Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia College of Education has established a partnership with Roborobo Co. Ltd., a robotics education company in South Korea, to bring robotics to local K-12 classrooms.
The partnership will bring Roborobo’s robotics kits and education programs to the U.S. for the first time, according to Ikseon Choi, an associate professor in learning design and technology who is leading the project.
The college’s Educational Technology Center will be the hub for this collaboration and its staff will deliver educational robotics workshops for area K-12 teachers, students and parents.
Roborobo representatives will visit UGA from March 30-April 4 to participate in an initial series of workshops, demonstrations and meetings.
Along with Roborobo, the ETC will lead a free Robotics Teacher Workshop for area K-12 teachers on Wednesday, April 2 from 8 a.m. to noon at River’s Crossing, Room 143, 850 College Station Road, in Athens. Teachers will gain hands-on experience in assembling and programming robots. Any teacher wishing to participate in this workshop can register at the ETC website, http://etc.coe.uga.edu.
As a gesture of commitment to the partnership, Roborobo has already donated $4,000 in robotics kits to UGA. The company will donate an additional $19,500 worth of kits when they visit to be used by UGA, the ETC and local schools.
Educational robotics provides opportunities for students to think more deeply and allows them to relate their problem-solving strategies to real-world contexts, said Choi.
Robotics education often includes assembling robots according to plans or to one’s own design. Students then program their robots to perform specific tasks. There are even student robotics competitions in which the best design and performance concept wins.
Roborobo, Choi and the ETC aim to grow robotics education and hope to see the development of national and international competitions in the U.S., beginning with Georgia.
The ETC has a staff of four educational technology professionals working with school districts in the region and throughout Georgia to provide professional learning, consulting and service for educators to promote the use of technology in support of teaching, learning and leadership. For more information, contact Emily Hodge, UGA Educational Technology Center, at 706-542-0240 or ttc@uga.edu.
For more information on the educational robotics workshop, see http://etc.coe.uga.edu/?page_id=568.
