Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google


District Placing Robotics Teams into Every School by 2021

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 12/09/19

A Maryland school system intends to make robotics ubiquitous, including development of robotics teams for every school by 2021. Carroll County Public Schools explored the initiative during a November board meeting, when the district announced that it would incorporate the FIRST Robotics program in elementary, middle and high school. The work was undertaken based on community feedback that expressed a desire for "more STEM and robotic experiences" for students.

The county is familiar with competitive robotics. One of its high schools teams was ranked as the fourth best in the world, based on its performance during the 2019 FIRST Robotics World Championship in Detroit.

The new focus, according to a presentation made by Jason Anderson, the school system's chief academic, equity and accountability officer, was to help students "gain hands-on STEM experiences, build confidence, growth their knowledge and develop habits of learning."

The robotics work would rely on local funding for coach stipends and grants for other expenses. The Kahlert Foundation committed to a two-year start-up grant for $80,000; and the Maryland State Department of Education and the homegrown Partnership for Inspiration in Engineering (PIE3) offered a $29,000 grant. The district said it would rely on the community for additional grants and expertise, to support the programs in the future.

Funding will cover a two-day training session for first-time robotics coaches, which has been dubbed "LEGO School," according to local reporting. The job of robotics coaches, added Anderson, were to "encourage students to try, fail, and try again, while connecting STEM concepts to real-world examples."

The district will kick off its recharged robotics direction by participating in the upcoming "Annual Roar of the Robotics," a FIRST LEGO League tournament hosted by PIE3, which is taking place at nearby Carroll Community College.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Neon blue security locks with a single red highlight

    With AI, Cybersecurity Focus Shifts from Finding Flaws to Fixing Them

    For decades, one of cybersecurity's biggest challenges has been finding vulnerabilities before attackers do. A growing number of security professionals now say artificial intelligence is changing that equation, shifting the focus from discovering flaws to fixing them quickly enough to prevent exploitation.

  • abstract smartphone translucent screen displaying AI interface

    Apple Unveils Redesigned Siri AI

    At its recent Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple announced Siri AI, a redesigned version of its voice assistant that Apple describes in its own announcement as "a profoundly more capable and personal assistant." The update is intended to make Siri more conversational, more context-aware, and more useful across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro.

  • Blurred silhouettes of business people in a modern office with a glowing blue network overlay

    Open Secure AI Alliance Moving Under Linux Foundation

    Governance of the Open Secure AI Alliance has moved to the Linux Foundation, giving the initiative what the organizations describe as a neutral home for developing open source tools, shared standards and defensive practices. The Alliance was launched by NVIDIA in July to develop open security technologies for AI systems and agents.

  • Digital cloud security with protected data flow on a futuristic network background

    Security Researchers: Passkey Phishing Attacks Are Leading to Cloud Account Takeovers

    In an active social engineering campaign, cyber attackers are impersonating IT help desks and using fake passkey setup requests to compromise employee identities and gain access to enterprise cloud data.