tts Kitt Versatile Nonmoving Robot with Embedded Microphone Camera and Speaker System User Guide
- June 6, 2024
- tts
Table of Contents
tts Kitt Versatile Nonmoving Robot with Embedded Microphone Camera and
Speaker System
What is Kitt?
- Kitt is a versatile, nonmoving robot with embedded microphone, camera, and speaker system. It does not need additional devices or the Internet to work and can therefore support learning anywhere.
- Kitt is not intended to be a complex technology tool but rather a simple device that can be used by any child of elementary age and older in all areas of the curriculum and at home.
How does Kitt appeal to children?
It is well researched and understood how positively children respond to
inanimate friends, such as puppets in the classroom. Many teachers know how
well these learning devices can motivate even the most reluctant children and
provide extra interest and engagement. Kitt does this with bells on! Kitt’s
companionship features – moving eyes, talking in a cute voice, responding to
movement and touch, lighting up in different colors, getting sleepy, and
waking up – all enhance children’s engagement with it. They want to help and
please it!
Introducing Kitt to your class, child, or group
Introduce Kitt in a special way. Make a song and dance about it!vAn
illustrated storybook is available, depicting Kitt’s journey from a factory
shelf to a school, and includes a special message from Kitt. However, with or
without the book, you will have your own ideas about how Kitt came to be with
you! It could be a mystery; perhaps Kitt arrives with a letter or perhaps it
came from outer space! The more special and important Kitt seems, the greater
value it will have for the children.
Personalize your Kitts
Special clothes are available, but children could also make their own.
Where will Kitt live? Where will it sleep?
Children might make houses or beds.If you have more than one Kitt, think
about how you might differentiate them – numbering or naming them perhaps
.
What is the best way to explain how Kitt works?
A versatile PowerPoint presentation is available and goes through each of
Kitt’s features one by one. You might want to introduce them one or two at a
time. You might not want to use all of them. The slides can be chosen and
rearranged however you like. Much more content is planned for the near future
and will be linked to specific areas of the whole curriculum. Please also see
our Kitt SENCo Guide for how to use Kitt to support your special-needs
learners.
Getting started
How you use Kitt will obviously depend on how many Kitts you have available for group or individual use and whether they can be sent home with children. The following pages are intended to give a few thoughts and starter activities based on four of Kitt’s functions:
- Classroom timer
- Audio recorder
- Camera
- Video recorder
Classroom timer
Focused time
- Set the classroom timer as an incentive for an individual or group.
- Kitt can sit with the children to “see” what they are doing and help them focus on the task.
- When the alarm goes off, children might have five minutes to play with Kitt as
A timer is a brilliant tool for any busy classroom, but linking it to a real character like Kitt can have extra advantages!
Ready for PE?
- Explain that Kitt wants to see if everyone can be ready for their PE lesson before its alarm goes off.
- Set the timer for 10 minutes (or whatever is appropriate for your class or group).
- Is Kitt happy? Did everybody do their very best?
Cleanup time!
- Use Kitt as an incentive to clean up after an activity or at the end of the day. “Kitt loves everything to be clean and tidy!”
- Set the timer for an appropriate time before the alarm goes off.
Pass it on!
- Set Kitt’s classroom timer for between one and four minutes.
- Tell the children how long the timer is set for, but do not show Kitt counting down!
- Sit in a circle and pass an object around the group.
- The second Kitt’s timer goes off, the person holding the object might be “out” or might be chosen for something – to say what their favorite book is, spell a word,do a classroom job, and so on.
Parent’s evening
- Use Kitt as a very nonthreatening way to set a timer when talking to parents. It will be good for them to see Kitt in action!
- Explain that this is one of the ways you use Kitt in the classroom!
One-to-one
- Rather than a whole-class timer (such as on a whiteboard), Kitt has the flexibility t o be used as a one-to-one device, allowing for individual timings to be set.
- A child with dyspraxia, for example, might need slightly longer to complete motivation of a timed challenge.
Audio recorder
Encourage independence
- Allow children to work independently by prerecording yourself explaining a task.
- Children will be able to listen back to your instructions on Kitt as many times as they need to.
- Kitt could be set up ready for a lesson, giving you the chance to work with a focus group, for example, or perhaps to observe and make formative assessments.
What’s that noise?
- Record some sounds that will be familiar to your class (e.g., a bell, a creaky door, a piano, children at playtime, and so on).
- Play them back. “Kitt would like you to listen very carefully to some sounds it has recorded. Can you guess what they are and perhaps where they come from?”
- Children can write down their answers and see how many they could identify.
A few audio recorder ideas
There are so many ways to use this function. You will no doubt think of many
more ideas to addto the list!
Sing together!
- Kitt loves music and wants to learn as many songs as possible.
- Together, sing and record some of your favorite songs on Kitt.
- Play back, listen, and evaluate. Are you too fast or too slow? Are all the words clear?
Poetry
- Explain that Kitt loves poems – especially funny ones!
- Learn a poem together and use Kitt to record yourselves as a group.
Why not try this? It is one of Kitt’s favorites!
Nobody Loves Me
-
Nobody loves me, Everybody hates me, Think I’ll go and eat worms.
-
Big fat squishy ones, Little thin skinny ones,
See how they wiggle and squirm. -
Bite their heads off,“Schlurp!” They’re lovely, Throw their tails away.
-
Nobody knows, How big I grows, On worms three times a day.
Interviews
- Ask children to interview a friend, parent, or a relative on a suitable or relevant theme.
- Children should prepare their questions in advance and have them available to use as prompts.
- Use Kitt to record the interview.
- Children can then play the interview back to relisten, make notes, or write about it.
Record a group story
- This might be a retelling of a familiar story or event or (more challenging) a story that is made up on the spot.
- Sit in a circle. Decide who will begin the story.(You could allocate a part to each child in the group before starting.)
- The first child to speak starts the recording and says their part. Without stopping the recording, they pass Kitt to the next child who continues the story.
Teacher reads
- Children love hearing their own teacher read!Record favorite class stories onto Kitt so they can be accessed at any time.
- Place Kitt in a reading area.
- Allow children to take Kitt home. (Wonderful for children who might not usually hear stories at home.)
Listen and read along
- Record stories on Kitt so that children may read along with their own copies. This might be a guided or class reading book.
- Reading in this way becomes multisensory and can help children who might otherwise be reluctant.
- It can also allow access to more challenging texts that are potentially of more interest.
Helping out
- Ask older children in the school to record stories for the younger ones.
- Many will love a reason to revisit their own past favorite books, and it will give a real purpose to practice reading aloud and with expression.
Kind words
- Explain that Kitt wants to learn about being kind.
- Choose one child at a time to be the focus of the session.
- Give the class or group time to think about this person and what they like about him or her.
- Sit in a circle and, when ready, press the recording function. Each child in the group makes one positive comment about their classmate and passes Kitt to the next person.
- If possible, allow the chosen child to take Kitt home to share what people have said about him or her.
Teacher messages
- Use Kitt to record and send home messages about individual children for their parents/caregivers.
- You might tell them about something a child has done that has been particularly good. “I’m so proud of Harry today. He was sharing so well with his friends and being very kind.”
- Use Kitt to explain homework tasks so children and their parents/caregivers can listen to it and understand exactly what is required and when.
Podcasts
- Talk about podcasts. The word comes from iPod and broadcast. They are digital audio files that can be downloaded via the Internet onto computers and portable media devices.
- Listen to a few suitable podcasts together. They might be linked to a topic you are doing.
- Tell the children they are going to record their own podcasts onto Kitt. You might give them a theme or leave it completely up to them. It might be factual and documentary style or a short play, story, or comedy.
- Give a time limit of five minutes as the length of the podcast. (You are looking for quality over quantity!)
- Play the completed shows from Kitt so the whole class can listen and evaluate what they have done.
Camera
A few ideas for using Kitt’s camera
When taking photos with Kitt, make sure it is facing toward you. This way, you
can see exactly how your picture will look before it is taken. The timer will
count down to allow time to prepare. Talk with children about how Kitt has the
capacity to store an incredible number of photographs, but it is still
important to think carefully about what they want to take. Remind children
that you will have access to all their photographs.
Keep a record
- Kitt may be used to photograph anything children may want to keep a record of. It might be something that would otherwise be lost such as:
- A picture or writing on a whiteboard.
- A model from construction equipment.
- A jigsaw puzzle they managed to finish.
- The photos may be stored in individual folders or printed out if required.
Phonic photos
- Ask children to find and photograph as many objects as they can beginning with the n sound (or whatever letter/sound you are working on).
- Children can take a photograph of each object or might prefer to gather a few objects together for one picture.
Photo story
- Ask children to take a particular number of photos using Kitt.
- After they have their photos, explain that they should now write a story that includes the subjects of those photos in some way!
- The photos could be printed out to add to children’s text.
Selfies
- Ask children to take their self-portrait and then write or record a description of themselves.(You might provide a template.)
- Place the description with Kitt.
- Other children should read or listen to the description and make a guess about who it is.
- After students have decided, they can check the photo on Kitt to see if they were right!
Color photography
- Set children the challenge to find and photograph as many things as they can find of one certain color.
- For example, which colors show up a lot in your classroom?
- Will it be the same outdoors?
- Which colors are harder to find?
Photo sharing
- Taking a photo on Kitt is a great way for children to be able to have a record of something they are proud of to share and talk about at home.
- It might be they have written their whole name for the first time, managed a whole page of writing, or done a brilliant painting. It could be anything they would like to share!
- This is a wonderful way to make connections between school and home and boost children’s self-esteem.
Videorecorder
Videos are such a great tool for both teachers and children, enabling
reflective learning as well as important information to be captured and used
in all kinds of ways.
Practice makes perfect!
- Children can use Kitt when they are practicing. It might be a song, a story, or even a dance!
- They can watch themselves and decide what they would like to improve – or see that it is already perfect!
Teacher demos
- Kitt can be used to record explanations and demonstrations of any number of things to help a group or individuals.
- You might show:
- How the grid method works.
- How to write letters or numbers correctly.
- How to use punctuation marks in a sentence.
- Children will then be able to watch your explanation and refer to it whenever they like.
Sharing made easy
- Many times, children have important things going on at home they would like to share. Why not let them take Kitt home to record some of these memorable events?
- They might have a brand-new puppy, a hamster, a new brother or sister, or a bike, or they might have rearranged or decorated their bedroom. It could be any number of things they would love to be able to share with friends at school.
- Children could make recordings for just a few people to see on Kitt. Or, they might be shared on your whiteboard.
Storytelling revisited!
- Ask a selection of people to record themselves reading or, perhaps better still, telling a story. They can then use facial expressions, movements for emphasis, or even pictures or props.
- Older children might record themselves for younger ones.
- Parents or relatives might have excellent storytelling skills to put to good use on Kitt!
Explanations
- Children could record an explanation just as a teacher would.
- This could be a part of your ongoing assessment, such as having a child explain how they came to a certain conclusion in a math topic or a literacy comprehension.
Video diary
- In the same way that a special teddy or toy is sent home for children to have for the weekend or a holiday, children might get to take Kitt home.
- Ask them to keep a video diary of their time.
- The videos could then be shared with the class.