Do Schools Need a Robotics Program? | Innovation - EuroScientist

Robots earned their place in academia thanks to people like Nils Nilsson, argues Megan Ray Nichols, freelance STEM writer and blogger. 

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By today’s standards, Nilsson’s early work — a top-heavy robot called “SHAKEY” — is fairly primitive. Nilsson, who passed away in April 2019, nevertheless helped cement the idea that robotics will always inspire widespread interest and will always have a place in the world’s classrooms.

There are multiple reasons why schools, students and society all benefit when schools invest in robotics programs. Plus, getting such a program off the ground isn’t as difficult as it might sound.

Why Robotics and Why Now? 
Why now? Because robotics and artificial intelligence have a huge role to play in humanity’s future. The number of tasks and even whole careers which are ripe for automation is only growing larger. It’s not the end of work as we know it, but as reported by Oxford Economics, the worldwide manufacturing sector all by itself could shed as much as 8.5% of its workforce by 2030...

Here are some equally powerful reasons to add robotics programs to the world’s classrooms:

• Robotics inspires creative problem-solving: Studying robotics is an activity that combines free-play and experimentation with the rigorous process of scientific trial and error. While learning about robotics, kids and older students get to see the direct impact of cause-and-effect in an activity that combines digital mastery with physical output.
• Robotics lessons are highly engaging: The combination of digital, electrical and mechanical learning opportunities is highly stimulating and keeps students engaged with their studies. Experimenting with robotics is also a highly student-driven exercise and one that provides “active learning,” which conveys (and helps students retain) much more information than lectures and memorization.
• Robotics makes students more code-aware: Robotics are soon to be everywhere and computers are already ubiquitous. Studying robotics early in their educational careers helps students become “code-aware,” which is another way of saying it helps them better understand the modern world and how it functions. Steve Jobs was a proponent of teaching coding to every student for this reason.
• Robotics cement fundamental math and science concepts: You can’t have robotics without mathematics, physics and maybe even a touch of physical chemistry knowledge to understand how the elements can influence the performance of electronics, including robots that must perform in the intense cold of outer space.

Robotics presents students with a compelling problem (make this robot do “X”) that requires them to draw on each of these skills and fundamental knowledge areas. They’re learning lifelong concepts without being overly aware that they’re learning at all.
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Source: EuroScientist