Robotics has been the cornerstone of recent human ingenuity, from piloting beyond the heavens to helping us explore the cold and mysterious depths of the sea. It has aided us in complicated surgical procedures and raised the United States to unforeseen success during our Industrial Age.

However, the wealth that robotics brings isn’t limited to hard cash. Here at Sylvan Learning Center we’ve done our homework on how robotics can help our children learn a wealth of information and improve their education in the STEM field (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and beyond.

For one, robotics can aid children in understanding complex concepts and functions, and our summer Build-a-Bot course does just that. It teaches children how to build, command, and manipulate a LEGO robot—utilizing WeDo software—through problem-solving and critical thinking, both of which are great skills to master at a young age.

But don’t just take our word for it. Here are just a few examples of how robotics is helping us strive for a better tomorrow.

It is hard for any without a specially trained eye to see just how complex mathematical equations or the scientific method can fit into our everyday experiences. Surely, many of us as adults who aren’t in a STEM line of work don’t deal with, for instance, the Pythagorean Theorem on a daily basis, but it doesn’t mean that the theorem—or the scientific method for that matter—isn’t important.

Robotics can teach a student in real time just what these equations can mean in a practical setting. It teaches them that these concepts go beyond just something they should only remember for a test.

Robotics can show students how reinforcing their math and science skills can lead to improved problem solving and critical thinking - all skills that are necessary for engineers, physicists, chemists, doctors, and mathematicians.

Creating a robot and commanding it to do a task is like learning a whole new language. You’ve probably seen T.V. shows or movies where a scientist in a lab coat is talking to a disembodied voice emitting from a pixelated screen, speaking in a series of 0’s and 1’s. The voice isn’t speaking gibberish; it is speaking binary code.

Well, the future has arrived as there are now many examples of robots aiding school children outside of the realm of math, science, or even coding for that matter. Another happens to be within the realm of language.

In Japan, robotics as a learning aid is a huge hit. Robovie is a popular robot used in fifth-grade language studies that employs a 5-year old’s conversational skills, and as the year progresses, its ability to have a conversation increases through daily interactions with the children over a span of 14 months. In essence, the children are learning how to speak by teaching Robovie how to speak.

Robotics is leading the way in research for children with autism. Researchers believe that robots can effectively trigger a better social response from children with autism spectrum disorder than a human can because of how socially simple a robot can be. It allows children with autism to focus on one social aspect of communication at a time.

For instance, NAO is a robot that is currently measuring data about children with autism, such as gaze responses and facial expression recognition and imitation, from individuals to control groups.

The research has lead to the construction of games that teach participants how to replicate human social behavior, improve gaze retention, and provides feedback and guidance to children with autism and their parents.

The Sylvan Learning Center strives to deliver the best educational practices for all of the Rio Grande Valley’s children. With around one million STEM jobs opening by 2020, let’s get our children ready to take advantage of this robust skill set with our Build-a-Bot summer program coming July 3rd through 8th.

Contact us here in McAllen today at (956) 682-9800 for the specific times—or find our other locations all throughout the RGV— and learn more about when our Build-a-Bot seminar will be held!