The Rockie Road

A Simple Robot Dance

2012-02-09T14:39:00.000-08:00

A simple but cool robot dance video from last years International Robotic's Olympiad.

MEDIA ALERT!

2012-01-12T12:33:00.000-08:00

DENVER – The Colorado Convention Center will play host to the prestigious International Robot Olympiad (IRO) in December, 2013, marking the first time in the IRO’s 15-year history that it will be held in North America.

The IRO is an annual competition of the world’s top robotics students, with over 1,000 students from around the world participating. It is unique among robotics competitions, focusing as much on creativity and artistry as on technical skills. The marquee event, Robot Dance, has a universal appeal that cuts across social, cultural and academic boundaries.

Students at the IRO compete in over a dozen different competitions, Olympiad style, during the four-day event that also includes a variety of cultural activities and an educational symposium featuring world-renowned guest speakers.

The successful Denver bid was sponsored by Ameribotics, a local non-profit organization committed to whole-person development through robotics, in partnership with VisitDenver, and supported by Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper and U.S. Senator Michael Bennet.

"I believe Robot Dance is going to revolutionize the way we think about education," Ameribotics Executive Director Randy Menzer said, "The skill set it takes to make a robot tell a story, and then program it to express that 'story' in dance form, is truly like an intellectual 'Super Food'."

Headquartered in Colorado, Ameribotics is working to create a variety of opportunities for educators and students that introduce them to robotics. Ameribotics camps and competitions work to engage children (and adults) in real-life, project-based, hands-on problem-solving exercises, at the same time blending art and science and promoting both left-brained (logical) and right-brained (conceptual) development.

A Robot that Flies like a Bird

2011-11-07T17:43:00.000-08:00

It's a bird, it's a plain, NO IT'S A ROBOT! This is like the Wright brothers 2.0 and a toy I definitely want for Christmas this year. I think we can finally say that world robotics are officially "taking flight".

Robotics a tool for creation for Highlands Ranch STEM facilitator

2011-10-27T10:24:00.000-07:00

To read a short and sweet article written by the Denver Post.com about our recent Super Camp, please click this LINK.

Robot Landing on Mars

2011-08-10T23:46:00.000-07:00

If you didn't think robots were cool before this video, you will undoubtedly after it! Hard to imagine we have such things going on in robotics as we speak and even harder to imagine how much more the future holds for the advancement of robotics.

Robots Fighting

2011-08-01T09:54:00.000-07:00

This is more for a laugh than anything else, but I figured I would put up a slightly different side to robot competitions. I remember when this used to be a big deal and you could watch these "battles" on ESPN and the like. It is somewhat inane watching robots destroy each other but it is neat to see the ingenuity of some of the contestants and how serious the guy looks when he loses his little warrior. The more I look for videos with robots dancing or fighting like this one, it makes me wonder more and more just how much could we accomplish with robotics?

One Classroom, Many Minds; A Paddle for the Mainstream

2011-07-18T13:29:00.000-07:00

''Some students have needs that are simply too far from the norm to meet adequately in regular classrooms,'' This quote in a way sums up this 'New York Times' post about differentiated instruction in todays schools. This fairly lengthy article goes through the pros and cons of this teaching ideology and may by the end give you a slightly different opinion of how today's children should be taught.

By Fran Schumer

Published: November 9, 2003

Montclair, N.J.— SOME fourth graders at the Rand School read at second-grade level; some have already finished ''Lord of the Rings.'' So Cheryl Caggiano organizes her class into clusters based on proficiency, each with a different book and assignment. At any given time, four things are going on at once in Ms. Caggiano's classroom.
Students who struggle with comprehension might be working on questions about their book, while others do an activity that helps them analyze characters and themes. One group might be drilling vocabulary, while another practices sentence structure. In social studies and science, Ms. Caggiano likes to ''mix it up.'' She may put a strong reader with a poor one ''so they can teach each other,'' or put students who think abstractly with ones who only get the point if they actually see it.
If this sounds like a lot of work for the teacher, it is. ''It's crazy, insane, and I don't get paid enough,'' Ms. Caggiano says. Still, she prefers this approach. ''When you teach the same lesson to the whole class, you'll see it in their faces: some kids are completely lost, others are bored,'' she says. ''This way I know the students better, and they're more involved in the process, too.''
Ms. Caggiano is a practitioner of differentiated instruction, a method of teaching students of different abilities in a single classroom. The approach was popularized in the late 1990's by Carol Ann Tomlinson, a professor of education at the University of Virginia. Dr. Tomlinson did not invent the concept, or even coin the phrase, but she laid out a how-to strategy for the ''inclusive'' classroom in her book ''Differentiated Classroom,'' which many regard as the bible of differentiation. Instead of ''What am I supposed to teach now?'' the differentiated teacher asks, ''What does this student need to learn next and what is the most effective way for me to teach it?'' To answer those questions, Dr. Tomlinson adapted a number of progressive strategies already in use, including group learning, peer collaboration and teaching to different learning styles.
Given the increasing number of learning-disabled students and children who speak English as a second language who show up in the same class with gifted students, it's not surprising that the idea has become so pervasive. Click HERE for the rest of the article

Sony Promotional Dancing Robot

2011-07-15T18:04:00.000-07:00

Here's another dancing robot video that I've been able to find while browing the interweb. Looks like it's a promotion for the Sony Android somewhere in Japan most likely. Neat what kind of moves this sumo wrestler like robot can pull off! I wonder why we don't see more of these robots as promotions, I wish we did, it would make me interested in buying the product for sure.

Do Schools Kill Creativity?

2011-05-31T08:45:00.000-07:00

If you have 20 minutes to spare, I can't recommend this video highly enough. Sir Ken Robinson is an expert in the education of youth and funny to boot.

What do you think about the notion that we need to re-think education and emphasize arts and humanities at the potential expense of math and science? Sounds like a good idea to us at Ameribotics!

Google and Robots

2011-05-26T10:17:00.000-07:00

I'm one who likes to believe that the Information Technology revolution is running out of steam, and that our best and brightest minds of the near future will turn their attention to Transportation Technologies (flying cars, or even a car that gets 100MPH?), Eco-Technologies (a battery that can make solar power a viable alternative for comprehensive energy needs?) or Household Technologies (a robot like they dreamed about in the '50's that can take care of basic household needs -- especially for the elderly?).

And it seems like I'm ALWAYS wrong.

As the IT revolution rolls on, Google is working on developing robots that can perceive, understand, share and react to their environments.

My question: Do we REALLY need this more than we need cars with better fuel efficiency? Or, perhaps tools like this one discussed by ZDNET are a portal to technologies that can better address our basic needs?

What do you think?

Dancing Robots

2011-05-15T15:33:00.000-07:00

Here is another Robot dance competiton much like one I posted a few weeks ago. These videos are really interesting to me for how they get robots to do all these different moves in time to the music. The green guy with the crazy hair makes me laugh everytime I watch this!

Students Sound Off

2011-05-11T09:31:00.000-07:00

This article from The Huffington Post is pretty heady and asks students their thoughts on reforming education.

Marie Preston writes eloquently about the need for teachers to connect individually with their students.

Does the public education system encourage this, though? Do No Child Left Behind and the general focus on standardized tests force talented teachers, in fact, force the opposite pedagogical approach?

I thought one of the comments hit the nail on the head:

"The SYSTEM pressures teachers to teach to a test and often times a curriculum. What it doesn't do is promote the teaching of independent learning skills. At present, the system - state and local districts - assume parents have prepared thier kids with those minimum skills. When a teacher like myself compensates for the lack...the system is rather hostile to the teacher in subtle but exhausting ways.

Obama: STEM Education a Must Have

2011-05-07T16:33:00.000-07:00

Dear Mr. President,

Yes, we are in agreement that STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education is necessary for America's future competitiveness.

We would propose, though, that American ingenuity, American creativity, the American Spirit itself is best advanced by an education steeped in both STEM and the arts and humanities. It's why we at Ameribotics believe that a "STEAM" education rich in the arts is the true key to our country's future business success.

Yours Truly,

Kevin

Hexapod: Best Dance of 2009

2011-05-04T15:31:00.000-07:00

This is a little long and repetetive but I think it's fun and it makes me wonder what has to go into making this possible. How complicated is it for a six legged robot to dance with along with a beat? Well I'm sure it's over my head anyway, I'm having a hard enough time just trying to learn some of their dance moves!

Putting Technology in It's Place

2011-05-02T15:33:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know I had a post similar to this just a few days ago but this one has a slightly different take on it and hey I think it's an interesting subject and that's what's really important right? Anyway, this Article from the 'New York Times' quickly goes through the pros and cons of technology being used by and for students. Is it distracting students and not letting them get anything done? Or is it a tool we should take advantage of to it's full, incredible, potential.

Will Artificial Intelligence Replace Your Family Doctor

2011-04-29T18:57:00.000-07:00

Actually, I think this article from the Huffington Post makes some sense. I'm generally not a big fan of GP's, personally. So much of what they do just seems kind of, you know, robotic.

I know there are those who will say that changes like this will put conventional doctors out of business. Sorry, I don't buy it. There will ALWAYS be need for human judgment in medicine and every other major industry. Those with good judgment, and who adapt to the times, will always succeed.

And besides, think of the support structures necessary to design and engineer these robots.

We're not replacing doctors, we're just elevating their games. Agree? Disagree?

Tangled in an Endless Web of Distractions

2011-04-26T15:44:00.000-07:00

This Boston.com piece explores efforts at MIT to limit students' access to Internet distractions such as Facebook, YouTube and EBay.

In my mind, this story hits a root nerve in education: Do we allow students access to these sorts of distractions and train them to resist, or do we remove the distractions altogether?

Let's face reality: We all need to learn to control ourselves when we get out into the work world and keep things like social networking and on-line shopping in their proper place. Where better to learn that self-discipline than in school?

What do you think? Jam the wireless signals during class time? During certain hours of the day? Or help students like Katie find tools that allow them to monitor themselves?

Humanoid Robot

2011-04-18T17:58:00.000-07:00

This is somewhat cheesy but I think its cool with the slight change in the facial features during the conversation and I'd kill for his voice. It also makes you wonder how far this technology will be ten or twenty years from now and if we will start to wonder even more if our co-workers are robots.

Thank You, I Think I'll Pass

2011-04-13T15:20:00.000-07:00

The following video is from the the Colbert Report: "Ray Kurzweil predicts that people will merge with technology and become a billion times smarter by 2045."

OK, I have to admit: This just freaks me out. I suppose we all have a certain degree of science built into our bodies, whether it's a heart defibrillator or fillings in our teeth.

But merging man and technology to create a new, "cyborg" sort of body? My goodness.

I have to agree with Stephen Colbert here: "Is there any way this couldn't turn into a horror movie?"

Friendly Robots

2011-04-11T07:25:00.000-07:00

In this PBS Nova piece, robot engineer Cynthia Breazeal asks an intriguing question: What is robot "emotion"? Certainly, it's not a straight knock-off of human or animal emotion, because we can never truly reproduce that.

So, how do we create robots that are "friendly" and interactive, compelling and engaging?

And perhaps more importantly for us at Ameribotics, how does this field of study work with our goal of whole-person development through robotics? Good food for thought.

Introducing Our New Mascot

2011-04-08T12:43:00.000-07:00

Cute little guy. He's the work of an artist named Steven Firmansjah, the winner of a logo contest at a website called 99designs. We don't have a name for him yet. Any suggestions?

Goofy - Teachers Are People

2011-04-05T18:45:00.000-07:00

Ya, thats right I just posted a Goofy video! Maybe it's not at all educational but I think you could say this shows some of the issues with conventional teaching if maybe slightly exaggerated!

It's Easier to Teach Compliance than Initiative

2011-04-04T14:33:00.000-07:00

Shout-out to Seth Godin for a brilliant rant:

"Compliance is simple to measure, simple to test for and simple to teach. Punish non-compliance, reward obedience and repeat.

Initiative is very difficult to teach to 28 students in a quiet classroom. It's difficult to brag about in a school board meeting. And it's a huge pain in the neck to do reliably.

Schools like teaching compliance. They're pretty good at it.

To top it off, until recently the customers of a school or training program (the companies that hire workers) were buying compliance by the bushel. Initiative was a red flag, not an asset.

Of course, now that's all changed. The economy has rewritten the rules, and smart organizations seek out intelligent problem solvers. Everything is different now. Except the part about how much easier it is to teach compliance."

Where are the Robots?

2011-03-31T06:00:00.000-07:00

At Fukushima, that is. If you haven't watched this unbelievable video, it will drive home the sheer devastation of the events in Japan of March 11:

New Shocking Video Of The Japanese Tsunami by timbarracuda

In case you haven't heard, 50 lower and mid-level managers who have come to be known as the "Fukushima 50" have essentially offered their lives to shut down the Japanese nuclear facility damaged irreparably by last month's 8.9 earthquake and tsunami. At last count, at least 5 of these brave martyrs have already died and another 15 have been hospitalized with radiation poisoning.

The blog American Thinker asks the question that's been on my mind lately: Why are we asking 50 workers to sacrifice their lives when robots could do much of this work? Where are the robots?

I mean, I love robots and all, but let's face it: They're expendable. Human beings are not.

Germany has offered their robots as assistance.

So, if Japan and Korea are essentially the world's cradle of robotics, why aren't they using them to "cool down" the Fukushima plant? Already today, robots are used in space exploration, fire fighting, advanced medicine and many, many other fields to supplement their human counterparts.

Let's get them programmed and working the front lines of this battle!!

The Beautiful Mind

2011-03-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

The human mind is an amazing thing. Mysterious. Complex.

It's a common axiom that we only use 10% of our brain's capacity. Look at the research and you'll see a passionate debate over that number (most think 10% is too low), but the fact is that our brains have extraordinary untapped potential.

How much can we learn about the human brain, though, by considering those whose brains are extraordinary? I consider it a fascinating area of study, so I thought I would present three such cases:

Kim Peek
If you've never heard the story of the original "Rain Man", it's worth your while. Kim Peek was a true treasure of a man who passed away late last year (December 19). He could speed-read a book by reading the left page with his left eye and right page with his right eye at the same time and retained, it is estimated, over 98% of everything he read. The norm is closer to 45%.

Jacob Barnett
Jacob is a 12-year-old whose IQ exceeds that of Einstein. He enrolled at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) at the ripe old age of 8 to take advanced astrophysics classes.

Here, he takes on Calculus 2 concepts. Warning: This video is not for the feint of heart or any of us who, you know, struggle with Calculus 2. :-)

Daniel Tammett

Another young man with remarkable abilities, Daniel Tammett is shown in this video extrapolating Pi to 22,500 digits. He says the numbers appear in his head as symbols. Unexplainable.

The questions raised by these remarkable individuals are staggering: Just how much of our brains DO we use? Can modern science replicate any of these extraordinary talents? Are there teaching/learning methodologies that can even emulate 1% of what we see in these videos?

Or should we maybe just sit back and appreciate God's handiwork?

Education and The Future of Technology

2011-03-29T18:08:00.000-07:00

If you are into stats and numbers then this is the video for you! It isn't just interesting but I really think it has some wow factor to it too! The rest of the world is changing so fast around us, how on earth are we still so far behind on the education front?

At MIT, a new focus on generating "people" skills

2011-03-28T17:54:00.000-07:00

This boston.com article goes back to 2009, but makes an excellent case for the necessity of "soft skills" in the business world, even for engineering and technology students. It's probably as effective as any article I've seen in explaining why the Ameribotics' mission includes a broad range of arts, humanities, business and people skills rather than simple STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills.

What do you think? Does our education of youth need to be more specialized and targeted to meet the demands of the 21st century, like education systems in India and China? Or does it need to be more broad and diverse and focused on the whole person? Certainly, there are strong arguments on either side of that discussion.

Differentiated Instruction

2011-03-26T16:37:00.000-07:00

This may not be extremely educational but it's amusing and on topic. I would imagine there are plenty of teachers out there who could sadly relate to some of the issues in this tongue-in-cheek video.

OCAD- What Can Creativity Do?

2011-03-25T13:39:00.000-07:00

This is a pretty self explanatory but extremely captivating video that will make you really start contemplating, what can WE do to further the world's progress through creativity?

Ameribotics Logo Contest

2011-03-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

Dear friends, we need your input.

"Da Mutha Ship", Ameribotics, is running a logo design contest. What we have now on the website is just kind of, you know, amateur.

So, we've taken our first dip into the "Crowdsourcing" waters to find a new logo. Much like Expedia, PriceLine and others have created forums where hotels and airlines can compete for customers, so have sites like 99 Designs created forums for graphic artists to compete for graphics arts projects. WAY cool concept!

We submitted our logo project about mid-day yesterday (Monday) with a 48-hour deadline. YOU can vote and comment on the designs, and we hope you will.

To get to the contest, click on THIS LINK. Any comments here will be appreciated.

We'll have some finalists -- and a poll -- posted by mid-day tomorrow.

Let Kids Rule the School

2011-03-21T20:17:00.000-07:00

This is a fascinating article written for the New York Times by Susan Engel, on March 14th 2011.
Let Kids Rule the School
If kids are left to study by themselves or in groups are they sure for distraction and failure? Would they learn more by studying and schooling the way they enjoy and are comfortable with? This article at least makes us ask ourselves if we should just possibly ask the students how THEY want to learn.

Abraham Lincoln Rap

2011-03-20T19:09:00.000-07:00

This may be slightly over the top but it forces us to wonder if a student would learn more in a blandly uninspired classroom, or more from unusual means like this corky yet creative rap song.

Riding the Innovation Wave

2011-03-18T07:18:00.000-07:00

America is in crisis. Soaring debt, falling home prices, creeping poverty, failing schools, foreign wars, crime-riddled inner cities.

But this is by no means the first time America has been in crisis, be it the Revolutionary War, Civil War or the Great Depression.

According to this article in the Boston Globe, it has been our spirit of innovation that has seen us through the tough times and into new ages of prosperity. Today, though, "the United States...suffers from a national deficit of inspiration; we believe too little in our power to invent a better future to focus on priorities that will pay off not in the next quarter or even the next election cycle, but in the generations."

True statement? Too much American Idol and not enough creative inspiration? Or is the next big wave of technological innovation right around the corner? Or is the next big wave of innovation already HERE in the form of iPads, robotics and the like?

What Does a Teacher Make?

2011-03-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

OK, so the next time I'm invited to a dinner party with a bunch of lawyers and business people, I'm inviting this guy along. (**Warning, contains some caustic language**)

Blink

2011-03-16T05:00:00.000-07:00

We at Ameribotics are compelled by the merging of art and science -- we believe the synthesis of right-brained and left-brained development is the key to our mission of whole-person development through robotics.

So, when one of us sees something like this video from CBS 4 in Denver, we get all excited. Please excuse my enthusiasm.

Check out this video and by all means, if you're in the Denver area, try to visit this exhibit at the Denver Art Museum.

Changing Education Paradigms

2011-03-15T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is a video I'll probably show from time as the demographics of our audience changes. I think it's my favorite education-oriented video of all time.

Fantastic food for thought. Not only is the presentation one of the coolest things I've ever seen, but the subject matter is particularly pertinent and Sir Ken Robinson is one of a kind. If you've never seen this video before, trust me, it is WELL worth 12 minutes of your time.

One key question left unanswered by the video, though: How do we go from the anaesthetic to the aesthetic in education? I'd love to hear people's thoughts.

National Pi Day

2011-03-14T11:30:00.000-07:00

OK, quick. Why is today National Pi Day?

It's March 14. 3.14. Get it? Yeah, I rolled my eyes too. I was pushing for July 22, but what do I know?

But hey, it's also Albert Einstein's birthday (Happy 132nd, big guy!).

So, in honor of the raw **intellectualness** of March 14, check out how musician Michael John Blake from Portland, Oregon has transformed the numbers of Pi into a song. (Note: The Youtube video has been pulled, but the "Listen Now" interview still works).

Or, here's an annoying -- but somehow addicting -- little video dedicated to the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle.

Oh, and for what it's worth, National Pie Day was January 23. Sorry, we missed that one!

Passion, not just Data, Should Drive Learning

2011-03-10T08:29:00.000-08:00

Academic standards are like the old saying about fire: "Great servant, terrible master".

Yes, we need standards to ensure that our children are learning to read, write, do basic math and think.

But in what seems to be an ever-increasing enslavement to academic standardization, have we sold out our childrens' natural passion for learning?

Lisa Nielsen has an excellent piece in the Huffington Post discussing standardized tests and how they're stifling our children -- and, perhaps even more importantly, our teachers.

Slam Poetry -- Taylor Phillips

2011-03-09T07:55:00.000-08:00

So, geniuses of the 21st century, THIS is for you!

Is Creativity a Curse?

2011-03-08T17:05:00.000-08:00

I was listening to local Denver radio the other day and Dom and Jane (Mix 100) were discussing the "curse" of creativity and how it's embraced, but not really, in today's world.

Is creativity as a whole feared and maybe even frowned upon in today's world? Do people have the general misconception that creativity can only be used in the arts and doesn't exist in science, engineering or math? Or maybe it's feared because people don't want to change from their cookie cutter ways and creativity involves thought, and thinking is just too much to ask for these days!

Valedictorian Speaks out Against Schooling

2011-03-07T06:00:00.000-08:00

If only more of us had the true thinking skills -- and chutzpah -- of Erica Goldson, the young lady who gave this amazing speech in 2010, we could turn around the education industry in no time!

I'd love to hear peoples' thoughts on the anti-establishment tone of the video. Notice the discomfort of the folks sitting to Erica's left (our right) throughout the video (**snicker snicker**).

Robots getting groovy.

2011-03-01T20:07:00.001-08:00

These guys are breaking out some serious dance moves! It's rumored that the robot on the front right is going to be a contestant on the next "Dancing With the Stars". Just Joking!...Or am I?

Final Jeopardy?

2011-02-28T06:00:00.000-08:00

IBM's "Watson" computer has done something I never thought possible. He/she/it soundly defeated some of the best brains mankind has to offer in a game of "Jeopardy". Next up for Watson -- pouring through mountains of medical data helping doctors look for cures for disease. That's pretty cool.

All of this begs the question: What are we humans capable of that a computer will never be able to simulate?

Self-awareness? Tactical decision making? Willpower? Acne?

It's all kind of chilling, actually.

Read the full article from eSchool News here.

Yakko Warner sings every word in the English language

2011-02-25T12:00:00.000-08:00

This classic adds basically nothing of value to the discussion of whole-person education, but I thought it was cute, so here goes...

The Teacher's Voice

2011-02-24T12:00:00.000-08:00

True education reform will never occur until a multi-dimensional voice of the teachers emerges -- not from the likes of Bill Gates and Eli Broad, but from the grass roots.

Jose Vilson discusses the State of the Teacher's Voice, 2011 in a recent Huffington Post piece.

Is the teacher's voice being heard in your part of the world?