Technology gained a foothold into classrooms by becoming more affordable, accessible, and essential in modern society. The subject of robotics is trickling its way into education starting from kindergarten to high school, mostly in science and technology subjects. Why does my School need Educational Robotics, why is it something you should do now?

A robot can be a lot of things these days, from self-driving cars, autonomous drones, or C-3PO. To keep things simple let’s say a robot is a mechanical device that is programmed to follow a set of instructions, experts argue that it should also be programmed to make its own decisions.  Robots consist of:

• A processing unit
• Sensors to recognize its environment
• Motors and actuators

What is STEM?

STEM is a curriculum based on the idea of educating students on four disciplines – science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.  STEM integrates all four subjects into a cohesive paradigm based on real-world applications instead of teaching the four disciples separately.  STEAM, which we’ll see later, integrates Arts.

Schools need STEM-based programs, especially those including programming and coding instruction since these skills are becoming more essential.  According to Oxford University, as many as 47 percents of jobs in the United States will become wholly automated within the next 20 years. This will lead to a transformation of labor and will generate new job opportunities.

Why teach Robotics in school and how to succeed with Educational Robotics?

1. It’s Fun

The word “robot” makes people excited and sometimes even scared.  Regardless of how you feel, it ignites curiosity from students which is the goal of every teacher in a classroom.

2. An Introduction to Programming

Programming is a very abstract subject and can be very complicated for students to grasp and for teachers to plan in a curriculum.  Robotics is easier to understand because when students program a robot, it’s easier to see what works and what doesn’t through trial and error.  As soon as you involve the “cool” factor into a classroom, students are more likely to engage and retain more information.  In the process, students also learn about math, science, and engineering.

3. To Boost Student Creativity

Students have the opportunity to create a moving object that moves based on what they program it to do.  Combining creativity with engineering and technology is unique in today’s education system.

4. Prepare students for future jobs

Programming mechanical devices are without a doubt a foreseeable job of the future.  It’s important to see if students have an aptitude and interest in such topics.

Problem-solving is obviously a necessary skill.  It is challenging to build a functioning robot unless the student has an understanding of what it is they need to do how to complete it.   Similar to engineer, the design process begins with:

• Understanding the limitations and capabilities of their tools and researching and comprehending the challenge at hand
• Theorizing a solution to that challenge
• Building a solution
• Testing to see if it works
• Revising the solution based on its performance.

These are all steps which can be transferred into everyday life. But let’s ask yourself, how hard is it to put a curriculum together to actually teach this type of new skills? Well, we found a partner which can accelerate your rollout process quick with Skriware.

What is Skriware?

In a rapidly-changing world with an evolving job market, and an obsolete educational system, Skriware aims to redefine learning by blurring the lines between fields such as Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) with Educational Robotics. Skriware’s mission is to bridge the gap between pure creativity and applied science in order to equip today’s visionaries with the tools that will help them shape the coming decades. Skriware wants to fulfill that by delivering an integrated ecosystem of devices and software solutions that make acquiring the 21st-century skill set an adventure.

• Design: Put your ideas together with our online creator, part by part, including required electronic components.
• Print: Print your robot’s parts using a Skriware 3D printer. They will be sorted automatically and sent wirelessly via Skrimarket.
• Build: Assemble your robot with 3D-printed parts and a provided electronics set.
• Program: Program your robot with simple programming tools available on Skrimarket and the mobile app.
• Test: See how your robot performs, compete with others and improve it by measuring its performance according to benchmarks.
• Learn: Learn practical design, machine building, programming, and electronics, while constructing your robot from scratch. Choose one of Skriware’s proposed models and see detailed descriptions of how it was built and what STEAM skills you can learn from it.
• Teach: Prepare your lessons based on Skyward’s robots and their STEAM SkriCurriculum guidelines, or let students make their own.

Why Skriware?

Skriware Education Ecosystem consists of hardware and software solutions that create a hands-on experience to teach STEAM interdisciplinary skills to students in classrooms or at home.

Skriware delivers all required elements for a complete solution: Skriware 2 3D Printer – Professional 3D printer for advanced users, marketplace, Skribot building set, Skribots Electronics Kit, Filaments, Online scenario access – Destination: Mars (15h of lessons) + offline teaching materials & handouts, and Learning tools – Access to complementary learning tools: Skribots App & Skribots Creator.

Conclusion

Our modern world requires also to adapt our educational system. Educational Robotics is the consequence to teach humans to understand and to accept robots in their daily life. Yes, we see A.I. as one of the fastest moving technology of our time and it get’s advanced more than ever before. Adoption in our daily life happens all the time. While Google, Amazon, IBM, Apple, and Co are adopting it into practical use cases we need to learn what it means and where it comes from.

A school no matter for which age group can only win big by adding Educational Robotics into their curriculum which makes them stand out from the crowd. Skillz Middle East in partnership with Skriware educational program can help your organization to stand out.