Robot Reviews

Through robots, learning the vital but often dreaded subjects of science, technology, engineering, and math can now be fun.

International benchmarks in science, math,and engineering have revealed that American students trail their counterparts from the UK, Japan, and even China in the said fields. As a matter of fact, an assessment of 15 year old students in 2008 showed US as a dismal 28th in math literacy and 24th in science literacy. 

A country's ability to compete in a global economy relies largely in its young citizens' proficiency in science, technology, engineering, and math (collectively known as STEM). For this reason, President Obama has declared STEM education among the top priorities of his administration.

Getting students and teachers to be proficient in these subjects is not easy, given the sheer difficulty of these subjects alone. However, as we all know, the success of any learning process starts by getting the students and teachers to be interested first. That's where SPARK (Starter Programs for the Advancement of Robotics Knowledge) can play a role.

Studies have shown how hands-on use of robots allow K-12 students to gain interest in STEM. With robots, the initial step of capturing the students' attention and prolonging that attention span is more doable simply because youngsters perceive robots as "cool" machines.

According to iRobot CEO Colin Angle, “iRobot is committed to supporting STEM education in schools to revitalize the foundation of American innovation and competitiveness”, adding that “Robots have the potential to play an integral role in learning. They excite students and can be important cogs in the teaching process, providing new ways of thinking for students by illustrating abstract concepts that were difficult to teach before their integration into the classroom.”

The SPARK website has a nice collection of educational resources, photos, games, activities, crafts and projects, and many more. The purpose is to encourage and help teachers, students, and parents to integrate the use of robots in the classroom.