ORMISTON College teacher Belinda Piggott has been recognised by an international robotics company for her use of technology in the classroom.
Ms Piggott was one of three Australian teachers named a Sphero Hero in February.
Sphero, a California-based company which creates robotic toys, selected 37 teachers across the world for their Sphero Hero ambassador program.
These teachers will collaborate with other ambassadors, trial new robotics technologies and mentor their colleagues to help them incorporate robotics into the classroom.
Ms Piggott said she initially introduced Spheros to Ormiston College to enhance the mathematics program.
"Children really love hands-on activities," she said.
"We had just started fractions, so we laid out long pieces of paper and put fraction lines along them.
"As (students) coded the robots they would add the fractions as they arrived at that spot.
"After that we did mean, mode and median."
Since then, Ms Piggott has used the robots for school-wide carnival games as well as for teaching a range of primary maths topics.
Students could use iPads to code the path of the Sphero as well as speed and colour changes.
Ms Piggott said the current generation of students were living in a computerised world and skills such as coding would allow them to keep up with rapid technological change.
Sphero chief executive officer Paul Berberian said a record number of teachers had applied for the Sphero Hero program in 2019.
"It's so exciting to see such an enthusiastic response from our teachers,” he said.
“Each and every day, teachers are using Sphero products in ways we never imagined to show students what they can do, build and create when they learn to code."
2019 Sphero Heroes included teachers from 13 countries around the world.
Applicants submitted a short video, written responses and two original activities using Spheros.
