Robot in 8th grade classroom takes 'hands on' learning to new levels

Technology is enhancing education and fun in a Sioux Falls middle school classroom.

His name is Fred Juan Pablo.

"My students just started on Monday working with him," Information and Communication Technology Instructor Jason Whiting said.

Juan Pablo officially joined the 8th graders at Patrick Henry Middle School in the fall but he wasn't feeling well.

"My motor has been running a fever. But I am so much better and happy to see what they will do with me," Fred Juan Pablo said.

"We had to send him off to the manufacturer twice to get his motor fixed. His motors were getting too hot," Whiting said.

Information and Communication Technology Instructor Jason Whiting brought Fred Juan Pablo thanks, in large part, to the Sioux Falls Education Foundation.

"Suggested retail price, he's a $12,000 robot. They gave me a grant for just under $8,000. A private donor gave me $1,000 and the company knocked off a couple thousand for me," Whiting said.

There's really no limit to what the robot can do.

"He's a humanoid robot so he's very life-like. He's got fully functioning joints. He can sit, stand, walk, he can recognize objects, faces. He can have full conversations, he has sensors so he can identify hands, feet, shoulders," Whiting said.

This robot can even do 'the dab' just like Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton.

"It's a fun thing to learn because it's new and it's challenging and you have to problem solve," 8th grader Kalli Barnhart said.

Recognizing faces is a work-in-progress.

"I have one of my 8th graders right now who is so dead-set on the facial recognition, he's going through all the user manuals right now online. He's reading and reading," Whiting said. "He's trying to see if you have to scan the face in-person or through a picture and once you do that, can it go find a person in the crowd?"

Vaughn Schneider is working to build up Juan Pablo's conversations and pre-recorded responses.

"It could say like 'hi, how are you?' and you can say 'good' and it would say good or if you said 'bad' it would say 'oh no, what's wrong?'" Schneider said.

Whiting says this robot and his students are teaching him which takes the hands-on approach to learning to new levels everyday.

"I feel like I'm more of a guide. I give them tools and they're teaching me and each other. You learn more from your colleagues and peers. When you have 8th graders teaching 8th graders, they get way more out of that than me sitting down saying 'OK, here's your step by step directions'," Whiting said.

By the way, Fred Juan Pablo got his name in two parts: Whiting's own children at home named him 'Fred'. 'Juan Pablo' came from a school-wide vote.

"Next year, my homeroom kids will submit a name and the school will re-vote. So it'll be Fred Juan Pablo plus whatever they give him. We'll tag a name every year. I'd like to have him for 10-15 years so 10-15 names long," he said.

For now, he's just Fred Juan Pablo and he's changing the 8th grade classroom for the better.

In addition, the robot has, in a way, helped open the students' eyes to STEM careers with coding, the puzzles and problem solving.