University program is training teachers to get ‘comfortable’ with robotics

A course like this one seems like a great "nicety" but as
I pointed out in my book (published by ISTE)
'Getting Started With LEGO Robotics: An Educator's Guide',
extensive Professional Development in student robotics may
not be necessary, in fact, it may be counter productive as is
pointed out in this article...


“The hardest thing is getting teachers comfortable with the idea that they don’t have to be robotics experts,” Gales said. “Robotics is about learning. … Kids are really creative and they’re much smarter than we were. The kids will end up teaching you something.”

"How one University of Memphis program is training teachers to get ‘comfortable’ with robotics"

"Science, robotics, and technology are subjects that typically scare many teachers — and a lot of other people, too.

But a two-day robotics training program at the University of Memphis is trying to show teachers that, really, leading students in those subjects isn’t so difficult.
“We’re here today to let teachers know that robotics is not hard and it’s not hard to get kids interested,” said Johnathan Gales, a senior electrical engineering major at the University of Memphis. He was one of five undergraduate students who helped lead the teacher training sessions.


This is Gales’ fourth consecutive year as a STEM ambassador. The university pays students like him, an electrical engineering major, to go to local schools and show young people how to master practical technological skills, like designing robots or operating a 3D printer. STEM is a widely used acronym to describe fields in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.


“The hardest thing is getting teachers comfortable with the idea that they don’t have to be robotics experts,” Gales said. “Robotics is about learning. … Kids are really creative and they’re much smarter than we were. The kids will end up teaching you something.”

Senior electrical engineering major Johnathan Gales was one of five University of Memphis STEM ambassadors who helped lead a robotics teacher training on campus. July 23, 2019.

Helping K-12 teachers overcome the perceived difficulty of understanding robotics helped guide the spirit of the free training program, which was facilitated by the West Tennessee STEM Hub, a collaborative initiative funded by a federal grant. The actual training, which attracted 45 teachers, was paid for by a $20,000 grant from the Tennessee Valley Robotics Foundation and another nonprofit known as Bicentennial Volunteers Incorporated.


The program takes Tennessee — and the nation — one step closer to producing professionals capable of meeting the rising demand for science and robotics specialists. These occupations and those in related fields make up the fifth-fastest growing job sector in the South and are projected to employ 2.6 million workers by next year, according to a report from the Tennessee Department of Education..."

Read the full article at its source: https://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/tn/2019/08/01/how-one-university-of-memphis-program-is-training-teachers-to-get-comfortable-with-robotics/