In today’s world, STEM education is important for students to prepare them for future world of innovation. Educating young students will not only improve their creativity skills, but will allow them to think innovative and out of the box. Many parents have recognised the importance of robotics and have started educating their child the basics so that they could develop the interest at an early age of childhood. Many countries across the world have recognised the importance of teaching robotics in the classroom, therefore they have created various robotics program in schools that can be included into their educational system.
To explain why we should teach children how to program robots in schools, we first need to understand what a robot is.
What is Robotics?
Robotics is a branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operations, and uses of machines (robots) to perform the tasks done traditionally by human beings. It is an interdisciplinary field that integrates computer science and engineering. Robotics is used in STEM as a teaching aid. Many robots are built to do a job that are hazardous to people, such as defusing bombs, finding survivors in unstable ruins, and exploring mines and shipwrecks.
Benefits of teaching robotics in schools?
Robotics teaches teamwork skills:
Many schools have are now introducing robotic club, where students gather after school and get together to learn and work with their robots. Such clubs are moderated by a member of the teaching staff or school administration. When students work together as a groups on a project, they quickly see that technical skills, such as coding, concepts of hardware etc which is very important. However, their robot won’t move if they don’t know how to collaborate with others and communicate their ideas. Such engagement and involvement is important for a student to work as a good team. From this they learn a lot, working on different ideas and applying them all together. Through robotics in school, students learn how to express themselves and listen and relate to others.
STEM learning are extremely important for kids as they prepare to enter the 21st-century workforce. Through robotics, students can learn more than coding. They develop various skills in leadership, communicating across different technology platforms, teamwork, finding their passions and community involvement which will position them for success well beyond their school years. The STEM skills that robotics can teach are great for inspiring tomorrow’s engineers. However, not everyone is going to work in science and technology field but some of the teamwork skills they learn through robotics are ones they will use for the rest of their life.
Prepare them for future:
We know that STEM education for kids is a bright careers in their future. The robotics industry is developing with very fast speed and we could see several job profiles become obsolete. This growing industry requires only skilled people who has a knowledge about robotics and can come up with innovative ideas which is required for the development of technology.
Therefore, to better prepare our young students for the future, we need to teach them relevant skills. Many believes that robotics is an up-and-coming field with tremendous opportunities. By teaching robotics at younger levels, we can encourage students to better prepared for future challenges and develop interest that are required in this job market.
Improves Engagement:
Now a days, teachers are finding more challenges to hold students attention. However, robotics can improve the concentration and attention levels of students. It can make them feel more engaged. Teaching robotics in the classroom can create a sense of community within the classroom and can expands to the outside community in which we live in. They would be more interested in attending the robotics workshops, technology fairs, holiday programs, and many more. Through these opportunities, they are curious to learn about this field. The best part is apart from creativity there concepts in STEM is getting improved.
Encourages creative thinking:
It allows them an opportunity to think creative and innovative. It also make them think out of the box for problem solving. Imagination is always present when they design different models and robots. It is an amazing experience to see students excitement when they start learning robotics. The field of robotics helps them to know their stronger and weaker area of strength. It helps them to articulate the problem and solution in much effective and efficient way. Robotics cultivates an interest and nurtures the passion in this field.
Makes learning fun:
The most important benefit of introducing robotics in school is that it makes learning a lot more fun. Students are engaged with educators. They feel more motivated to study and go to school. Therefore, it has a positive impact on their overall development. There are many competitions and workshops in schools that help children to become creative and innovative. It is also one of the best ways to introduce them to ICT (Information Communication Technology) at an early age. Children will always see robotics as an interesting activity rather than an educational activity. Apart from these listed reasons, there are many other benefits of learning robotics in classroom.