Ten teachers from Orange East, Bletchington, Clergate, Spring Hill, Calare, Bowen, Glenroi Heights and Mullion Creek public schools gathered at Canobolas Rural Technology High School on Monday to use the Sphero robots.

The training was part of the STEM Industry School Partnership Program, run in conjunction with Regional Development Australia Central West.

Canobolas STEM head teacher Matt Scott said the robots functioned by programming distances and angles.

“They were drawing shapes and programming the robots to travel in certain shapes,” he said.

READ ALSO: Orange Anglican Grammar students design library as part of STEM program

Mr Scott said a representative from the CSIRO attended to talk about how similar technology had been used during the Mars rover mission.

He said using robots in maths lessons showed students how they could apply their knowledge. 

“You teach the concept on the board, but some students might not understand the concept until they apply it with the robot,” he said.

READ ALSO: Yeoval Central School shows off its robots at Tech Expo

He said it was also a helpful tool for teachers to gauge how well students understood the theory, especially if some students assisted others during group work. 

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