Personal Narrative - Cozmo Robot Camp

By Pranati Guduru

The second session of the Cozmo Social Robot camp took place from August 2nd to August 6th. There were around 14 participants total. The first part of the Cozmo camp consisted of a curriculum that included computer science principles to help the students gain familiarity in coding using the virtual robot Marty. The second part consisted of Theatre of the Oppressed activities which helped students connect with their power, identity, and cultures.

My role in the second session of the Cozmo Camp was to be a note-taker. I took notes each day, focusing on what went well, what didn’t go well, and a few points of interest such as how the use of the social programmable robot influences learner power and identity reflections, how agentic behavior differs between different students, how robots can foster agentic engagement, etc. I also took note of whenever a student expressed interest or opinion during the class, if a student questioned the limits of technology, if a student expressed confusion or need of assistance, and if an instructor said something that solicits intriguing discourse.

The students during this session were very active and engaged throughout the material. I was extremely impressed with their background in computer science topics coming into this camp. The students did not hesitate to express their interest and curiosity and they would also speak up if they had any confusion over any topics.

I was able to learn a lot just from observing the students and the instructors. The instructors were very engaging while teaching and made these concepts more digestible to the students. Overall, I had a very enriching experience and I was able to play a role in empowering these young students to pursue their interest in technology.

Written by:

Pranati Guduru

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Computer Science