What is the problem it is addressing?
This initiative was created in line with Qatar's vision to offer high quality learning opportunities and a technological and robotic syllabus. Designing and assembling robots develops students’ creativity, which will help them thrive in a technological age and will ultimately lead to more career opportunities.
What is the solution?
The goal of My Friend Robot is to give students access to this technology and learn how to program it. The task of the teacher is to help students understand from a computing perspective the movements of the robot and the process of exploration using receptors and various technologies. Students design and assemble the robot and develop ideas to use their robot in the real world. The robot can also be used as a learning support for students with visual impairments and other students.
An overview of our impact
My Friend Robot was evaluated by the teachers implementing the project. They observed that student motivation increased as well as interest in robotics, as a result, more students solicited taking part in this initiative. Students started thinking about ideas that could help them learn better, to the extent that they now link the robot with most of their work, ideas and research. Another indicator of the great impact of this initiative is that some students developed ideas to use the robot to help other students with special needs.
How can someone else implement it? What do they need?
The idea is very easy to implement if the school has access to a robot. It is important that students participate in designing, installing and programming the robot. The robot can also be integrated as a friend for students in various fields of education, and this will increase their motivation for learning. The robot can be implemented in different subjects such as visual arts (experimenting with colors) and in maths class (calculating variables and speeds or drawing and discovering geometric shapes). The robot adds value to the learning process as teachers can use a hand-on and tangibly methodology.
