.170]  Okay, so what we're going to do is connect, and we're going to run a program.
[07:27.570 --> 07:28.550]  Everybody ready for that?
[07:28.690 --> 07:29.010]  Yeah.
[07:29.530 --> 07:30.250]  Here we go.
[07:31.570 --> 07:33.130]  Now, we're about to run the program.
[07:33.390 --> 07:33.770]  Step back.
[07:33.990 --> 07:35.270]  It's going to use the plow.
[07:35.610 --> 07:36.130]  All right.
[07:38.910 --> 07:43.010]  And the ball, or the grass, is a garden.
[07:44.230 --> 07:44.910]  There we go.
[07:47.030 --> 07:48.110]  And there's our kitty.
[07:48.910 --> 07:49.170]  Okay.
[07:50.150 --> 07:53.010]  Now, some of you may have noticed there's an attachment to it.
[07:53.070 --> 07:53.570]  There's a plow.
[07:53.570 --> 07:57.670]  You can purchase several attachments to sort of elaborate on your little friend.
[07:58.010 --> 08:03.270]  We built the Lego on top using a blue attachment that snaps on and lets you plug in the Lego pieces.
[08:03.550 --> 08:04.750]  A plow can be purchased separately.
[08:04.750 --> 08:06.950]  You'll see a pair of bunny ears a little bit later.
[08:07.670 --> 08:16.250]  So, what I like about Dash is, in addition to teaching block-based coding, in terms of the actual hardware and scalability and building upon it, extremely versatile.
[08:16.430 --> 08:18.890]  And we'll discuss that in some depth a bit later.
[08:22.630 --> 08:23.530]  Please bear with me.
[08:30.280 --> 08:30.760]  Sorry.
[08:35.060 --> 08:36.880]  And now we're going to talk about Python.
[08:37.120 --> 08:43.440]  Now, Python is, of course, quite a buzzword you see lately among educational computer science toys.
[08:44.160 --> 08:45.660]  Most of you are familiar with it, if you're here.
[08:45.800 --> 08:50.040]  But again, Python's very popular because the syntax is very much like written English.
[08:50.040 --> 08:53.800]  And that's an important thing to consider when you're dealing with first-time users.
[08:54.600 --> 08:58.240]  When you're dealing with kids who are just looking to graduate from block-based code.
[08:58.240 --> 09:04.600]  It's an easy transition from block-based code to Python because block-based code has commands written in simple English.
[09:04.780 --> 09:06.600]  And Python follows kind of a similar syntax.
[09:06.920 --> 09:08.700]  So, it's not too much of a leap.
[09:09.440 --> 09:10.680]  It is open-source.
[09:10.720 --> 09:13.940]  So, it's free to use and lots of available educational resources online.
[09:14.260 --> 09:22.640]  That means that whatever your child learns about Python using the robot, they can find a plethora of resources online to supplement it.
[09:22.920 --> 09:24.100]  And, of course, it's versatile.
[09:24.320 --> 09:27.060]  It can be used for web development, game design, data science.
[09:27.060 --> 09:30.040]  So, let's delve into the robots that teach Python.
[09:30.920 --> 09:32.520]  And here's a quick introduction.
[09:37.360 --> 09:39.180]  Hooray for Python!
[09:39.960 --> 09:40.140]  Yeah!
[09:42.140 --> 09:43.580]  In case you missed it.
[09:43.860 --> 09:44.200]  There we go.
[09:44.560 --> 09:46.240]  Hooray for Python!
[09:47.080 --> 09:47.240]  Yeah!
[09:48.980 --> 09:49.360]  Okay.
[09:52.420 --> 09:53.520]  Hooray for Python!
[09:53.520 --> 09:53.580]  Yeah!
[09:53.720 --> 09:55.160]  So, let's start simple.
[09:55.160 --> 10:04.260]  Edison is one of the most versatile robots you're going to see in that it not only scans barcodes to run programs for your most basic users.
[10:04.500 --> 10:09.140]  It has a block-based icon option, like with Scratch, with Tinker.
[10:09.140 --> 10:11.880]  And it has its own EdPy model.
[10:12.160 --> 10:16.680]  That's Edison Python, which teaches Python for a very simple beginner.
[10:16.920 --> 10:21.860]  As you can see here, the entire chassis is Lego compatible.
[10:22.180 --> 10:25.580]  And here's just a basic example of them doing a sumo wrestling match.
[10:25.580 --> 10:27.920]  This is one of the more popular things I've done with my kids.
[10:51.440 --> 10:52.480]  And we have a winner.
[10:52.660 --> 10:53.280]  There you go.
[11:01.600 --> 11:03.600]  So, let's take a look at EdPy for Python.
[11:03.900 --> 11:07.020]  This is basically a look at the EdPy environment.
[11:07.240 --> 11:10.520]  If you look carefully, you're seeing commands like Ed.playBeep.
[11:10.620 --> 11:12.500]  I'm starting on line 14.
[11:12.500 --> 11:14.240]  If you want to follow along, I'll point it out.
[11:14.480 --> 11:15.380]  Line 14 is here.
[11:18.690 --> 11:22.830]  And you're seeing commands like Ed.playBeep, Ed.leftLED.
[11:23.110 --> 11:26.150]  Basically, things that approximate the sort of functions you'd see in Python.
[11:26.610 --> 11:29.590]  It's its own sort of variant on Python, but accessible.
[11:30.010 --> 11:32.130]  And the commands are all unique to the robot.
[11:32.330 --> 11:33.510]  So, they make common sense.
[11:33.770 --> 11:35.370]  You're not starting from scratch.
[11:35.530 --> 11:36.830]  And that's one of the things I like about this.
[11:37.090 --> 11:39.930]  Some of these functions, these commands, they're very self-evident.
[11:40.150 --> 11:41.270]  PlayBeep, you know what it means.
[11:41.490 --> 11:42.970]  LeftLED, well, we know what that means.
[11:43.290 --> 11:46.730]  So, that makes it very accessible for the young Python learner.
[11:49.670 --> 11:50.770]  And Intelino again.
[11:50.990 --> 11:54.170]  Remember, I promised you the train had its own scripting environment.
[11:54.550 --> 11:55.830]  Everyone remember the train, right?
[11:56.570 --> 11:59.570]  So, with this one, this is its own app that has its own scripting environment.
[11:59.570 --> 12:01.210]  It teaches Python scripting.
[12:01.630 --> 12:10.890]  What's great about both Edison and Intelino of a train, is because they offer these environments, they really help a student go straight up to college with us.
[12:11.370 --> 12:13.990]  Learning Python in this, giving them something to supplement with it.
[12:14.250 --> 12:25.590]  If you're not sure where to start with teaching Python with a robot, between the two of these, I may recommend that Ed.py is a bit more accessible than Intelino, but it's a nice progression.
[12:25.890 --> 12:30.690]  But having said that, let's get to something that really shows you some accessibility with Python.
[12:34.520 --> 12:35.700]  Now, this is Pixel.
[12:35.860 --> 12:39.220]  It's a dog robot that features a remote control option.
[12:39.220 --> 12:40.720]  It does have block-based coding.
[12:40.900 --> 12:44.300]  And it has an interactive step-by-step Python lessons for coding.
[12:44.760 --> 12:47.660]  Now, you connect to it with its own individual Wi-Fi access.
[12:47.660 --> 12:52.280]  But what I love best about this particular robot, there's a tutorial.
[12:52.540 --> 13:00.280]  When you open the app, and the app is free, and the app is hosted online, it tells you step-by-step what command to write first, second, next.
[13:00.540 --> 13:02.400]  It actually has you copy it.
[13:02.520 --> 13:10.480]  So if you're a just-starter, if you're learning Python for the very, very, very first time, I cannot recommend Pixel enough.
[13:10.500 --> 13:11.400]  It holds your hand.
[13:11.740 --> 13:15.160]  Pixel also has the block-based coding for you to work with.
[13:15.160 --> 13:16.220]  So again, very versatile.
[13:16.220 --> 13:18.940]  So this is my favorite Python robot.
[13:19.000 --> 13:21.700]  Because it just basically takes you through a step-by-step process.
[13:23.120 --> 13:24.660]  And here it is making some friends.
[13:27.950 --> 13:28.390]  Ready?
[13:28.770 --> 13:28.950]  Yeah.
[13:32.350 --> 13:32.790]  Yeah.
[13:34.810 --> 13:35.590]  Dance, boy.
[13:37.430 --> 13:38.630]  Get off of me!
[13:43.920 --> 13:45.020]  Incidentally, it ended well.
[13:45.140 --> 13:45.820]  They became friends.
[13:53.360 --> 13:55.240]  So let's go into the final round-up.
[13:55.240 --> 13:57.680]  Now, I know that there's a lot of things right now.
[13:57.900 --> 13:59.080]  I've thrown a lot of options.
[13:59.520 --> 14:01.420]  It's going to be very hard to pick and choose.
[14:01.680 --> 14:06.160]  So I thought I'd give you a couple of guidelines as to what to look for if you're looking to buy your own robot.
[14:06.900 --> 14:11.980]  For the best screen-free coding nomination, it's a tie between Intelino and Tailbot.
[14:12.260 --> 14:14.940]  For the reason both are highly tactile, for starters.
[14:15.200 --> 14:16.820]  They have very specific commands.
[14:17.140 --> 14:19.180]  And I recommend them for ease of use.
[14:19.340 --> 14:24.760]  For Tailbot, as you can see on the left, is the one that dances and has the snap-ons for drawing.
[14:24.760 --> 14:30.020]  So that's its specific strengths, how tactile it is, the hardware components.
[14:30.560 --> 14:37.280]  And Intelino we like a lot as a screen-free option because of the simplicity of a color code.
[14:37.440 --> 14:42.980]  So if you're looking for a screen-free robot, my recommendation would be to start with Intelino or Tailbot.
[14:43.260 --> 14:47.540]  Here are some examples of kids coming up with their own creative uses for them, actually.
[14:47.540 --> 14:50.360]  So again, all of this, shot in an actual classroom.
[14:50.640 --> 14:50.960]  Enjoy.
[15:23.360 --> 15:27.600]  You may have noticed that they put together a basic step-by-step program to accomplish that.
[15:27.600 --> 15:30.720]  Somebody laid out the maze and they used a basic algorithm.
[15:30.780 --> 15:31.700]  So that's what that taught them.
[15:32.060 --> 15:35.660]  And here's another example of kids interacting with Intelino in a very creative manner.
[15:59.200 --> 16:02.100]  Now, without question, the most bang for your buck is Edison.
[16:02.340 --> 16:05.060]  This is the least expensive option you're going to find anywhere.
[16:05.060 --> 16:07.560]  And it does all the things that the big boys do.
[16:07.740 --> 16:09.340]  It's $59 for one.
[16:09.340 --> 16:12.520]  I believe an assortment of three is something like $110 or not much more.
[16:12.780 --> 16:16.060]  If you're looking, if you're a bargain hunter, this is the way to go.
[16:16.220 --> 16:20.500]  I can't, again, emphasize not only its accessibility of price, but its versatility.
[16:21.100 --> 16:23.820]  You can scan barcode options to run simple codes.
[16:24.280 --> 16:26.000]  Just click a button, run the code.
[16:26.400 --> 16:33.440]  You can graduate from there to block-based learning with its own modules, just a series of icons put together.
[16:33.620 --> 16:36.360]  And it has a Python learning, as we discussed.
[16:36.360 --> 16:44.960]  So if you're looking to buy a lot of something, maybe you have a large group of kids, you need a lot of robots, you can get a bunch of these very, very affordable, and there's volume discounts.
[16:45.160 --> 16:47.300]  But one for $59, you can't really go wrong.
[16:48.020 --> 16:53.940]  You will need to pay for AAA batteries for there to be used, but they do tend to last a while, I find.
[16:54.220 --> 16:55.980]  So that's the only other additional expense.
[16:56.160 --> 16:58.740]  These would run on... you can't charge them on a computer.
[16:58.880 --> 17:00.620]  You're going to have to buy some AAA batteries.
[17:00.620 --> 17:04.540]  Having said that, here's an example of a barcode.
[17:04.740 --> 17:06.760]  I've scanned it so that it avoids obstacles.
[17:07.020 --> 17:07.920]  It's surrounded by its friends.
[17:20.580 --> 17:22.200]  It made its escape, as you can see.
[17:31.520 --> 17:34.460]  Okay, so the most versatile award has got to go to Dash.
[17:35.040 --> 17:41.540]  Dash, because it enables Lego crafting, you've got your remote control option, the flowchart coding, and block coding.
[17:41.700 --> 17:44.900]  There's four or five endless different possibilities you can do with it.
[17:44.900 --> 17:58.900]  So, if you're looking at, say, I would recommend, if you're looking at grades three, four, five, even second actually, and you want something that may be a little more pricey than Edison, but has a few more possibilities in terms of just building upon it,
[17:59.340 --> 18:06.200]  and more basic options, say you're not interested in Python, but you want a suite of more basic options, this is a great way to go.
[18:06.800 --> 18:08.160]  I'll show you a couple other things.
[18:08.160 --> 18:13.540]  You'll notice the bunny ears attachment on the second video, as I promised, and you'll see a few other things you can do.
[18:17.780 --> 18:21.760]  Okay, so this one, for some reason, has bunny ears.
[18:21.900 --> 18:31.820]  Bunny ears, and we're going to run a program that makes it change the light, we're going to run a program that makes it light on the face, and it's going to talk, so let's be real quiet while it talks.
[18:32.140 --> 18:32.540]  Here we go.
[18:32.800 --> 18:33.440]  Out of the way, please.
[18:38.560 --> 18:39.280]  There's the light.
[18:56.350 --> 19:00.170]  And here's one more look with the much-promised bunny ear attachments.
[19:05.500 --> 19:09.420]  So here's a cleaner view of the program we ran with the bunny ear attachments.
[19:10.040 --> 19:13.080]  When I hit play in the Blockly code, it's going to say hi.
[19:13.320 --> 19:17.320]  If you look carefully at the lights on the side of a robot, they'll turn blue and green.
[19:17.720 --> 19:23.240]  The center eye piece will blink, and it'll do one of the animations, the confidence dance.
[19:23.240 --> 19:24.180]  I'll hit play now.
[19:25.540 --> 19:26.020]  Hi.
[19:32.180 --> 19:33.140]  Oh, yeah.
[19:35.460 --> 19:36.420]  Oh, yeah.
[19:36.640 --> 19:37.940]  Oh, yeah.
[19:41.750 --> 19:54.370]  So again, at the risk of sounding redundant, when I say the most versatile, I again mean, provided you're not interested in venturing into script coding, this has a lot of options for you, both in terms of building upon it and how you program it.
[19:59.360 --> 20:00.980]  Okay, so this one...
[20:00.980 --> 20:01.600]  So here's a...
[20:02.220 --> 20:08.080]  Now, if you really want something expressly for Python programming, I cannot say enough good things about Pixel.
[20:08.420 --> 20:11.840]  You also have the block-based coding, as you can see on this basic introduction.
[20:12.080 --> 20:20.360]  But again, what I like about its Python module is it has a six-part tutorial that takes you step-by-step through what to write, how to write it.
[20:20.480 --> 20:25.140]  I've even been able to have a few of my first-grade gifted and talented write Python scripts.
[20:25.500 --> 20:28.220]  So that's really saying something about how accessible this is.
[20:28.620 --> 20:30.700]  You want a gentle introduction to scripting?
[20:30.800 --> 20:32.020]  This is where I would go.
[20:32.880 --> 20:37.080]  And I'll just show you a bit of the PR here.
[21:15.900 --> 21:21.420]  As noted, I forgot to mention, it does have sensors for touch, sound, so it responds to its outside environment.
[21:22.720 --> 21:25.360]  Now, there are a lot more options out there.
[21:26.300 --> 21:27.180]  But today...
[21:29.880 --> 21:31.760]  For today, I thought I'd start you with that.
[21:31.980 --> 21:39.160]  The point of this was to hopefully give you a sense of what's out there and give you a general guideline as to what robot might suit you and the children you work with.
[21:39.780 --> 21:42.200]  We have just enough time where I can take a couple of questions.
[21:42.460 --> 21:45.780]  And I really thank everyone for coming out today to HOPE Conference.
[21:49.530 --> 21:50.010]  Okay.
[21:54.720 --> 21:55.200]  Yeah.
[21:55.640 --> 21:56.480]  Thank you very much.
[22:08.340 --> 22:09.120]  Ah, okay.
[22:09.200 --> 22:09.740]  We had a conference.
[22:10.140 --> 22:13.080]  So the question was, what's my approach of teaching Arduinos to kids?
[22:13.220 --> 22:16.680]  Actually, it's an interesting story because I've been thinking about that for a while.
[22:18.180 --> 22:28.040]  At least where I've been teaching, I found that COVID has had a very detrimental effect on teaching anything as complex as Arduino, and I do teach K5.
[22:28.040 --> 22:34.680]  So what I've had to do in the end is start with laying the groundwork with something as simple as Elenco snap circuits.
[22:34.840 --> 22:37.460]  It's kind of a gentle introduction for transitioning to Arduino.
[22:38.320 --> 22:43.900]  From there, I've started with something not unlike one of the vendors here.
[22:44.080 --> 22:48.740]  It has a very simple Arduino kit like a breadboard and just a few basic things like making a fan spin.
[22:48.980 --> 22:54.500]  So I'm essentially replicating what's on Elenco snap circuits to an actual breadboard.
[22:55.400 --> 23:09.560]  But unfortunately, it's worth noting, and I've mentioned this in a podcast, that prior to what a lot of people think, we have a lot of children who aren't technically literate, who aren't more skilled than we are, and they need these gentle introductions right now.
[23:09.720 --> 23:10.400]  Hence, robots.
[23:10.760 --> 23:13.400]  Hence, I always start with that because it's tangible and accessible.
[23:14.300 --> 23:29.020]  Something I mentioned in the podcast is that the reason we have the image of the child being the more technically apt than the parents is now a myth because they're used to iPads or they're used to a tablet, something that just gives them everything at a fingertip touch.
[23:29.020 --> 23:30.600]  It doesn't require you to delve deeper.
[23:30.720 --> 23:34.420]  Those of us in the earlier generation had to learn to program the hard way.
[23:34.520 --> 23:37.460]  If we had our Commodore 64 or our pet, we were banging it out.
[23:37.660 --> 23:39.700]  We had to just sort of do trial and error.
[23:39.920 --> 23:40.740]  That's gone now.
[23:40.740 --> 23:44.700]  So, we are actually the older generation or the first that's more knowledgeable.
[23:45.160 --> 23:47.300]  Hence, I have to make things very simple.
[23:47.720 --> 23:49.380]  So, that's a long way of answering.
[23:49.480 --> 23:52.340]  Arduino is something I have to build my way up to with baby steps.
[23:52.520 --> 23:55.900]  I usually recommend Elenco snap circuits as kind of a gentle entree.
[23:58.560 --> 23:59.040]  Okay.
[23:59.560 --> 23:59.980]  Yes.
[24:02.640 --> 24:03.840]  That's an interesting question.
[24:04.080 --> 24:09.240]  I would have to say that the oldest kits right now would be Dash.
[24:09.240 --> 24:10.720]  Dash has been around the longest.
[24:11.100 --> 24:16.520]  That was actually, of all the things I've seen here, that's been the first one I probably really ramped out.
[24:16.680 --> 24:18.300]  And that was about 15 years ago.
[24:19.040 --> 24:22.620]  Which just is, in my opinion, is very much a testament to their staying power.
[24:23.000 --> 24:24.920]  Remember, I described them as being the most versatile.
[24:25.340 --> 24:26.040]  That proves it.
[24:26.180 --> 24:29.700]  15 years, 20 years later, they're not only not obsolete, they're as relevant as ever.
[24:29.920 --> 24:31.080]  Lots of people are using them.
[24:31.380 --> 24:32.420]  And they do have their own...
[24:32.420 --> 24:33.420]  Oh, something to mention.
[24:33.620 --> 24:37.620]  The Dash robots have their own Wonder League robotics competition.
[24:37.620 --> 24:42.060]  And what's great about that, as opposed to Lego Mindstorms, you don't have to travel to meet.
[24:42.340 --> 24:44.360]  You just videotape it, submit it.
[24:44.680 --> 24:49.480]  There's so much more in terms of making it easy logistically.
[24:49.920 --> 24:50.500]  So, yeah.
[24:50.720 --> 24:52.860]  That's the oldest thing, and it's still one of the best.
[24:53.940 --> 24:56.080]  You'd think you'd be able to get gotten old by now, but no.
[24:59.560 --> 24:59.920]  Yeah.
[25:01.100 --> 25:04.320]  We're running a little bit low on time, but we have time for a few more questions.
[25:04.320 --> 25:05.940]  Otherwise, I thank you for coming out.
[25:07.940 --> 25:08.300]  Okay.
[25:09.400 --> 25:09.820]  All right.
[25:10.000 --> 25:11.320]  Well, thanks for coming out, everybody.
[25:11.320 --> 25:12.740]  I hope you enjoy the rest of the conference.