Bee-Bot and Blue-Bot
Sonic Pi
For especially young children, even those for whom using a block-based language might be a step too far, Bee-Bot ($90) or Blue-Bot ($120) might be of interest. Referred to as programmable floor robots, and typically used with mats that the robots can be programmed to navigate, these devices don’t have to be programmed via a language at all. Instead, they can be programmed by pressing buttons on the robot’s body. So, for example, if you press the “Clear” button, followed by “Forward” twice, “Right turn,” “Forward,” and “Go,” the robot moves forward by 300mm (2x 150mm), turns right 90 degrees, and finally moves forward by 150mm, with a short pause between each step. While this isn’t programming as we normally use the word, it is, of course, exactly that, and it teaches some key principles.
Sonic Pi (https:// sonic-pi.net) is described as a code-based music creation and performance tool. The tool runs under Raspberry Pi OS (it was developed in conjunction with the Raspberry Pi Foundation), as well as Windows and macOS. It’s also referred to as a live coding environment. This means that performers write code on the fly to create music as they’re performing. We might think of it as enabling a digital jam session. Where things differ, though, is that it’s common to project the live code on to a screen during performances, so the audience can share in the coding experience.
Let’s start with a history lesson. The first high-level languages—which made their debut in the 1950s and included the likes of FORTRAN, ALGOL, and COBOL—were designed as down-to-earth tools with little thought given to education. This changed in 1964 with the introduction of BASIC. The language’s acronym hints at its nature, and its full name, Beginners All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code, emphasizes its educational credentials. Indeed, BASIC was designed for use by students who had little appreciation of computers. It outlived other languages of that era, having been adopted for use in the home computers of the late ’70s and ’80s, and helped another generation learn to code.