ROBBO

Modern-day classrooms are often metaphorised as black boxes. Much like a black-box algorithm with its internal mechanism hidden from the user, the present-day education system feeds theories and instructions to students and expects outputs, without teaching students the underlying idea or technology.

Especially for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, many schools and educational institutions are realising the downside of not incorporating the practical sides of theories and sciences. As a result, STEM education is making a paradigm shift towards a white-box learning approach, and one of the companies leading its charge is ROBBO.

From STEM to STREAM: Inspiring Students to Love Technology and Engineering

Lack of hands-on learning is often cited as the reason for the disparity between theoretical science and practical science. Students interested in science and mathematics constitute 48 and 74 percent, whereas those interested in technology and engineering are a mere 13 percent.

ROBBO bridges the gap by incorporating STREAM, which combines the concept of STEM with robotics (R) and art (A), including 3D modelling, 3D printing, and circuit designing. It’s a multi-year curriculum where kids play with technology, copy it, and then build it from scratch with ready-to-use building blocks that makes technical learning fun and more appealing to younger students.

“We offer ROBBO via two modalities. The ROBBO Class caters to schools and educational institutions, and ROBBO Franchise, for entrepreneurs who would like to start an educational business,” says Maria Hakkarainen, CEO of ROBBO.

ROBBO’s STREAM education tools are adopted by schools and clubs in 34 countries and are used by more than 100,000 students.

Students understand physics better through practical lessons, making them proficient in algorithms and programming. It motivates them to learn mathematics. Practical training in robotics also improves understanding of the school curriculum in the natural sciences, and students begin to do better in school.

Catering to Students from Five to Fifteen

ROBBO Lab and Robot Kit are two of ROBBO’s primary products.

ROBBO Lab is designed for younger kids. It is an Internet of Things (IoT) device with different kinds of sensors, lights, microphones etc. It is a fun way to experiment with robotics and programming to enhance kids’ problem-solving skills, abstract thinking, and creativity.

“It is a prototype of embedded robots from smart homes, smart cities, and other smart devices for children under seven. For older children, it teaches basics of programming based on Scratch, C++, Processing, Arduino IDE, and the basics of microelectronics and circuitry without the use of additional third-party boards and accessories,” states Yasuo Ninomiya, CEO of ROBBO Japan.

The Robot kit is more advanced; it is a moving robot on two wheels with a USB cable. It is a comprehensive robot construction kit with five simple magnetic-mount sensors and LED lights. Students can mix and combine sensors to replicate any surrounding technology, from smartphones to refrigerators.

It combines science with an unlimited amount of creativity. Apart from programming and robotics, it is also a supporting tool to run any physics experiments involving velocity and acceleration, and optics. It improves problem-solving, analytical skills, and innovativeness, and enhances teamwork skills.

They can be used separately or together where the Lab controls the kit to execute complex programs and commands.

They are programmed using a visual programming language, RobboScratch. It is an adapted version of the children’s educational programming tool, Scratch, requiring no prior coding knowledge.

Considering children as ROBBO’s users, the products are robust to ensure zero damage when dropped or spilt with liquids. None of the 40 Finnish schools using ROBBO has replaced the products in five years.

Designing a Curriculum that’s a ‘Class’ Apart

ROBBO strikes a difference in innovative STREAM education with its expert-guided curriculum. It is designed in collaboration with the University of Helsinki.

The curriculum is designed with Finnish teachers at its epicentre. It contains lesson plans, assignments, and detailed methodological recommendations.

As a single teacher handles multiple subjects in Finland, they get minimal time intervals to plan for lessons. ROBBO’s curriculum can efficiently handle a range of disciplines, from coding to 3D modelling, while helping the teachers prepare for a lesson in less than 15 minutes.

The curriculum is also planned so primary to middle school students can apply conceptual knowledge in real-life situations and independently create devices.

“We also offer an online training program for teachers. In the first stage, teachers learn how to teach discipline to younger children (from 5 to 11 years old), followed by an exam. Each course contains recommendations on how to teach robotics, how to work with equipment and software, and how to properly transfer knowledge to children. It then advances to more complicated topics for older kids,” says Jessica Chen, Business Development Manager ROBBO of China.'

ROBBO Franchise for Entrepreneurs

ROBBO offers franchise opportunities to entrepreneurs. One prominent example is from Romania. The client received ROBBO equipment and materials, a brand book, and assistance to kick-start the offline franchise. It had to close during the pandemic. But the ROBBO team soon helped him switch to an online franchise, which gained a lot of customers. Now he operates as an offline franchisee again.

Proliferating via its franchise model, ROBBO wants to empower more kids with technological and engineering knowledge and usher in a generation of highly creative tech professionals. The goal is to take better turns with its remarkable innovations, like the LMS system with a built-in virtual reality module, helping students without the necessary equipment at home.