Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

How robots and our school’s buddy program bring computer science to life

Coding and robots are both natural tools for encouraging collaboration in the classroom. At Sewickley Academy, we have taken that collaboration to the next level by having Grade 5 students step into mentoring roles for our kindergarteners who are just being introduced to computer science. Here’s how we did it.

From Reading to Robotics

Recently, our PreK through Grade 12 independent school has been working to include more computer science opportunities across all grade levels. These classes are a distinguishing factor of a Sewickley Academy education.…Read More

Discovery Education and Boeing Present a New Virtual Field Trip for Students Exploring STEM and Robotics in Aviation Manufacturing 

Charlotte, NC — Discovery Education and Boeing present a new virtual experience – Manufacturing the Future of Aviation Virtual Field Trip – to show students how STEM makes aviation manufacturing more efficient and safer. This virtual field trip is part of FUTURE U, an award-winning program that provides standards-aligned, hands-on, experiential learning resources that ignite excitement and inspire students to become tomorrow’s innovators. 

Premiering Feb. 7 at 1 p.m. ET and available on-demand, this virtual learning experience transports students to manufacturing centers in Renton, Wash., Portland, Ore., and Salt Lake City, Utah to meet the diverse mechatronics, robotics, and ergonomic engineers at Boeing. During the Manufacturing the Future of Aviation Virtual Field Trip, students discover the revolutionary devices and machines that make modern manufacturing safer, faster, and safer. Learn more and register here. 

“It’s critical for us to do all that we can to get students excited about the careers of the future. This new virtual field trip is another exciting way students can learn more about how important STEM careers are in the aerospace industry–and how fun and rewarding they can be,” said Vice President of Boeing Global Engagement Cheri Carter. …Read More

Join the revolution: The 4th Industrial Revolution is changing learning

The 4th Industrial Revolution is the current phase of rapid technological change. It is also known as Industry 4.0, and the advent of robotics, artificial intelligence, and automation has marked it. Klaus Schwab coined the term in 2013 in his book “The Fourth Industrial Revolution.” He defines it as “a new stage of industrialization characterized by a fusion of technologies blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres.”

The 4th Industrial Revolution is a time of significant change. It is a time when new technologies and innovations are transforming the world. The role of educators in this revolution will be to prepare students for the future. Educators are uniquely positioned to help students understand how these changes will affect their lives and careers. They can also help students learn how to use these technologies responsibly and ethically.

How Technology is Changing the Way We Learn…Read More

KinderLab Robotics Donates Robot Kits to Connect Schools in Pennsylvania and Guatemala

Waltham, MA — KinderLab Robotics today announced that it has donated four KIBO robot kits to La Puerta Abierta, a school in Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala. Part of a partnership with Sewickley Academy, near Pittsburgh, PA, this donation will foster cross-cultural collaboration between the schools. Sewickley’s 5th-graders, who have experience teaching younger students about robotics through the school’s Big Buddies program, will offer guidance to La Puerta Abierta’s 1st-graders as they work on fun, hands-on programming challenges.

La Puerta Abierta, which relies heavily on volunteers and donations, was co-founded by Amanda Flayer, who was a Peace Corps volunteer with Michelle Bonham, a Lower School Spanish teacher at Sewickley Academy. The two schools have previously collaborated by having their 5th-graders create a bilingual book together. When La Puerta Abierta secured mathematics professor and data analyst Gaspar Yataz Pop as a volunteer to teach robotics using KIBO, the idea for the STEAM-powered collaboration between the schools’ students was born.

“We look forward to giving our elementary school students the opportunity to engage with another culture,” said Beau Blaser, director of technology at Sewickley Academy. “Through coding and collaboration, they’ll be learning to connect ideas and concepts together from a great distance. That can lead to an appreciation of the different cultures, but also a realization that there’s a lot of commonality across the human experience. What better way to do that than with some of our youngest learners? They’ll see that anybody can become an engineer or express their artistic ability—you can be anything you want to be in this world, whether you’re from Guatemala or Sewickley, Pennsylvania.”…Read More

6 tools to help kids learn coding and robotics

Introducing students to coding and robotics gives them early exposure to STEM in general. This early exposure, according to research, is key to the future of the workforce.

Aside from the cool factor K-12 coding and robotics offers, students will learn a number of skills they’ll take with them well into adulthood, including creativity, problem solving, and the ability to fail without quitting. These skills stick around even if students don’t pursue STEM-related study paths or careers later in their lives.

Coding and robotics can be introduced in any subject, with a little creativity.…Read More

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Why girls need more STEM role models

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters.

My Advanced Placement computer science course is half girls and half boys. I coach an award-winning robotics team, Retro5ive, that is equally balanced between girls and boys, nearly all of whom are students of color.

Getting there requires combating gender norms and stereotypes every day. This fall, while conducting a two-week Tools and Build module with the robotics team, I held up a pop rivet gun and asked students what it was. Here’s a recap of an exchange between me, a boy who was learning about the team, and a few girls on the team.…Read More

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SESI Kids Win Big! SESI Crixas TEAM from Brazil Are CoderZ League Champions in the Global Virtual Coding & Robotics Competition

DERRY, N.H – Feb. 23, 2022 – SESI, Brazil’s Social Service of Industry (SESI), had a vision: To equip the kids in their network of more than 400 schools in all 27 states with the technological skills, knowledge, and tools to become the leaders of tomorrow—the era of Industry 4.0.

Between October 2021 and January 2022, over 50 teams from across Brazil participated in the CoderZ League, an international virtual robotics competition. All teams worked together to solve missions and challenges, while the top competitors advanced to the Brazilian playoffs. Team ‘Takamassa Numuro’, from SESI Crixás in Goiás (GO), advanced to the world championship which was broadcast live to audiences from all over the globe.

During the world finals, SESI’s students competed virtually with teams from USA, Ghana, Singapore, and Hong Kong—before eventually winning the title of world champions for the CoderZ League Junior Division.…Read More

Osmo From BYJU’s Names Kar-Han Tan, Ph.D., Head of Computer Vision and Machine Learning

Palo Alto, CA–Feb 10, 2022–Award-winning STEAM brand, Osmo from BYJU’S, announces Kar-Han Tan’s appointment as Head of Computer Vision and Machine Learning, effective immediately. With three decades leading teams in robotics and AI research and development, Tan will further thedevelopment of a world-class computer vision and AI platform that aids in the creation of new products, games, and devices incorporating gains made in deep learning technology. In addition, he will lead a growing global team to research, develop, and optimize new algorithms for computer vision and AI-enabled features such as object detection, object recognition, hand tracking, pattern matching, and hand-drawing analysis, among others, all in an effort to create the best learning tools and outcomes.

“We were impressed by Kar-Han’s extensive experience leading R&D teams in robotics, AI, and deep learning,” says Mark Solomon, Senior Vice President of Products and Platform at BYJU’S. “His background will help Osmo expand the usage of computer vision technology across BYJU’S various products and platforms, further meeting the needs of learners of all ages everywhere.”

Tan, who was born and educated in Singapore, most recently founded Helpful Robotics LLC, which designed and built an AI-enabled autonomous assistive robot from the ground up, and fostered a collaboration between scientists and engineers located in the San Francisco Bay Area, including the University of California San Francisco, and at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.…Read More