Goooal! These are the RoboCup Humanoid League Winners!

Robotics teams and experts competed on Sydney for the RoboCup 2019, aiming to claim the World Champion title.

Two local universities came out with first place honours, University of Sydney (USYD) and the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), in the Soccer Simulation 2D League and the Social Robot Standard Platform League, respectively.

The Power of Storytelling in the Classroom: 5 Ways It Can Be a Great Help

People say unbelievable things all the time and often we may wish they were true. These stories touch our imagination, as we feel ourselves playing a role in the story in both time and place. More often than not, they are make believe and are told to attract the audience, whether it's a small group of friends or family or a larger group such as a school classroom or even a conference attended by the business community.

When it comes to teaching in the classroom, research shows that children tend to retain more knowledge when they can connect it with a classroom activity. One of the most common classroom activities is storytelling. Children love listening to their teachers telling stories. While they listen, they begin to focus and follow the story through until its end.

Combine Maker Activities and STEM Lessons

You may be familiar with maker spaces. In one form or another, hands-on teaching has always involved kids in “making.” Today’s new focus on maker spaces is taking making to a whole new level.

Visualize a space filled with an assortment of materials and tools where people explore ideas together, create, and invent. Now think of such a space existing in a school – a space where students can go to imagine, investigate, figure things out, and design prototypes. 

Personally, I like to think of maker spaces as spots that fuel curiosity-driven learning – engaging spaces that nurture your students’ curiosity and creativity. Just think how productive your STEM lessons would be if they were driven by student curiosity!

An Education For The 21st Century Means Teaching Coding In Schools

There is merit in school students learning coding. We live in a digital world where computer programs underlie everything from business, marketing, aviation, science and medicine, to name several disciplines. During a recent presentation at a radio station, one of the hosts said that IT would have been better background for his career in radio than journalism.

Being introduced to coding gives students an appreciation of what can be built with technology. We are surrounded by devices controlled by computers. Understanding how they work, and imagining new devices and services, are enhanced by understanding coding.

The Maths Within… Robots

There is lots of maths in robots! Think of almost any of the clever things robots can do, its maths that makes it happen.

5 Ways To Use Drones In The Classroom: Cherishing Students' Passion For Technology

Mobile devices may have enabled the breakthrough of disruptive technology in modern classroom, but new gadgets keep enriching the possibilities to engage students in more interactive classes.

Alongside smartphones and tablets, a number of new devices have entered a classroom – from smart boards to VR headsets, a wide range of tech inventions have helped reinvent traditional teaching methods. Among the latest tech trends, the use of drones has become a widespread among photographers, journalists, farmers, police officers and many others. For teachers, using drones in the classroom open up a new set of opportunities to make classes more relevant and engaging for students.

How can drones be integrated into your curriculum?

6 Ways 3D Printing Helps Students Develop Critical Thinking Skills

To thrive in the 21^st century our students need to be able to collaborate effectively with others, identify and develop innovative solutions to problems and challenges, and know how to think creatively and critically.

So, what is critical thinking? Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and logically and to apply reasoning processes to ideas and situations. Critical thinkers ask questions and challenge information they are presented with. They seek to understand information from a range of perspectives, rather than jumping to conclusions and taking everything at face value.

Here we will look at ways that 3D design and printing can help our students develop these skills.

What makes a STEM teacher?

Developing identities of STEM teachers at emerging STEM schools

What kind of picture of a STEM teacher do you have? El Nagdi and colleagues attempted to answer this question by conducting a study with participants of emerging STEM schools in the US, published in the International Journal of STEM Education. Since STEM schools are a recent initiative, a STEM teacher is a learning, developing and multi-disciplinary-oriented not yet defined kind of person.

Why Children Have To Learn The Importance Of Robotics And Coding

Robotics and coding are just some of the many ideas that are reserved for the technically-inclined adults. But is it possible to teach these concepts to our kids these days? Are their innocent minds able to handle the complexities of computer science?

Read further as we are going to discuss some reasons why children have to learn the importance of robotics and coding.

8 Ways for Old School Teachers to Embrace Technology

Technology only became the in-thing in the classroom environment recently. Previously it was used to enhance learning systems and lesson plans, but the actual learning was based on books. Teachers who entered the profession in recent years have had a hard time embracing technology mostly because many of them lack training in new technologies and are not sure how technology may affect their lesson delivery. Here are eight ways old school teachers can embrace technology.