When preparing to teach with VEX GO in your classroom, it is important to be sure you have updated the firmware and named your robots using the VEX Classroom app prior to the first time you use them with students. This simple organizational step will allow you to get started teaching with GO quickly and easily. This article contains suggestions for how to get up and running quickly and easily in your classroom as well as information about how to use the Classroom App in different situations.
These steps are important to follow before you bring VEX GO into your classroom so that you and your students can have the ideal experience. Updating Brains beforehand allows you to ensure students can remain focused on the coding and activity within the classroom rather than needing to introduce a new process. It can also be said that pairing unnamed Brains with VEXcode GO during class time can be a difficult process. Students will be unable to easily determine which robot is theirs and may connect to a different group's robot.
Before beginning, ensure you have downloaded the VEX Classroom App. The VEX Classroom App is available on the following platforms:
- Apple App Store - iPads, iPhones, iPod Touches
- Google Play Store - Android phones and tablets
- Amazon Appstore - Amazon Fire tablets
Note: This app is intended for educator use to prepare VEX GO Brains. Do not download the VEX Classroom App to student devices.
Scenario 1: Getting Started with Your Classroom Bundle Using the VEX Classroom App
After removing your VEX GO Kits from your boxes, you will need to do various tasks to help keep your bundles organized and ready for use. This includes charging batteries, labeling kits, updating firmware, and naming the GO Brains.
Note: If you have more than 15 VEX GO Kits, you may want to split the following steps into multiple sessions.
Begin by opening each kit and placing the batteries on chargers. If you purchased a Classroom Bundle, the chargers will be located in the extra parts bin.
For more information on using the VEX GO Battery, see this article.
While waiting for the charge, define your labeling system and begin to label your VEX GO Kits and GO Brains. Use a sticker label or piece of tape and a marker for labeling.
By ensuring the name of the brain is visible and clear, it will help students when they need to connect their VEX GO Brain to their devices or when cleaning up their Kit at the end of the day.
Do not be afraid to have only simple names like 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. You can name them based off of storybook characters or base the names on what your students are currently learning about in class.
Ensure that while labeling the brain, you keep the Smart Ports, Smart Port labels, and center button clear.
After labeling your kits and brains and charging batteries, bring all of the items to a central location. This could be a large table or counter where you can see all of the elements at one time.
Plug in the batteries to the brains and turn them on. If you need assistance getting these connected and turning on the brains, see this article.
Open the VEX Classroom App.
Select the Scan for VEX Devices button to detect all of the GO Brains.
Before you can name the GO Brains, they will need to be updated. Select Update All at the top of the screen, and you will see each GO Brain begin the update process.
This will update all of the GO Brains sequentially. Each update can take up to 2 minutes to complete. For more information about updating the firmware on multiple GO Brains with the VEX Classroom App, see this article.
After the brains have been updated, you can begin to name them so that their labels match their name within the VEX Classroom App and VEXcode GO. All VEX GO Brains begin with the same name - "VEX GO."
To begin, select one of the brains from the VEX Devices list.
From inside the device's info page, select Locate to turn the GO Brain's indicator light yellow to indicate which brain that is.
Select Rename to change the name of the brain to match its label.
Place this brain and battery back in their kit and repeat the locate and rename process for the remaining brains.
Scenario 2: Using the Classroom App to Find a Misplaced Robot
Students may come to you during class time concerned because they lost track of which robot is theirs. Sometimes students peel off the labeling tape, or get distracted and forget which robot they were working with. Bring the whole class to attention and open the Classroom App.
Please note that this situation assumes that you have already named your devices and know which groups are using each Kit.
Ensure that all groups have their brains turned on. Then look in at the VEX Classroom App and look for the missing brain in the list.
If the brain appears, then another group may have mistakenly used the robot. Select the brain and then the Locate button to locate the missing robot.
Once the specific GO Brain is located, the button on top of the brain will turn yellow as shown in this animation. Turn it into a classroom search and have everyone look out for the yellow brain!