EdPy: Not Visually Friendly But...

What EdPy lacks in visuals and the drag and drop nature of EdBlocks and EdScratch, it makes up for in being based off from a popular coding language, Python. Python is used by many current app developers and is considered versatile. This is by far the most complicated programming language that the Edison robots use. However, it is important to note that EdBlocks and EdScratch are designed to help students build an understanding of programming logic in order to prepare them for EdPy. EdPy has lessons that help students learn how to find issues in their code, test their code on the Edison robots to find improvements, and become more comfortable with automation and analyzing the real life effects that their programs can have (such as how speed affects accuracy).

Lessons From Microbric:

The EdPy lesson booklet contains many lessons that are built up from prior lessons. This time, students get to try and figure out how to use real code to approach the problems and work on accuracy as well as automation. Here are some of the concepts from the lessons:

• Tracing shapes again (but this time, the work is all on them and they have to use EdPy rather than drag and drop from EdScratch)

• Creating functions themselves (rather than using just preset functions) and using them to perform tasks of their choice

• Designing codes to complete functions previously seen (obstacle detection, moving on a clap, etc)

So not only do students get to learn how to use new skills to improve on previous lessons, but they actually get to see how to program the robots to do functions they have seen in previous years!

Resources:

So where do we find these great resources? Good question! If you go to Edison's website you can find many wonderful resources! Best yet, the resources are FREE! It doesn't get much better than that! There is also a page (below) that provides you an activity mat that you can use with the Edison robots. They suggest to print it off at a local shop to get it done right but if you are savvy I bet you can figure it out on your own (I honestly haven't yet but my printing skills are not as strong as yours may be).

If you are anything like me, you are hoping that the person designing this site is nice enough to provide you links to the resources you want rather than expecting you to find them all yourself... Good news! Check out the links below to find out just where to go!

EdPy Activity Book

EdPy Programming Site

EdPy Teacher's Guide

EdPy Help Documentation

EdPy Main Page