C1/C2 ACTIVITIES

Drobeta Turnu Severin, 21^st – 25^th May 2018

Report of the Learning and Teaching Activities

“Domnul Tudor” Technical College organized between 21^st and 25^th of May the first transnational meeting from the Erasmus+ project, with the acronym ROBO (ID:2017-1-IT02-KA219-036552_3). The partner schools in the project are: Istituto Superiore Ruggiero d'Altavilla - Vincenzo Accardi - Italy, Zespol Szkol im. por. Jozefa Sarny w Gorzycach - Poland, Colegiul Tehnic “Domnul Tudor” - Romania, Vasil Levski Comprehensive School - Bulgaria.

The activities which took place have been the ones on the meeting agenda and they all have been carried out taking into consideration the main objective of the project: preventing school dropout through an innovative learning approach based on informal education and the use of ITC in robotics.

The first day May 21^st was dedicated to the welcoming of the participants and the school visit. The participants met, shared ideas, knowledge and expectations.

The opening session of the first mobility was warmly saluted by the representatives of the local community. Thus on May 22^nd, the Mayor of our town, Mr. Marius Screciu, welcomed the delegations from the partner countries, wishing them good luck in all the activities on the agenda. In addition, Mr. Mihai Demian, the dean of the University of Craiova, The Faculty of Mechanics, has appreciated in a positive way the students’ preoccupation for robotics, underlining the fact that the future belongs to this domain. The event was largely presented on the local TV stations underlining the benefits of such projects for schools but for the local community as well.

The Power Point presentation of hardware components used to build the robot showed the audience a short history of ARDUINO UNO, presenting with details, suggestive pictures and schemes, the component parts and the way they function. It was an interactive presentation where the audience asked or answered questions.

The third activity on day 2 was dedicated to discussing and analyzing the ARDUINO UNO development board and ARDUINO IDE. The students watched a demonstration with some devices that were using ARDUINO development board and different sensors (a board with led blinks, a counter on a display of seven segments, a buzzer emitting sounds when sensing an obstacle and the way a robot moved). The participants worked in groups and were asked to solve a task based on one of the devices showed by the trainer.

The activity with the title Romanian Cultural Values proposed dancing and folk music from our county performed by singers and dancers from our school, but also by guests from Palatul Copiilor, Scoala “Regele Mihai I”, and Liceul Tehnologic “Drobeta”. The participants danced together and found out more about our traditions and culture.

The “Walking Tour” of the town was another appreciated moment by all the guests. Palatul Cultural “Theodor Costescu”, with its great architecture, was considered a real landmark and Castelul de Apa, a real symbol of the town, offered a great view of the town which was captured in many photographs. The parks and the kinetic fountain were also greatly appreciated

Day 3, May 23^rd, began with the “Programming Oriented Activities ”. The trainers presented the basic structures of C++ programming language, sustained by the execution of some relevant applications. The participants worked in the ITC laboratory making conjecture and refining their understanding of the programming concepts. The feedback of the activity was obtained through a programming contest where the students showed their ITC knowledge and their teamwork skills.

The second activity of day 3 was the “Presentation of the Robot Building Experience”. Each country presented its robot building experience using power point presentations or demonstrations of the robots following the route. The students presented the parts they used to create the robots, the programs for the robot behavior but also the way they felt during the experience, the problems they faced, sharing ideas and trying to learn from the experience of their colleagues.

Another attractive activity showing the use of automatics and robotics in the field of education was the one with simulators presented by Centrul Universitar from Drobeta Turnu Severin. The participants had the opportunity to perform simulating exercises after being explained the procedure.

The visit to Hidrocentrala “ Portile de Fier I ”, one of the biggest hydro technical constructions in Europe, and the biggest on the Danube, offered all the teams the chance to see how automatics and robotics are applied in economic activities. This example of good practice made the participants refine their understanding of robotics.

The climax of the agenda and the most expected event of the day 4, May 24^th,  was the Robot Contest. The jury established the rules for all the teams and the penalties for not obeying them. The robots from each country followed the already established route and the best time from the three tries was taken into consideration in order to establish the fastest robot.

The activity “Robo the Connection Between School and University” enlarged students’ knowledge about various uses of robotics in nowadays world, They were presented the study programs of the College and the educational area in connection with ITC and robotics.

As a follow up of the visit to Hidrocentrala “ Portile de Fier I ” - an example of good practice in automation, the boat trip on the Danube offered us the chance to see the artificially created lake of the hydro electrical plant, from Orsova and beyond. It was also a great occasion to discover the wonders of the Danube and Cazane Natural Reservation.

On day 5, May 25^th,, the workshop “How Is Going On” was the moment when the participants shared experiences, ideas and expectations towards the project, discussing how to accomplish the activities and tasks of the project.

The feedback session offered the participants the occasion to share their experience, feeling, ideas both orally but also by filling in some feedback questionnaires which showed us the way they felt, and what was their opinion on the activities.

The drawing contest “Ideas, Ideas, Ideas… Robo Design ” promoted creative thinking and innovation, bringing students together in order to show their talents, skills, ideas and expectations towards robots and the entire project. All the teams were declared winners.

All the activities on the agenda attained the objectives and the close relations established between partners will contribute to fulfilling the main goal, preventing school dropout through an innovative learning approach based on informal education and the use of ITC in robotics.

Report of the learning and Teaching Activities - C2 Activity