In the Dominican Republic, the integration of technology in education has been growing gradually. Specifically in Robotics, the República Digital portal states that "Since 2013, the Ministry of Education has been making efforts in this area of knowledge ..." and "... it has provided more than 639 public schools, and they have trained more than 1,200 teachers in the country". In addition, the number of private schools that have included Robotics as part of their academic offer has increased in recent years.
There are many reasons schools should integrate robotics into their school programs; however, in this post, we want to focus on 5.
1. Robotics is multidisciplinary.
Currently, in the Dominican Republic, the STEAM approach is promoted in classrooms. STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Mathematics) is an educational approach to learning that uses science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics as access points to guide students' research, dialogue, and critical thinking. (Susan Riley, Art Integration Specialist)
Robotics and the STEAM approach empower students in their education and help them be creators and innovators from an early age. .
2. It is fun.
Many technology companies are creating robots for education, some with the mission of inspiring the creators of tomorrow and others promoting that students can make with technology. Children have a lot of fun learning robotics.
"All the most important learnings in life are done by playing ..." Francesco Tonucci.
Fun education makes learning more accessible and improves academic performance.
3. Promote inclusion.
Robotics is an area that can motivate girls in the classroom and allows them to discover their potential to create and innovate. Men dominated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in the past, which prevented young women from being interested in careers in these areas, but that has been changing. Today we see a large number of successful women.
Robotics is inclusive for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder. A growing number of studies show that robots help autistic students respond efficiently to the consistent and calm interactions they have with a robot. An example of this is the AskNAO robot designed in Paris by the Softbank Robotics company. Nao is a tremendous programming tool that has become a standard in education and research.
4. Helps develop critical thinking in students.
We must support educational approaches that promote curiosity in students to develop critical thinking that guides them to create, evaluate, and analyze.
The robots that exist in the market are designed to learn to program them through color codes, Scratch, and other more advanced programming languages.
5. Prepare students for the future.
It is no secret that the demand for highly qualified personnel in science, technology, mathematics, and engineering is increasing.
It is necessary to introduce robotics and the STEAM approach in education, so students will have the opportunity to discover their potential, awakening the interest to develop in the areas that the future labor market will demand. If we do not promote robotics in education, we will be denying our children the opportunity to become the creators and innovators of tomorrow.
Por Ariel R. Jiménez
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