Kitronik Launches ‘Lesson in a Box’ Robotics Pack

In what will be a series of ‘Lesson in a Box’ offerings, the first box, the Simple Robotics Pack contains a complete set of electronics and teaching resources. It provides everything needed to successfully deliver a lesson on robotics to up to 30 children, making the task as manageable as possible for teachers, particularly the less experienced. It is aimed at students aged 11 to 16 and can be used for the range of STEM subjects, making it a cost-effective way to deliver the curriculum.

The product has been designed in consultation with teachers, with plans having been developed by Caroline Keep, Teacher and Director of Spark at Penketh High School in Warrington, UK, the first school with an embedded makerspace.

Caroline brings her expertise to the ‘Lesson in a Box’ range. Over recent years, Caroline has won the Times Education Supplement TES National New Teacher of the Year (2018) award, the Nexus Education Award for STEM/EdTech, and the BIMA 100 Award. This gives other teachers the confidence to know that the lesson is ‘tried and tested’ and will enable them to deliver an engaging, successful lesson.  

Kevin Spurr, Co-Founder and Director of Kitronik explained: “We are always keen to understand the barriers teachers have in successfully teaching electronics. Following feedback, many said that they wanted to ensure they were buying the right products and wanted the confidence to know that a particular product would work with another one. We all know how frustrating it is when you buy something and find, for example, you’ve got the wrong lead. Clearly busy teachers did not want to waste their valuable time and money on such issues.

“With this in mind, we have created ‘Lesson in a Box’ so that teachers have everything they need in a box, making the process from purchasing to delivering the lessons as smooth as possible.”

The Lesson in a Box ‘Simple Robotics Pack’ enables students to create a wheeled robot which they can then code and operate. To make things simple and cost effective for schools, the buggy is designed to be made from cardboard and powered by a BBC micro:bit, something many schools will already have.

The ‘Simple Robotics Pack’ contains the following resources and equipment:
Resources:

• Teacher/technician/classroom assistant instructions
• Risk assessment/scopes of work/lesson plans
• Student instructions and worksheets
• USB stick with instructions, template files and code examples
• 10 student and 1 teacher set of electronics (11 sets in total)

Each Individual Set Includes:

• 1 Kitronik clippable motor driver board for BBC micro:bit
• 2 Kitronik clippable motors (motor, PCB, cable tie and screws
• 2 Kitronik wheels for the motors
• 1 set of 10 clip leads
• 1 ping pong ball for robot castor

Kevin Spurr concluded: “Time and monetary pressures are faced by teachers the world over, so I am looking forward to gauging the interest in the ‘Lesson in a Box’ product range at this year’s show. It will be available on our website in the coming weeks ready to order for the start of the new school year in September.”