Robot Battle Code Camp vs Turtles

Robot Battle is designed to introduce students to basic programming concepts. Students select the steps that their robot will execute and then 'run' their program. The goal is to capture the rewards that are randomly located on the game board. This app is designed to engage young learners and help them build a conceptual understanding of programming. The app helps kids think about how to sequence basic control commands to achieve a specific outcome. Learning programming concepts helps them advance from being merely computer users to creators. Players learn to control their animated frogs to move about a grid capturing prizes as they move. The basics of creating a program using an click-to-choose interface makes it very easy to stay focused on the goal. Using the Siri remote players swipe to select commands and then excute their program. Robot Battle supports S.T.E.M educational goals. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics are critically important 21st Century skills. Computational thinking is an essential process that is used in most careers. In Robot Battle each player's turn begins with analyzing a problem, breaking it down into components parts or steps and then describing a path to a solution using algorithmic thinking. A programming sequence is defined by choosing from a list of functions. Sequences of commands are successful if they lead to one of three goals (hearts, stars or trophies). Programs that don't work need to be 'debugged' by the player.

Simple commands, deep thinking. Turtles is a turtle graphics programming app for elementary school students and beginners. Draw shapes while learning the basics of programming, including loops, variables, and functions. Give commands to the turtle on the screen to draw lines, create shapes and patterns, and build interactive projects. Before memorizing difficult syntax, learners can build a program, run it, see the result, and improve it step by step. Turtles can be used for children’s first programming experience, adult learning, school lessons, coding classes, and workshops. It also works on iPhone, but a larger screen such as iPad is recommended for creating projects. Sample projects and related information are available on our website. https://turtle360.net/ First Steps in Programming: Turtles is a programming app that helps learners think by combining simple commands. Starting with basic commands such as “move forward,” “turn right,” and “repeat,” even first-time programmers can quickly begin experimenting and learning by doing. Learn Programming Basics: By drawing shapes, learners can understand important programming concepts such as sequencing, loops, conditions, variables, and functions. Because the result appears immediately on the screen, it is easy to understand how a program works. Try More Advanced Expressions: After learning the basics, learners can try more complex shapes, patterns, and fractal drawings. They can also explore ideas connected to computer science, such as recursion, in a natural and visual way. Create Mini Games and Projects: Turtles is not only for moving a turtle. Learners can also create interactive projects and simple mini games based on their own ideas. By combining the commands they have learned, they can experience the joy of thinking and creating by themselves. About Turtle Graphics: Turtle graphics is a programming method where learners give commands to a turtle on the screen to draw shapes. It was developed in the 1960s for the LOGO programming language, and it is still used today in many programming learning environments. Turtles is designed based on this idea so that both children and adults can enjoy learning programming. Acknowledgments: Turtles was inspired by many programming languages and learning environments, including LOGO, Squeak Etoys, Scratch, Python, and Swift. We thank the developers around the world who created and nurtured these ideas.