At the launch of the Harlem Ivy after-school project on October 15, leaders of four New York community-based organizations, as well as school principals and teachers, were introduced to “Tribot,” a three-wheeled, computerized robot that will be a feature of the project’s science-based curriculum.

Daoquan Li, a third-year doctoral student in TC’s Instructional Technology and Media Program, clapped his hands while walking around a small table. He wasn’t dancing, but instead sending the 14-inch by 4-inch, sound-sensitive robot in circles on the tabletop. The robot avoided the table’s edges with distance and light sensors on its front that looked like camera lenses.

“Beginning students experience how the sensors work,” said Li, who developed “Tribot” with fellow graduate students under the direction of Margaret Chan, Assistant Director of Research at TC’s Institute for Learning Technologies. “Then they learn programming, using the mathematical concepts of distance, rate and time.”

Published Monday, Nov. 10, 2008