Educational Robotics is the Smart Choice
Following in the footsteps of computers and computer science, robotics will become part of grade school, high school and university level educational curricula across the industrialized world.
A short press release came across my deck recently that would at first blush seem of little consequence to the robotics community and even less to the world at large. But upon further examination, the piece, which taken in the large deals with the subject of educational robotics, portends a great deal for roboticists, both of the professional and hobbyist varieties, along with everyone concerned with improving educational systems. For entrepreneurs looking for a sure thing, educational robotics is a godsend.
The press release in question was put out by the Rhode Island Science and Technology Advisory Council (STAC), the Business Innovation Factory, a state run Rhode Island business development group, and FIRST. I am sure many of you have heard of FIRST, but for those who have not, FIRST is a New Hampshire based non-profit organization founded by Dean Kamen (inventor of the Segway) that seeks to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people through a variety of robotics competitions. These competitions include the FIRST Robotics Competition and FIRST Vex Challenge for high school students, the FIRST LEGO League for children 9-14 years old, and the Junior FIRST LEGO League for 6 to 9 year-olds.
This unassuming press release announced that Rhode Island will be the first state in the nation to offer a FIRST program, specifically the FIRST Vex Challenge, in all of Rhode Island’s 67 public high schools, charter schools, and career and technical centers. Central to the project objectives are plans to integrate the Vex Challenge into the state’s new standards for science, technology, mathematics, and engineering (STEM) education.
The Rhode Island program involves the dissemination of VEX robotics kits to each public high school. Students in the program will build robots that will compete in FIRST competitions. FIRST and Rhode Island will monitor the progress of the initiative and make adjustments as necessary. The program is designed to engender an interest in science and engineering using ‘robotics’ as the hook. As such, the initiative is a win-win for FIRST and the State of Rhode Island, whose goals are to increase high school science and engineering proficiency at the national and state (Rhode Island) levels, respectively.
Educational Robotics Proliferates
The Rhode Island/FIRST robotics initiative is interesting as it stands, but when you start parsing through the ramifications of the announcement, it really gets exciting. For example, it is no secret that robotics classes are popping up at school districts across the United States and throughout the industrialized world. Educators in these school districts, like the FIRST and Rhode Island governmental officials, understand the fascination all things robotic have for students, and that this appeal can foster interest in other engineering and scientific disciplines.
What differentiates the Rhode Island program is that they are embracing robotics at the state level. How long will it be before other states take the lead from ‘little Rhody’ and initiate similar programs? Massachusetts, California and Pennsylvania all consider themselves leaders in the robotics field, and all, like every other state in the US, are looking for ways to increase interest in science in technology among their students. Word travels fast in among business development professionals, as well as between those chartered with developing educational curricula at the district, state and national levels. Taking the Rhode Island/FIRST press release to its logical endpoint, robotics will become central to educational systems across the United States.
It gets even better. Remember, the fascination with robotics transcends national boundaries. Children in Germany, Japan, Korea, India and Great Britain all are equally captivated by robotics systems. In countries across the world, those responsible for educating the future workforce, a workforce that must compete in an internationalized economy where the science and engineering acumen of workers can mean the difference between maintaining standards of living or falling behind, robotics is rightly viewed as a key enabler and educational tool. In these countries, like the US, robotics will become a mainstay of educational curricula at all education levels.
No Matter How You Cut It
It could be argued that the formal incorporation of robotics within school age and university level curricula could take time. That is true. It is equally true, however, that the inclusion will eventually occur. Also, while formal programs are being developed, robotics will continue to be added to school curricula in an unstructured, organic manner. Regardless of how it takes place, the end result will be that robotics will become part of grade school, high school and university level curricula across the industrialized world.
Personal Computers Provide an Example
The growth and expansive employment of new technology as a teaching tool is not unprecedented. Many of us, and I am dating myself here, can remember a time when personal computers and computer science classes were not found in K-12 schools (or at the university level).
Initially, it was the technology – ‘computers’ –and not the subject – ‘computer science’ – that made inroads into school systems. For those of you old enough to remember, recall that it was individuals that began to bring computers into school environments, often as a novelty. Educators soon found that computer systems made excellent educational facilitators and used them as such at the classroom, departmental and school level. For example, the statistical analysis of tree populations in the biology department became much more interesting and fun when computers were used in place of pad and paper techniques. Eventually, computer systems (primarily PC systems) spread from department to department becoming formally incorporated into curricula and employed as educational adjuncts for any number of subjects. Employment (and purchase) decisions for classroom computer systems were made at the department, school, state and even national level.
In my lifetime, ‘computers science’ as a classroom subject has moved from graduate school to preschool. You would be hard pressed to find a school district in the US that does not offer some type of computer class. This changeover differs from simple technological advancement, say, the introduction of PC systems, or when slide rules gave way to calculators, or overhead projectors were replaced by their LCD counterparts. Computer science replaced nothing. It is has become a ‘field’ like mathematics or biology, and similarly it is part of the educational curricula at the graduate, undergraduate and K-12 levels throughout the world.
From an historical perspective, computer science eventually became a separate discipline, but typically part of an engineering or computer sciences department. Eventually, computer science became recognized as a core curriculum item worthy of its own department. That is where we find ourselves now.
Now For Robotics
So much for computers and computer science. Now consider ‘robotics’. Here we see the same pattern emerging. Consider the following:
• Organic Growth – Robots and robotic technology are introduced in the individual classroom or school as a novelty item and teaching tool.
• Robotics as Engineering and Science Education Facilitator - Robots and robotic technology are introduced at the school, district and state level as an inducement and facilitator to increase science and engineering proficiency.
• Robotics as Engineering and Science Educational Adjunct - Robots and robotic technology become incorporated into multiple disciplines and departments, including those outside of science and engineering.
• Robotics as a Separate Discipline – Robotics is recognized as a separate educational/engineering discipline, but incorporated within other departments (computer science, engineering etc.).
• Robotics as Core Curriculum Item – Robotics becomes a core curriculum item unto itself with its own department.
Already we are witnessing the first two stages of the educational robotics lifecycle, and a handful of universities have reached the other stages. It is clear that we are at the Early Adaptor stage of the educational robotics adoption lifecycle (to borrow a phrase from the Information Technology market). The implication, however, is clear. Robotics, like ‘computers’ and ‘computer science’ before it, will become an integral part of educational systems throughout the world, even to the point of becoming a distinct discipline.
Educational Robotics Everywhere
The use of robotics as a teaching tool and facilitator is the smart choice for educators, along with states and nations, looking to increase science and engineering proficiency of their students (and future workforce). With the Rhode Island/FIRST statement, along with similar announcements made in other industrialized nations, it is clear that the first wave of unstructured, organic incorporation of robotics into school systems is giving way to more formalized approaches. Ultimately, the call for robotics to be included in curricula will be made at the state and even national level.
For entrepreneurs and those looking to robotics as a profession, educational robotics represents a massive market in the earliest stages of growth. The FIRST/Rhode Island press release gives little outright indication of the market potential, but with a little imagination and forethought, the opportunity is made plain. The formal inclusion of robotics in educational curricula at all levels worldwide is an opportunity that is simply too massive to be passed up.
- DAK
Dan Kara is President of Robotics Trends, the producer of the RoboBusiness (http://www.roboevent.com) and RoboDevelopment (http://www.www.robodevelopment.com) conferences, and publisher of Robotics Trends. He can be reached at dk[at]roboticstrends[dot]com.
