Here are some powerful quotes excerpted from a great article in T.H.E.
Journal magazine of April, 2012.
While the article points out the very significant learning benefits of school
robotics programs, it laments the fact that robotics programs are only in 10
percent of US schools, I’ll amplify this with the fact that in many such
schools, only a tiny percentage of the students are involved in the robotics
program there. For instance, it’s often the case that a middle school of 800 or
more students will indeed have a robotics team (or two), but that a mere dozen
of its registered students are served by it. We must remedy this situation.
Robotics is an ideal STEM education approach, but it remains extremely
under-implemented in our schools!
Robots Rule
as
Competition Season Heats Up
Robotics has become a phenomenon in K-12. Tens of
thousands of teams composed of literally hundreds of thousands of K-12 students
will compete in robotics events worldwide in 2012 alone. Yet, with all of this
activity, robotics programs are only in 10 percent of the schools
in the United States…
… The Robotics
Phenomenon
Robotics in K-12 has become a phenomenon, with multiple
organizations--FIRST,
VEX, BEST, and Botball--selling
kits, encouraging students to participate, and running competitions. During 2012, FIRST competitions will encompass nearly 27,000 teams with
293,000 high school, middle school, and grade school students. The
VEX program, run by VEX Robotics Design System, hosts 4,800-plus teams
in 23 countries and puts on 300 events a year. The VEX world championship takes
place in Anaheim starting April 18 and will host 600 teams from 17 countries…
… these programs
combined are only in 10 percent of the schools in the United States,
according to Jason Morrella, president of Robotics Education and Competition
Foundation… robotics can be added to
classroom activities with curriculum that meshes with math standards… But
just as many school robotics teams are hosted by parents or companies and delivered
as extracurricular programs….students "learn problem
solving, design work, teamwork, leadership...
…A Channel to Creativity
What Chris Bradshaw said he values about robotics programs is how they inspire creativity. Bradshaw is Autodesk's chief marketing officer and
senior vice president for "reputation, consumer & education."
That includes oversight of an education community program that provides
Autodesk software to students anywhere in the world for free….
… One of
the biggest complaints we get from our professional customers is that when they go to hire, the kids coming out of college have degrees,
they're smart, but they don't have a lot of creativity,"
Bradshaw said.. "We're training kids from five or
six years old to believe that every answer is either A, B, C, or D--one of the
circles. [During] most all of K-12 and college, you're filling in dots that
say, 'There is one right answer to this question.' When you go to these robotic
competitions and you see every team with the same kit and same instructions and
competing with the same rulebook, there will not be even two robots that look
even remotely alike. This notion of A, B, C, or D evaporates in this environment.
You get kids learning that many solutions are possible. Many solutions
work."…
…STEM Connection
Then there's the STEM connection. According
to research done a decade ago by Brandeis University, FIRST
participants are twice as likely to go into science and
engineering majors. Female participants are four times more likely to pursue
those majors in college….
…Anyone interested
in bringing robotics into the educational lives of young people, but unsure
about how to do it should check out this great book: Getting Started with LEGO
Robotics - a guide for K-12 Educators put out by ISTE (International Society
for Technology in Education http://www.iste.org/store/product.aspx?ID=1690
