Breaking news! If you haven’t heard, Sphero has officially released their newest member of the team, indi– a durable, entry-level robot designed exclusively for pre-K to 2nd grade students.  

What is indi?

Indi uses a color sensor and color tiles to learn behaviors and run a code.  The best part? This can be done completely screenless! This is great news for those teachers who don’t have devices, or are trying to limit screen time. The portability of this robot also allows for students to move freely to collaborate while learning basic problem solving, cause and effect and computational thinking.  

How to use indi

When using the indi, there are four stages of learning:

1. Exploration: This is where students are welcome to freely explore the robot, generate questions and discover answers. This is a very open-ended phase. 
2. Skills Building: This is where students are given formal activities to help and highlight specific skills.
3. Challenge: In this phase, students are given a task or challenge to complete using the skills they learned in the skills building phase.  
4. Extended Challenge: This is where you can kick it up a notch for your students by offering extended learning opportunities and challenges.  

While indi can be screen free, it is also designed to grow with our youngest learners. The indi is also capable of connecting with the new Sphero Edu Jr. app, opening a host of options such as changing the behaviors of each color tile and an intuitive drive mode.  

Because everything Sphero does is very thought out, they also provide some amazing resources. The first is the 21 challenge cards that come with each robot. These are great to use during the skills building and challenge phases of learning. In addition, each class pack comes with an educators guide. This guide will take you on the indi learning journey step-by-step, from getting started to some fantastic CS standard aligned lessons.  

For more information on the Sphero indi or the new SpherEdu Jr. app, make sure to check out our course on OTIS Sphero indi Basics. 

For more tips, tricks, and tools for teaching in and out of the classroom, check out more articles on the Teq Talk blog.

We also offer virtual professional development, training, and remote learning support for educators with OTIS for educators. Explore the technology, tools, and strategies that can spark student success — no matter where teaching or learning are happening.