Robotics Engineer Barbie - A STEM Education Resource Whose Time Has Come!

We've definitely turned an important corner with this one. Smart partnership to produce a much needed resource!

How do young students program robots?

This item (below), taken from a message in my in-box this morning from, SPHERO EDU (student robotics organization)... It gives a fun, clear view of how students can program robots. Here we see the use of the programming 'language' SCRATCH, which takes a graphic approach, with kids moving things around their screens as they would move building blocks around on a table top. There are numerous other such 'graphically oriented languages'. This video, though, I think is a very good illustration of a very good approach to teaching kids how to do something important in a relatively easy and fun way!

Scratch: The what and why

Scratch is the most popular block programming language in the world, and we integrated their open source library into Sphero Edu so it can be a better experience for more learners. For users familiar with our existing blocks canvas, don’t worry, the layout is similar and organized the same way, and we think you’re going to love the improvements.

A similar video below about the use of SCRATCH to program LEGO Robots

Click on book cover for information

Getting Started with LEGO Robotics. Anyone who works with kids can do LEGO Robotics, a rich and highly motivating platform for important STEM Learning! (surprisingly affordable, too) This books explains it all!

American Schools MUST Prepare for the "Jobs Apocalypse" Automation Will Bring

(from the article, below;):
"Part of the problem is that policymakers are not moving quickly enough to update the education system and provide workers with the skills that will be needed when these bottom-tier jobs are replaced by automation..."

That's the UNDERSTATEMENT of the millennium !!!! The Education Sector is somewhat oblivious to this issue AND even that small portion of visionary educators who are aware and willing to act, are clueless about what best to do. We CAN'T address this by simply teaching kids to code... within a decade computers will be doing coding for us. We need some deeper thinking and we need it now!

Still, fully pulling Robotics into schools and making it part of their core body of practice is the best way to start. Robots have to be embraced as part of Education and NOT as an enemy to it! Student Robotics represents important learning opportunity!

Mark

Article, below, from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-policymakers-unprepared-for-automation-jobs-apocalypse/

"America is unprepared for the "jobs apocalypse" automation will bring

In coming years, U.S. workers -- especially low skilled, low wage workers -- are set to face a major economic disruption as automation and the robotic revolution are expected to replace millions of jobs once held by humans.
|

But policymakers and businesses are ill-prepared to help workers navigate the transition and adapt the skills needed to survive the "economic tsunami," Axios Editor Steve LeVine reports.

"The biggest takeaway is that the future is now," LeVine told CBSN in an interview on Friday.

"We're not prepared at all," he said, for the "jobs apocalypse" resulting from automation. 

Part of the problem is that policymakers are not moving quickly enough to update the education system and provide workers with the skills that will be needed when these bottom-tier jobs are replaced by automation.

"You see scores of companies complaining they can't find enough skilled labor...they are not prepared to train new workers. And as a country we have not even started talking about, 'How do we retrain our workforce?'" LeVine said.

At least 10 million U.S. jobs are at high risk of losing out to automation in the next decade as companies replace them with machines, a recent analysis from research firm CB Insights found.

Some of the top jobs at risk include "fast casual cooks" -- think burger makers and coffee servers. One burger chain in California is already making use of a robot, called "Flippy," to cook burgers. Movers, warehouse workers and retail workers including cashiers are also threatened, according to the report. As autonomous cars move from myth to reality, taxi drivers, too, could become a thing of the past.

-- CBS News' Jillian Harding contributed to this report."

Click on book cover for information

Getting Started with LEGO Robotics. Anyone who works with kids can do LEGO Robotics, a rich and highly motivating platform for important STEM Learning! (surprisingly affordable, too) This books explains it all!