The Kai’s Clan products have been making a big impression in 2020 and rightfully so! The New Zealand based robotics company is doing something quite unique. They’ve managed to make a product that combines robots, coding, augmented reality, virtual reality, and they’ve succeeded in doing it in a multiplayer game!
I've had a chance to collaborate with David Lockett as his middle school students have used Kai's Clan extensively in classroom activities and presented their work to their community. His students enjoyed viewing the AR and VR perspectives, especially with their experience with coding. The immersive technology integration makes Kai's Clan stand out from the rest. If you don't know David, his work is nothing short of brilliant.
The live view of the code allows students to immediately see the commands to modify, delete, or keep the code as it is. Merging together the physical items and virtual items together brings the learning to new heights as students gain a deeper understanding of the code and how it relates to the world around them.
There are currently five different mats. Each mat has different AR and VR components, and my mat is themed as a tower of defense. The mat will demonstrate various augmented reality based on the mat type. The augmented reality allows students to walk around the space and get many perspectives within the terrain.
In the VR mode, students can get a robot view within the virtual space. View the various perspectives by selecting which robot you would like to view. Each robot is represented by a different avatar depending on the mat. The virtual reality view allows the students to see as the robot sees, and this helps them to understand how the code functions in the project. Getting a live view also will enable them to make immediate changes.
To get started, the classroom will need a device to scan the area with the mat and robots. The device will be held by the tripod stand to keep the whole mat and robots in constant view. Students will need another device to see the augmented and virtual reality come to life from the mat.
All the coding is done in the cloud, allowing students from around the world to build code together without being in the same physical space. Building the code is web-based making it available on multiple platforms such as Chromebooks, iPads, and computers. The block coding is simple enough to jump in and test out what's possible, while also offering more complex concepts that even include sensors (moisture/conductivity, temperature/humidity, infrared, and many more).
Having little experience using code, I appreciated the variety of code cards to allow students to jump into specific commands with the robots immediately. The cards made the activities easy to follow and explained why the code was used. The coding cards provide students the quick and visual guidance to get started using the most common commands to get your robot moving.
The lesson plans are fantastic. Unlike traditional lessons, they use the theme of the mat, integrating a story, and using code to solve a problem. Each block in the code is thoroughly explained, and the guidance is real-life situations such as cleaning pollution. The recap questions bring the lesson back to class discussions or written responses. Not only are there lessons from the company, but a community tab also provides ways for you to incorporate lessons used by other classrooms around the world. The potential for great robotics lessons is available now using Kai’s Clan products. Easily include robotics, coding, augmented, and virtual reality into your classroom lessons or after school programs.
Stay connected with Kai's Clan as new, incredible releases are coming soon.
This blog is part of the #31DaysofARVRinEDU event. Expect a new augmented or virtual reality resource for the classroom to post every day in March. All subscribers will receive daily notifications.
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