Education Law

National Robotics Week

Friday is already upon us, and BoardBuzz would like to remind everyone that this is National Robotics Week, which occurs annually on the second full week of April. The event recognizes the transformative role of robotics technology, the ability of robotics to inspire and educate, and the need to underscore technology education at all levels.

Why Robotics?

Robotics provides an exciting, hands-on way for students to learn science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts and inspires students to choose STEM-related careers. BoardBuzz thinks inspiring students is important. Despite this projected growth, the US faces a critical shortage of engineers and technical workers: Of the approximately 2.5 million students who graduate from high school each year, only 3.5% enter college and declare a science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) major.

The National Robotics Week website also provides a list of resources to help you take part in the event, including:

• Robots 101- In celebration of National Robotics Week, iRobot SPARK has contributed this two-page introductory handout on “What is a robot?”
• Books on Bots – List of robot-related books, both fiction and nonfiction, for readers K-12.
• iRobot WebQuest- This WebQuest was designed by iRobot to help students learn what a robot is and what the basic requirements of a robot are.

Interested? Join enthusiastic people all across the country and participate in events that provide some hands on exposure to this exciting field. The website makes it easy to find an event near you.

How can school board members support National Robotics Week?

• Adopt initiatives to promote the use of robotics in k-12 classrooms and after-school programs.
• Share jobs data with your communities that demonstrate the employment opportunities in robotics technology.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on April 16, 2010 (boomark / email).