Categories: Teaching Resources

Easy ways to get on board with robotics

<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Advances in technology are both exciting and daunting&period; As we witness robots replace humans at the supermarket checkout&comma; the ticket booth and on the other end of the phone&comma; we begin to wonder what jobs will be left for our children&period; How do we educate them for their high-tech future&quest;<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Even fast-food chefs are starting to be replaced by robots&semi; Flippy&comma; a burger-grilling machine is taking over from chefs at CaliBurger restaurants across the world&comma; a terrifying prospect for the millions of burger cooks who will eventually be bumped from their jobs&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Economists agree that we are witnessing a revolution that poses major challenges&comma; but say it’s not all bad news&period; According to The Future of Jobs Report&comma; 2016&comma; released by the World Economic Forum &lpar;WEC&rpar;&comma; most occupations are undergoing a fundamental transformation&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;While some jobs are threatened by redundancy and others grow rapidly&comma; existing jobs are also going through a change in the skill sets required to do them&period;  <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;While much has been said about the need for reform in basic education&comma; it is simply not possible to weather the current technological revolution by waiting for the next generation’s workforce to become better prepared&period; Instead it is critical that businesses take an active role in supporting their current workforces through re-training&comma; that individuals take a proactive approach to their own lifelong learning and that governments create the enabling environment&comma; rapidly and creatively&comma; to assist these efforts&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">In a nutshell&comma; we all need to get onboard with robotics&comma; nanotechnology&comma; 3D printing and biotechnology&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">If this sounds daunting&comma; take comfort in the Government’s recent proposal to invest &dollar;40 million in upskilling teachers to deliver a new &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;digitally oriented system”&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7088" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;schoolnews&period;co&period;nz&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;09&sol;SN38-TCHG-RES-Robotics-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"600" height&equals;"238" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Education minister Nikky Kaye announced the proposal recently&comma; saying&comma; &&num;8220&semi;A big advantage of a digital education environment is that sensible use of automation&comma; along with reduced bureaucracy&comma; can help reduce teachers&&num;8217&semi; workload and let them focus on what&&num;8217&semi;s important&colon; teaching and learning&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">&&num;8220&semi;Robotics&comma; artificial intelligence and advances in connectivity are all revolutionising our world&comma; including our businesses&comma; industry and community&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">&&num;8220&semi;Our curriculum needs to keep pace with this fast-changing world&period; The new curriculum content sets out what students need to learn to become not just fluent users&comma; but also skilled creators&comma; of digital innovations and inventions&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Two new content&comma; expected to be in full use from the start of 2020&comma; will include two key areas– &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;computational thinking” and &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;designing and developing digital outcomes” – which are likely to include computer programming&comma; as well as &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;unique M&amacr;ori content”&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">In the meantime&comma; schools can continue to support digital technologies by establishing robotics programs&period; According to the Ministry of Education &lpar;MoE&rpar;&comma; robotics supports all STEM subjects&comma; and there are connections to robotics across all curriculum areas&period; For example&comma; students can build and use robots to help them understand the characters and plots of books they read&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7089" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;schoolnews&period;co&period;nz&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;09&sol;SN38-TCHG-RES-Robotics-4&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"600" height&equals;"400" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Robotics also provides students with <a class&equals;"wpil&lowbar;keyword&lowbar;link" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;schoolnews&period;co&period;nz&sol;2015&sol;10&sol;developing-opportunities-at-school-with-a-view&sol;" title&equals;"opportunities" data-wpil-keyword-link&equals;"linked" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">opportunities<&sol;a> to question&comma; think about&comma; and create technological tools&comma; rather than just becoming passive uses of technology&period; It addresses all five New Zealand Curriculum key competencies&colon; thinking&semi; using language&comma; symbols&comma; and text&semi; managing self&semi; relating to others&semi; and participating and contributing&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><strong><b>Robotics resources<br &sol;>&NewLine;<&sol;b><&sol;strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;raspberrypi&period;org&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">Raspberry Pi<&sol;a> <br &sol;>&NewLine;The Raspberry Pi is a low cost&comma; credit-card sized computer that plugs into a computer monitor or TV&comma; and uses a standard keyboard and mouse&period; It enables people of all ages to explore computing and learn how to program in languages like Scratch and Python&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;thingiverse&period;com&sol;thingiversity" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">Thingiverse<&sol;a> <br &sol;>&NewLine;Thingiverse is a website created by MakerBot for anyone wanting guidance on using 3D technology&period; It includes a section dedicated to education&period; Schools or teachers can create an account &lpar;free of charge&rpar; and download lesson plans for 3D printing&comma; and share students’ or teachers’ work&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Lessons are divided into subjects and year level&comma; from new entrants through to university level projects&comma; and are as diverse as recreating artefacts to converting drawings to 3D objects&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">The BristleBot<br &sol;>&NewLine;A bristlebot or brushbot is an extremely simple form of walking robot&period; It is one of the simplest of all mobile robots&comma; both in its function and its construction&period; Instructions for creating a bristlebot can be accessed on YouTube&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;education&period;rec&period;ri&period;cmu&period;edu&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy<&sol;a> <br &sol;>&NewLine;At the Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania&comma; researchers study how teachers use robots in classrooms to teach computer science&comma; science&comma; technology&comma; engineering&comma; and mathematics &lpar;CS-STEM&rpar;&period; Their mission is to use the motivational effects of robotics to excite students about science and technology&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Teachers can access resources online&comma; as well as advice on choosing equipment and planning lessons&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;robocupjunior&period;org&period;nz&sol;competition&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">RoboCup Junior New Zealand<&sol;a> <br &sol;>&NewLine;This is a national robotics competition for school children&period; Students can enter using any brand of programmable robot and compete in three sections&comma; Robot Theatre&comma; Rescue and Soccer&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"> <&sol;p>&NewLine;

Explore our latest issue...
School News

School News is not affiliated with any government agency, body or political party. We are an independently owned, family-operated magazine.

Recent Posts

Union considers legal action over cuts to resource teachers

NZEI Te Riu Roa is considering legal action against the government for the disestablishment of…

3 weeks ago

NZQA: AI-marking now a reality

NZQA is implementing AI-marking for all Year 10 written assessments from this year onwards, following…

3 weeks ago

Financial literacy is about more than personal responsibility – wealth and inequality should be part of the new curriculum

Teaching personal financial responsibility isn't enough. Children should be taught broader economic context, argue New…

3 weeks ago

Achieving optimal sound quality in education spaces

When students can't hear the teacher, they can't learn properly. Sound quality matters in education…

3 weeks ago

Discover Ōtautahi Christchurch and its learning opportunites

The Garden City is rich with learning opportunities, no matter what subject or part of…

3 weeks ago

School leaders share stories for Unteach Racism project

Teaching Council of Aotearoa launch school leaders’ stories project with Unteach Racism to challenge institutional…

4 weeks ago