Here’s a question for you: What is your opinion as to the importance of EdTech in education? EdTech, as you know, is short for educational technology.

What defines EdTech, you ask?

Good question! You see the term everywhere but no definitions. So let’s go with the definition advanced by our good  friends at Wikipedia: "Educational technology, sometimes termed EdTech, is the study and ethical practice of facilitating e-learning, which is the learning and improving performance by creating, using and managing appropriate technological processes and resources…"  "Appropriate technological processes and resources" include more than just the Internet, although online courses are important tools; tablets, computers, cell phones, the whole digital zoo is included. Even robots! Especially robots!

Back to our question: Is EdTech important or unimportant. We here at RobotsLAB believe EdTech a crucial tool for educating this millennium's students. The demand for workers in tech industries with STEM skills will grow exponentially in the coming years and if we in this country don’t take advantage of EdTech to increase the number of students interested and engaged in science, technology, engineering and math we will find ourselves in deep trouble.

And we’re not the only ones that feel that EdTech is the solution. In a recent survey of 762 preK-12 public school teachers and 205 public school administrators, 96% of respondents felt EdTech was the best way to engage students with technology oriented disciplines and to keep them interested.  

But it will come as no surprise that there are obstacles in the way of this solution. And the biggest obstacle to more EdTech according to seventy-five percent of administrators and 66 percent of teachers responding to the survey was lack of funding.

Seventy-seven percent (77%) of responders felt that it was hard to find high-quality, reliable EdTech. Thirty-two percent of teachers claimed to spend at least an hour a week searching for EdTech they thought their students could benefit by.

So, gentle reader, what’s your view on EdTech? Should we continue the age-old teaching methods that have driven students away from math and science in droves?  Or do we forge new relationships between these kids and math and science that will help them find the tech jobs opening in the coming years?  

If you’ve answered the question the way we imagine you have, then we want you to know that we here at RobotsLAB have an answer to the problems of funding and finding high-quality, reliable EdTech devices, our RobotsLAB BOX.  The BOX is inexpensive and its high-tech, reliable Robots are the quickest way to engage kids in science, technology, engineering and math. Take a look and see math and science come alive!