Moving American schools into the 21st Century starts to sound like it's getting a little far fetched when it comes to our schools buying robots as teachers. This ROBOT BLOGGER doesn't seem to think we are far away from the concept at all! Just think of it...what would school be like with a robot teacher? Students from the San Cayetano Elementary School in California got a first hand experience!
The Fillmore Gazette reports that, At San Cayetano Elementary School, Students are reaching for the stars –and remote control devices. Last year, San Cayetano was one of 50 schools nationwide that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration selected as a NAS Explorer School. The innovative program is designed to bring NASA’s engaging math, science and technology lessons to teachers and students. Robotics is an important component of the curriculum.
Last summer, San Cayetano teachers Brandi Walker and Melanie Schrock attend a week-long workshop at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena to become proficient in teaching rob
otics. After sharing what they earned with other upper-grad teachers as the staff created a schedule that allows most fourth- and fifth-graders 13 one-hour sessions to learn robotics.
Teachers assembled the robots; the students added enhancements and completed all the computer programming to manipulate their movements.
“This is truly a combination of hands=on math and science,” said San Cayetano Principal Jan Marholin. “How will a student ever forget the first time he or she has programmed a computer using math skills and reasoning?” Most students are already technologically savvy, having been exposed to computers all their live, so they are fast learners, said Marholin. “They get it, they love it, and it’s an amazing thing to watch.”
San Cayetano has entered JPL’s annual robotics competition this spring to see how the students’ skills stack up against teams from other NASA Explorer schools. In the competition, which JPL will broadcast live on its web site, students pre-program their robots to navigate an obstacle course and perform tasks such as retrieving simulated planetary mineral formations – all within two minutes.
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