Pupils from 125 Frisian elementary schools will give their robots a place on the stage in theater De Harmonie for the opening act: doing a dance together. Afterwards, chief guest astronaut André Kuipers opens his story: ’’Who among you is afraid of robots? Not me!''.
For a story of the Dutch astronaut, the children are, strangely enough, quite easy to 'peel free' from the techno playground. Playing with robots, 3D pens and high-tech electronics is fun, but that's not what they came for alone. ,,Andre Kuipers is walking there!'', a number of children cheer. After a fascinating story about his space journey, in which Kuipers shows with impressive videos what daily life is like on board a space station, the children of CBS De Bron from Dokkum are impressed. ,,He is cool and interesting.'' What André Kuipers succeeds in, their teacher cannot: keep a room full of children fascinated for more than an hour. ,,But André Kuipers has an interesting story!''
Love
His grandfather's Meccano sparked his interest in technology as a child. Kuipers: ,,Now I try to pass on some of my love for technology to children''. According to Kuipers, you can't start early enough with this. ,,That's why it's great that Innovatiecluster Drachten promotes technology at school with a robot.'' Many teachers are not technically skilled, according to him. “After all, it is not for nothing that they have opted for teacher training, instead of training in technology. That makes it difficult for technology to enter the classroom.”
handsome heads
Frisian deputy Sander de Rouwe agrees. Together with alderman Roel Haverkort of Smallingerland municipality, he will hand out the prizes to the schools with the winning videos from the vlog challenge. ,,We have a shortage of ‘golden hands’ and ‘bright minds’. The director of Philips asked me the question: how do we get smart children to come and work for us in the future? By introducing them to technology early on, of course. And that is exactly what is happening here today!’’ De Rouwe hopes that these children will help others reassemble the robot. ’’That way the robot will get a new life in the next class.''
Touching with technology
Alderman Haverkort sees that, too. ’’This is the age when you have to hit kids with technology,’’ Haverkort said. That happens far too little now, according to the alderman. Elementary schools, he says, are running into the problem that there is no good engineering education available for elementary schools. ’’They need help with this as long as technology is not yet part of the curriculum.'' Children who are now in elementary school are going to choose advanced education in two or three years. Alderman Haverkort doesn't want to wait for that. ''You see it today, schools themselves need engineering education and kids love it. You awaken this with a day like today!''
Democracy
Afterwards, the students of the Queen Wilhelmina School from Hollum, De Bron from Dokkum and Dr. J. Botkeschool from Damwoude André Kuipers exclusively for them alone. They want to know everything about him. Can you get lost in space? Why is the sky so blue? Is there life beyond Earth? Do you need to know everything to become an astronaut? Kuipers answers patiently and enthusiastically and concludes with a message. “Robots will make our lives a lot better because they will take over boring and dangerous things from us. That's why I'm not afraid of robots. However, we must ensure that robots remain in good hands. You can build a house with a stone, but you can also punch a hole in someone's head. That is why it is important that we on earth work for democracy, fundamental rights and human rights. That should ensure that robots remain in good hands.”
Visit EDU Robotics for more about technology in primary education.