Simone found Robo Wunderkind:

• Moderately builds student knowledge“We are using the kits to demonstrate what we have learned in PSHE (Y6 transition to secondary) and History (our Topic is Total War). The children have had to come up with an idea that summarises or condenses or encapsulates a fact/event/process by coding their robots to perform a few significant tasks that represent their idea - we workshoped building, then controlling (using live) then coding (using code) the children we simply pointed at outcomes and have to find a way to make their robot respond. They worked in pairs to design and write the probable code and have also helped other pairs to problem solve if they can't get Robo to do what they want it to do.”
• Moderately improves attainment“The pairs are of mixed ability so the children can work to their strengths, but I find because of the practicality of the device and instant checking and feedback it provides, tinkering, debugging and collaborating happens naturally.”
• Significantly improves teacher knowledge and skills“I have had to think of ways to share what I have learned by playing around with Robo myself and the children’s solutions to problems have also given me insight to what works well for them. They often need help with abstraction and refining their code, so having a discussion about what they want the device to do versus how they are going about making that happen, gives me a chance to immediately assess their understanding, which leads to better planning for the next session. Sharing our frustrations and solutions with each other also creates a nice, no risk, collaborative classroom atmosphere”
• Significantly increases student collaboration“Paired work, whole class demonstration of their work and trying to solve each others Robo tasks is integral to the lesson.”
• Slightly reduces teacher workload“Well only having 4 kits in the classroom can require some very careful planning and organisation - the children who have a good idea of their code, who help others and are prepared for the lesson get to "play" with Robo, whilst the other work on their planning or need to keep busy with another task (art in my case). Also the practicality of charging the devices and ensuring the software is up to date takes commitment. A charging station could help.”