Ivy Tech and Indiana Robotics Educators Fertilizing the “grassroots” robotics movement Daniel Ward II Design Technology Program Chair, Ivy Tech Community College-Kokomo, Indiana Chair, Indiana Robotics Educators Grant President-VisualEdge, Incorporated

Funding Sources 1st workshop was funded with surplus money from a NSF grant and a robot donation from Radio Shack Indiana Department of Workforce Development (IDWD) has funded last 6 years-2011 just finished Success of workshops has made a major impression with IDWD Ivy Tech provides facilities and food for the workshop participants and lodging for workshop facilitators Autodesk donates 150 copies of Inventor Pro each year A strong professional relationship with intelitek and Innovation First/VEX

Workshop Purpose Workshops are designed to introduce high school and middle school teachers to robotics as a teaching tool Teachers take this new knowledge and integrate it into their curriculum or after school activities The ultimate outcome is to start a robotics program or activity in every school corporation in the state of Indiana Introduces teachers to ITCC and the local campus in an informal setting Allows for ITCC regional faculty and staff to meet local teachers and put a “name to a face”

IRE Facts Since 2005… Indiana Robotics Educators Grant summer workshops have had 1221 participants since 2005 1055 VEX robot kits have been distributed to Indiana schools through the grant 41 major robotics competitions have been held in Indiana. 955 Indiana teams have participated in competitions (three students and a teacher per team) 14 Indiana teams advanced to the VEX Worlds Competition in May of 2008 3 advanced to the top 16 out of 91 teams around the world 40 qualified for the VEX National and World Championships in April 2009 29 competed in the VEX National and World Championships in April 2010

Who is Eligible Open to public high school or middle school teachers in the state Priority is given to STEM teachers CTE and PLTW teachers are targeted to reach as many technology students as possible and expose them to robotics in the classroom

Workshop Schedule Monday Tuesday Wednesday Teachers arrive and are given a basic overview of the grant and the overall state of technology education in Indiana. A campus tour follows. Teachers break out into groups based on experience First Year participants spend the afternoon learning about robots and building their first robot in groups. Second Year Participants spend the afternoon talking about the design process and various mechanisms and their functionality. They also build a robot to use for the remainder of the workshop. Tuesday First year teachers learn about CADD and beginning programming of their robot. They must program their robot to navigate a maze. Second year teachers spend the entire day learning about sensors and how to program their robot using them. Wednesday First year teachers finish their programming challenge and then receive rules for their afternoon challenge. They then compete for bragging rights Second year teachers continue their sensor lessons. Seven sensors in total are covered in the two days of programming.

Grant Outcomes Write a lesson plan showing how they will incorporate the robot into their curriculum Complete a survey and provide feedback about the workshop Attend an IRE sponsored competition with their robot

What they receive First Year Second Year VEX robot kit ($500) Autodesk Inventor Software ($3,750) Autodesk Robotics Curriculum ($200) CD that contains all presentation materials used during the workshop Experience they can pass on to students in using the robot Second Year A VEX robot kit ($500) Sensor Pack ($100) – Contains all the sensors used in the second year program Programming Software ($100) Experience they can pass on to students in building and programming their robots Third Year (First offered in August 2009)

Secret of Our Success We bring the message to the audience Teachers are inclined and willing to travel shorter distances to receive the training Our best estimate is that every public school corporation in the state is within an hour drive of an Ivy Tech campus We don’t just provide information – we provide hands on experiences Other states and groups are taking notice with what is happening in Indiana and want to replicate our model Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, Ohio will be holding workshops for 400 teachers during 2012