Redesigning Robotics Education & Research to Strengthen STEM Subjects in Kenya.
By Sagwe Fred Teacher Service Commission (Kenya)
Dated: June 4, 2015
Issue
Schools aren’t teaching pupils the basics of computing anymore-they are just teaching them how to use software. “Children are learning about applications, which are pretty low-value skills.
There is an increasingly sense of urgency that everyone should be able to participate as writers of computational culture. This need has been expressed by a variety of source, including computer science education researchers (e.g. Guzdial& Forte,2005),literary theorists(e.g.Hayles,2005),and government agencies (e.g.Chopra,2012),and stems ,in part ,from a concern that unless we understand how to actively participate in computational culture ,we risk being controlled by it.
Everyday life is increasingly regulated by complex technologies that most people neither understand nor believe they can do much to influence. The very technologies they create to control their life environment paradoxically can become a constraining force that, in turn, controls how they think and behave (Bandura, 2001, p.17)
Computational Thinking
Computational thinking influencesfields such as biology, chemistry, linguistics, psychology, economics and statistics. It allows us to solve problems, design systems and understand the power and limits of human and machine intelligence. It is a skill that empowers, and that all pupils should be aware of and have some competence in. Furthermore, pupils who can think computationally are better able to conceptualize and understand computer-based technology, and so are better equipped to function in modern society (21st century conceptual age).
We need to give students opportunities to learn programming, encourage computational thinking, which is a way of thinking about solving problems. It has applications across the curriculum. Pupils would gain enormously in knowing about.”
In order to support young people’s development as designers, not just consumers, of interactive media, they need access to tools and communities.
Professional Development
The role that teachers occupy in their professional development is a central consideration for designing support and activities. Many professional development opportunities treat teachers as consumers, neglecting fundamental understandings about how people learn, as evidenced by language like “teacher training. “AsPapert (1993) argued.
Although the name is not what is most important about this concept, it is curious that the phrase “teacher training “comes trippingly off the tongues of people who would be horrified at the suggestion that teachers are being trained to “train” children.(p.70)
For designers of professional development opportunities teachers must be respected as learners. Teachers need to be treated as designers of learning environments, not merely agents enacting a vision, following a prescription for pedagogy. Teachers need to be treated as co-designers of their learning experiences in professional development.
Background
Robotics
The Kenyan Perspective
Robotics Gets More Attention in Kenya
In a world dominated by science and technology, the use of robots is increasingly becoming an important feature of industrial production. And robotics is steadily gaining attention among science students in Kenya, as confirmed during a three-day Robot Contest held in Nairobi between 18th and 20th May 2011.
The contest which has been held in Kenya every year since 2009 was sponsored by private companies in Kenya, the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology and JICA. It attracted participants from three Kenyan universities and 40 technical institutions. Participants from Rwanda and observers from Uganda also attended.
In Japan for instance, robotics has a lot of applications in daily lives of people and it is greatly emphasized as it has resulted to a high level of automation in the industries. Since Kenya has taken a keen interest in science and technology as a tool towards achieving economic development (Vision 2030), there is a considerable potential for robotics.
This is an area of technology which is still largely unexploited in Kenya. In our endeavor to attaining and actualize Vision 2030 of knowledge based economy (Although Kenya has reached that status after the World Bank rebased is economy on 2014).To have a profound effect on its citizenry we need to adopt a rigorous and robust 24 hour economy largely boosted by industrial robots..
.1http://www.jica.go.jp/kenya/english/office/topics/topics110609_02.html
Kenyan innovator launches youth robotics
The club, called Robotics Enthusiasts Club, was founded in June 2012 and is currently in the process of being registered. It will be formally in operation starting in February 2013. It has thus far 300 registered students from Matuguta Primary & Secondary School and Nyaga Secondary School. Yet, it is now open to primary, secondary and university or college students of all walks of life.
The club organizes trips to engineering facilities, competitions between schools, akin to science congress, as well as overall mentorship of students.
The aim of mentorship in kids is to bridge the gap between what is learned in school and real-life, as it is important to present to children concepts they learn in school in a practical way, says Gichanja.
“Physics and mathematics are the most troubling of subjects for young students, and it is important to describe complex concepts using everyday practical examples,” he says, “One such application involves use of radio controlled aeroplanes to teach physics and mathematics.”
He discovered that the reason aeroplanes fly is a combination of Form III physics concepts, Bernoulli's Principle and Newton's 3rd Law of motion. Moreover, a lot of mathematical concepts are also covered in aerodynamics “By involving students in practical applications of concepts they learn, such as the aforementioned radio controlled aeroplane, we hope to encourage them take up engineering careers as well as demystify sciences to them and thereby raise their overall performance in school,” he said.
Thus, his club found that the best way to take this practical approach is to start a club for youth to explore various topics and involve them from start to finish of various important science topics, mainly engineering and computer science.
1http://karne-mpya.blogspot.com/
Robots In Kenya: An Innovator’s Dream
Welcome to the world of robots. And yes, it is right here in Kenya. The boy claps again. Each time he repeats the process the toy car moves. Faster, slower, sometimes stops and moves again, as the team keenly observes. This is a project of the Nairobi University Fab Lab who pitched tent at the Storymoja Hay Festival at the Nairobi National Museum, September 2012. The Fab Lab project seeks to help children understand how robots work….
2https://storymojaafrica.wordpress.com/2012/09/15/robots-in-kenya-an-innovators-dream/
Akirachix robotics boot camp
The AkiraChix robotics boot camp is geared to introduce girls to the world of programming and algorithm generation.It has also recently begun running a kids camp targeting children between the age of 7 and 13.
3http://akirachix.com/akirachix-robotics-bootcamp/
Computer Science in STEM Education Critical for 21st Century Skills and Knowledge: The Kenyan Perspective.
Technology has put nearly everything at our fingertips and enabled us to engage with the world on a deeper, faster level than ever before. In this article, I examine our increasingly on-demand computing and coding skills as a requisite 21st century skills and knowledge for our kids and students.
Like many other scientific societies, policymakers, reports and other thought leaders I strongly support the stated goal that science and mathematics education should be a national priority in all sectors of the Kenyan education system and beyond. I strongly support efforts to increase the participation in retention of students in STEM Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields. I believe that computer science should be an integral part of our education system, which faces special challenges particularly in the secondary level.
We the Kenya computer studies/science teachers wish is to work with national leaders to ensure that computing field’s voice is heard. It has now reached a fever pitch across the entire globe. We’re not trying to “Reinvent the wheel “but our noble cause is to advance computing as a science and profession.
In a nutshell, coding is one of the most demanded skills in the 21st century learning. There is a growing need for teaching: Pre-schoolers, kindergarten kids, elementary school and students the fundamentals of coding and computer programming not only because these are the skills needed for the future job market but also because coding allows learners to better understand their digitally focused life and therefore enhance their interaction with digital media.
4 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d_ImgtthuzMHrnFzO3Icir-6y78PrTrUot-9Vtpk2Ww/pub
5Case for ICT, Computer Science and Chess in Early Childhood Education: Redesigning the Kenyan
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8rK7nGHZhSoQ1R5S2cwcHpZWEk/view?usp=sharing
Building Engineering Capacity to Improve Lives.(Africa)
Engineering education could help Africa reduce foreign aid dependency and improve lives. Better roads and bridges, power and water supplies may not prevent disasters from occurring, but they would vastly improve people’s ability to cope and lessen the resulting devastation.
Why Lack of Sufficient Infrastructure in Africa?
Firstly we don’t have enough engineers, and those we do have may not be sufficiently skilled. Data from UNESCO show that developed and industrialized countries have 20-50 scientist and engineers for a population of 10, 000, while some African countries have less than one.[1,2]
“We don’t have enough engineers, and those we have may not be sufficiently skilled, “Wilson Nyenda, University of Zimbabwe.
Engineers make the machines that manufacture medicines. They extract water from the source, distribute it and ensure it is clean and safe to drink. Engineers convert power, be it hydroelectric, thermal or nuclear and distribute it to the public, and are doing so increasingly ‘green ‘ways
Engineers build the mobile technology and networks that allow us to communicate and share knowledge. They also design and make the vehicles and planes we travel on. Alongside other experts, engineers are needed to improve our infrastructure, our standards of living, and reduce the threat of disasters.
Immigration of skilled engineers from sub-Saharan Africa to developed economies has also compounded the problem.
In addition, lack of investment in new technologies means higher educational institutions must rely on outdated equipment to train their students. Because of this challenge, most young engineers, lack the right skills and practical experience to improve the region’s self-sufficiency.
Many countries in Sub-Saharan rely on aid from developed economies, which is understanding focused on poverty alleviation and health care.
For instance, aid often includes medicines and food, but much less long- term investments. That will improve the self-sufficiency of countries in the region.[3]
Improving the Situation
Significant and sustained investment in engineering is a clear solution to improving facilities in our higher educational institutions, and ultimately the quality of future engineers. However, that is not currently a reality, or one that can be achieved soon. In the meantime, collaboration between academic institutions and industries can vastly improve the situation.
We need initiatives like “The enrichment Engineering Education Programme”to improve with the ability and experience to rectify technical problems so that industry doesn’t have to import labour for their needs.
The government, donors, professionals, NGOs, policy makers, multilateral organizations, private sector-to lend expertise and knowledge.
The enrichment Engineering Education Programme
Royal Academy of Engineering (The Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation)
Stimulating, celebrating and rewarding innovation and entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa.
6www.raeng.org.uk/grants-and-prizes/international-research-and-collaborations
World Robotics 2014 Industrial Robots Statistics
In 2013, robot sales increased by 12% to 178,132 units, by far the highest level ever recorded for one year. Sales of industrial robots to the automotive, the chemical, and the rubber and plastics industries, as well as to the food industry continued to increase in 2013. The electrical/electronic industry also increased the number of robot installations in 2013 after the reduction of investments in 2012. China became the biggest robot market with a share of 20% of the total supply in 2013. About 70% of the total robot sales in 2013 were in Japan, China, the United States, Korea and Germany. Between 2008 and 2013 the average robot sales increase was at 9.5% per year (CAGR).
Analyses on the distribution of robotics in Kenya, Africa and in different parts of the world points to a grim picture or low number of home and industrial robots available per density.
The robotics industry is looking into a bright future. Consider the following facts:
7http://www.ifr.org/industrial-robots/statistics/
The Next Industrial Revolution will be Led by Robots
But despite the harvesting of additional productivity gains from the more recent revolution in information technology, the suite of macro data suggests that the rate of advancement in physical production has slowed, notably, in the past thirty years.
Seen in this light, the greatest gains to global industrial production were probably enjoyed from the late 18th century (when coal extraction and use began in earnest) into the mid-20th century (when oil reached broad distribution). In contrast, computers, the Internet, and the leveraging of developing world labor might eventually be seen as the finishing touches on this great industrial wave.
The Siren Song of the Robot
Indeed, the world now faces a double constraint to any further revolutionary gains to physical production: resource scarcity and the diminishing supply of the cheapest global labour, as wages in the Non-OECD have most likely seen their low.
That we have reached this juncture probably explains why a new idea has arisen: The advent of robots.
That fleets of more technically-proficient robots becoming ever more encompassing in their role in the economy will trigger the next Industrial Revolution, the one that does indeed deliver extraordinary productivity gains. The Rise of Machine Intelligence, it's now anticipated, will finally pull GDP back to the higher growth path seen in previous industrial advances.
8http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/The-Next-Industrial-Revolution-will-be-Led-by-Robots.html
Introduction to Robots
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a robot?
For many people it is a machine that imitates a human—like the androids in Star Wars, Terminator and Star Trek: The Next Generation. However much these robots capture our imagination, such robots still only inhabit Science Fiction. People still haven't been able to give a robot enough 'common sense' to reliably interact with a dynamic world. However, Rodney Brooks and his team at MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab are working on creating such humanoid robots.
The type of robots that you will encounter most frequently are robots that do work that is too dangerous, boring, onerous, or just plain nasty. Most of the robots in the world are of this type. They can be found in auto, medical, manufacturing and space industries. In fact, there are over a million of these type of robots working for us today.
Some robots like the Mars Rover Sojourner and the upcoming Mars Exploration Rover, or the underwater robot help us learn about places that are too dangerous for us to go. While other types of robots are just plain fun for kids of all ages. Popular toys such asTeckno, Polly or AIBO ERS-220, seem to hit the store shelves every year around Christmas time.
And as much fun as robots are to play with, robots are even much more fun to build.
But what exactly is a robot?
As strange as it might seem, there really is no standard definition for a robot. However, there are some essential characteristics that a robot must have and this might help you to decide what is and what not a robot is. It will also help you to decide what features you will need to build into a machine before it can count as a robot.
A robot has these essential characteristics:
So what is a robot?
Well it is a system that contains sensors, control systems, manipulators, power supplies and software all working together to perform a task. Designing, building, programming and testing a robots is a combination of physics, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, structural engineering, mathematics and computing. In some cases biology, medicine, chemistry might also be involved. A study of robotics means that students are actively engaged with all of these disciplines in a deeply problem-posing problem-solving environment.
8http://www.galileo.org/robotics/ourrobots,html
Robots are used in many fields and some of them are:
1. Vehicle and car factories,
2. Precision cutting, oxygen cutting, lasers, etc.,
3. Mounting circuits on electronic devices (i.e. mobile phones)
4. Working where there might be danger (i.e nuclear leaks, bomb disposal)
5. Surgeons are performing robotic-assisted surgeries that, among other things, can equalize little jiggles and movements of a surgeon's hands when doing delicate procedures, such as microscopically aided surgery or brain surgery, etc.
6. Other manufacturing, such as certain repetitive steps in assembly lines or for painting products so humans don't breathe the over spray or have to work with respirators on, working in the heat of drying and treating ovens on wood products, etc.
7. Mail delivery to various mail stations throughout the buildings in large corporations. (They follow routes marked with ultra violet paint).
8. To assist police and SWAT teams in dangerous situations, such as with hostages or in shoot outs and stand offs. They can be sent to the scene to draw fire, open doors, "see" the environment from a closer view point, or look in windows with cameras, etc.
9. Bomb diffusion, land mine detection, and military operations (surveillance, gathering intelligence, drones) etc.
10. Remote procedures by a surgeon or other doctor who is unable to be there to perform the surgery in person (such as at an ice-bound Antarctic research center) or where there is a shortage of surgeons in a specific specialty (Alaskan Tundra) and the remote surgeon does or guides the procedure from far away via robotic "hands".
11. Space
12. Toy (Playing etc.)
13. Education and Research
Robotics Education and Research
Robotics Education
As technology evolves ever more quickly in all aspects of modern living, it is important that the next generation know as much as possible about design, electronics, programming and integration in order to stay competitive. This is why robotics is becoming increasingly important at all levels of education.
Preschools
Introducing robots at the preschool level can peak a child's curiosity and get them interested in learning more about robotics and technology.
Elementary Schools
Robots at the elementary level can involve design and construction, basic circuitry and even basic programming. Investing in a good robotic kit means exposing your child to mechanical design, electronics and more and is a great investment in their learning and creative process.
High Schools
Robots at the high school level are both fun and highly educational. Robots and products at this level can cover many disciplines or specific ones (mechanical design / assembly, electronics or programming).
Colleges & Universities
Robots used in colleges and universities tend to involve more complex designs, motion and/or programming. These kits are great for someone in an Engineering or related discipline, or someone with a bit of experience looking for a challenge.
Graduates & Research
Robots used at the graduate and post-graduate level as well as in research institutions are often the most cutting-edge robots available on the market. These robots tend to be pre-assembled and focus on the robot's intelligence.
Robots for the House & Recreation
Robots for the house will fill your robotic needs in your everyday life. You can find personal and domestic robots, domestic robot accessories, replacement parts for your robots and even robot toys here.
Professional & Service Robots
Professional and Service Robots are used in a variety of applications at work, in public, in hazardous environments and are more capable, rugged and often more expensive than domestic robots.
Robot App Store
Robot Apps are used to control your robot and give your robots their intelligence. Some Apps allow you to generate pre-programmed movement sequences; others are used for remote control, and software development platforms are used to make more sophisticated autonomous control systems.
9http://www.robotshop.com/eu/en/robotics-education.html
Roomba –Based Robot Platform for STEM Ed (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Education
A pre assembled robot platforms, dubbed Create 2, designed to give students, teachers and developers experience programming robots.
-“Robots have a cool factor unlike any other learning tool. Create 2, with it’s online resources, reliable hardware born of the award winning Roomba, and ease of customization simply delivers more robot than anything available to students and educators at or near its price.
-It is being released alongside new online resources, such as files for 3D printing replacements parts, templates for drilling face plates and instructions for educational projects.
Irobot launches roomba based robot platform for STEM Ed
Robots Help Moore County Students Learn Math, Science and Engineering
11http://elearningfeeds.com/robots-help-moore-county-students-learn-math-science-and-engineering/
Raspberry Pi
The Raspberry Pi wasn’t developed for you to enjoy retro games, create a MAME system or build a media centre: a far more noble cause is at its heart. Designing and building a low-cost computer that is so flexible was the idea of a group of computer programmers such as Eben Upton and David Braben, both of whom are members of the Raspberry Pi Foundation. Their ethos for the Creation of this computer was to develop hardware that children and students could use to learn about programming. The low cost of the computers means that they can be sold to schools around the world, thereby offering educational opportunities for all.
13Getting Started with A Raspberry Pi Lesson
http://www.raspberrypi.org/learning/getting-started-with-raspberry-pi-lesson/
14Raspberrypi Organization Kids
http://www.raspberrypi.org/tag/kids/
15Raspberrypi Creative Commons
http://www.raspberrypi.org/creative-commons/
16South Africa Solar Powered Raspberry Pi School
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDAS6Ynb9TE&feature=youtu.be&a
17Microsoft debuts Sharks Cove a Costly Raspberry Alternative
http://www.zdnet.com/Microsoft-debuts-sharks-cove-a-costly-raspberry-pi-alternative-7000032094/
17Lego Robotics
http://www.lego.com/en-us/mindstorms/build-a-robot
Scratch
Scratch is used in a variety of setting, across disciplines, from computer science to language arts to science to visual arts, and across ages from kindergarten to college-and by educators who have varying levels of familiarity with scratch and computational creation.
Scratch’s ability to fit into a wide variety of settings attracts a diverse array of teachers.
Scratch is a free authoring environment that makes it easy to create interactive media projects, like games, interactive art, and simulation-and then share these creations with others in an online community. Projects are created by adding images and audio and then snapping blocks of instructions together to program the media assets. Since Scratch’s launch in 2007, hundreds of thousands of people (mostly between ages of 8 and 18) have created and shared millions of projects. After eight years, there are more than 7.6 million projects and 37 million comments on projects in dozens of languages from more than 50 countries around the world.
But more than being a tool, Scratch represents an approach to learning, like any tool, scratch can be used in a variety of ways in a learning environment.
Inspired by constructionist theories of learning, a Scratch approach to learning is that creates opportunities for learners to engage in designing, personalizing, sharing, and reflecting. Through personalizing, learners have opportunities to connect their creative to what they know and what they care about. Through sharing, learners have opportunities to give and receive advice or appreciation, through reflecting, learners have opportunities to step back from their activities and think about their processes and thinking.
These four elements –designing, personalizing ,sharing, and reflecting-have served as a checklist for designing learning experiences with scratch, independent of learner age(K-12(high school),college, and beyond),and disciplinary areas(computer science, language arts,mathematics,visual arts ,and more).
Creative computing with Scratch
Do you want to teach your students to build interactive computational activities to enhance their classroom experience? SCRATCH can be used in all classrooms for all disciplines, and allows students to use creative computing tools to create interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art.
18A Simple Construction of a robot using a Raspberry Pi micro-computer and Scratch Programming language:
http://www.raspberrypi.org/learning/robot-antenna/requirements/software
19Scratch programming language
Computational Thinking with Scratch: Developing Fluency with Computational Concepts, Practices, and Perspectives
As young people design interactive media with Scratch, they engage with a set of computational concepts that are common in many programming languages .We have identified seven concepts ,which are highly useful in a wide range of Scratch projects, and which transfer to other programming (and non programming)contexts:
From interviews and observations of young designers. It was evident that framing computational thinking solely around concepts insufficiently represented other elements of designers’ learning and participation. The next step in articulating our computational thinking framework was to describe the processes of construction, the design practices we saw kids engaging in while creating their projects. Although the young people were interviewed and had adopted a variety of strategies and practices for developing interactive media, four main sets of practices were observed.
In conversation with Scratchers, young designers describe evolving understandings of themselves, their relationship to others, and the technological world around them. This was a surprising and fascinating dimension of participation with Scratch –a dimension not captured by our framing concepts and practices. As the final step in articulating computational thinking framework, the dimension of perspective is added to describe the shifts in perspective that is observed in young people working with Scratch, which includes three elements:
A.ERA 2012 Conference paper
Scarched.gse.harvard.edu/ct/files/AERA2012.pdf
Brennan,K.(2012)Designing with Teachers USC Annenbers Innovation Lab
20Cany,J,Snyder,L.,&Wing,J.M.(2010).Demystifying Computational thinking for non-computer scientists. Unpublished manuscript in progress, referenced in http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~CompThink/resources/TheLinkWing.pdf-
21Google.(n.d).Exploring computational thinking.
http://www.google.com/edu/computational-thinking/
Wing,J.M.(2008).Computational thinking and thinking about computing. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 366(1881),3717-37-25.doi:10.1098/rsta.2008.0118.
Scratched.gse.harvard.edu/resources/computational-thinking-concepts-march-2011-webinar
22ScratchEd
http://scratched.gse.harvard.edu_
23Programming in Scratch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqomOvsYlto
24Scratch Educator Show & Tell Videos
https://vimeo.com/groups/scratchedshowandtell_
25Scratch Curriculum Guide
http://scratched.gse.harvard.edu/guide
Scratch Junior
http://www.scratchjr.org/teach.html
Discuss Scratch
https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/60012/
26Scratch in Android App
https://learnable.com/courses/android-programming-from-scratch-2855
27Scratch in Apple
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.seasoftcomputing.StartScratch&hl=en
29Power will soon belong to those who can master a variety of expressive human-machine interactions.
http://www.edutopia.org/literacy-computer-programming
30 Coding soon to be part of Finnish Schoolchildren’s Core Curriculum
http://yle.fi/uutiset/coding_soon_to_be_part_of_finnish_schoolchildrens_core_curriculum/7818567
31Tasmanian primary schools to roll out coding curriculum
32Universal skills all learners should know how to do
33Turnbull calls for earlier introduction of coding in schools.
http://www.zdnet.com/article/turnbull-calls-for-earlier-introduction-of-coding-in-schools/
34Google Science Fair
https://plus.google.com/photos/+GoogleScienceFair/albums/6084579358065553745
35Coder Dojo
Recommendations
Conclusion:
As technology evolves ever more quickly in all aspects of modern living, it is important that the next generation know as much as possible about design, electronics, programming and integration in order to stay competitive. This is why robotics is becoming increasingly important at all levels of education.
Students need to know not only how to find information, but how to evaluate, curate, present, and create it. We really need a rethinking of education and a redesigning of our system, so it prepares our children for the future with the skills that are needed for today and tomorrow.
If Kenya wants to achieve an "insurgency" around innovation and technology, it would have to be led by an attitudinal change.
We have to recognize the world in which we live is changing rapidly. The velocity of change has probably never been greater, and so you have to have an attitude, whether you're running a business or a government department or a newspaper or a website, which is agile.
You can't be like King Canute trying to turn the tide back; you've got to be like the great surfer who says, 'Yep, there's a very turbulent sea out there, I can ride that,' so in other words, make volatility your friend.
Category: Education and Research
Email: fredsagwe4@gmail.com
Twitter:@fsagwe
Blog:http://codeclubkenya.blogspot.com/
Country: Kenya