Shaping Young Minds to Become Future Innovators

The Ministry of Education and Youth, Region 4, is charting the way for future innovators, having hosted a Robotics Symposium at the HEART College of Innovation & Technology (HCIT) in Montego Bay, St. James, from May 30 to June 1.

The seminar featured 15 primary-level students from grades one to six who, along with their teachers, were engaged in basic coding concepts and the principles of robotics, including programming and mechanical design.

Schools represented included Anchovy Primary, Barracks Road Primary, Chetwood Memorial Primary, Corinaldi Avenue Primary, and Flankers Primary & Junior High.

With a focus on fostering a love for information technology (IT) as well as the knowledge to shape the digital landscape of tomorrow, the event encouraged the students to exercise their critical and creative thinking, thus developing problem-solving skills.

Additionally, the participants were involved in teamwork and collaboration, through group-based projects and activities.

Those activities were guided by representatives from the Ministry and also foreign stakeholders, who conducted various hands-on experiences and inspiring demonstrations to ignite a passion for IT, robotics and coding from an early age.

“I believe that in whatever we do, we have to not just talk but we have to have action, and so we came together, had fundraisers, sponsors and we were able to get four robots down into Jamaica and they are going to be staying here in Region 4,” said Region 4 Director in the Ministry, Dr. Michelle Pinnock.

She told JIS News that the idea behind the symposium was to positively impact youngsters in public and private institutions across St. James, Hanover and Westmorland.

“We have the tracks, we have the robots, and so I am saying to all principals, all parents, all community members, if any afternoon you want to have conversations or whatever type of fundraiser, we are able to bring the robots in. Persons can probably donate a robot to a school, so that we can have our children developing the four Cs –collaboration, critical thinking, communication and creativity,” Dr. Pinnock said.

“Once we are able to develop these four Cs, we know that our people are going to be moving in the right direction,” she added.

Region 4 will be conducting a series of training for teachers in the area of robotics and basic coding this summer, in collaboration with HCIT, according to Dr. Pinnock.

Furthermore, Dr. Pinnock anticipates that by September, a minimum of 10 schools will incorporate robotics in various capacities.

“Last year, we were able to have a team from Cornwall College create a business plan. They wrote for a grant and HCIT was able to afford them a grant of $300,000 in what is referred to as an incubator programme [in robotics],” Dr. Pinnock said.

“My Education Officers are also working with Spot Valley High School… . We have our children coming here [at HCIT) to do animation,” she added.

The foreign stakeholders who partnered in the Robotics Symposium included Chairman of the Cornwall College Class of 1985 Scholarship Committee, Mark Ricketts; Scientist with Johnson & Johnson, Michael Hawkins; and Robotics Specialist, Jacob Kim.

Mr. Kim, who led the robotic designs and coding sessions, noted that the students were very enthused about building the machines in groups, learning to programme in the codes and competing in friendly activities and competitions.

“The first day was all about learning about the mechanics; they built it. The second day was about telling the machine what to do [and] it was amazing and fun to watch. We spent time giving the robot intelligence, so not just telling it what to do but for it to figure out how to get through the maze,” he indicated.

“What you are seeing in real time is the direction of future engineers, and the future is bright. These are the kids that will be future engineers for SpaceX, NASA or any other big corporation,” Mr. Kim added.

The students and teachers who participated in the symposium were enthusiastically embracing the world of robotics as demonstrated by their eager participation and genuine excitement during the event.

Grade-five student of Anchovy Primary School, Denique Beckford, told JIS News that she was grateful to be selected to partake in the symposium as she is a “fan of science” and no stranger to “programming tablets and phones”.

Miss Beckford said that she learned how the coding process works as well as how to build basic robotic models.

“Technology is a very nice thing and students learning about this can be very helpful in life. I would actually use what I learned,” she pointed out.

Meanwhile, grade-five teacher of Corinaldi Avenue Primary School, Tobia Watson, said the presenters were informative and patient with students and teachers.

In fact, students were kept engaged throughout the three days and used their creative skills to assemble the robots as well as programming the machines.

“Their interest does not lie in just books, charts, chalkboards, and whiteboards, as you can lose them very quickly with those things. They want to know that they can touch it, they can feel it, they can put it together, they can see it working, see it coming together,” the teacher said.

Ms. Watson and other teachers have expressed interest in introducing projects of similar nature in their classrooms, because technology is one of the tools that keep students calm or keep them occupied.