Robot Take-Over

Walking down the hall the first week of school at Decatur High and you might see students staring at their phones…but it’s not what you think. This year’s AP Computer Science students are learning coding using Sphero SPRK+ robots and their smartphones. Students use an app on their phone to write code that programs the ball-shaped robots to perform a variety of tasks: navigate a maze, mimic the solar system or even swim across water. Dave Custer, who teachers the class and wrote a DEF grant for the robots, has seen an exponential increase in the number of students now interested in taking the class. “It’s a fun and engaging way to get students interested in coding and working collaboratively,” he said.