Autodesk and VEX Robotics- Promoting 21st Century Skills

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In my posting on 21st century job skills I noted that organizations such as Partnership for 21st Century Skills and Jobs for the Future stress that in order to prepare students for the realities of work in a global economy they need to develop a unique set of skills that are difficult to master in a traditional classroom setting. These skills are built upon core academics to include learning and thinking skills, creativity, information and communications technology (ICT) literacy skills and life skills. In order to achieve this, school will need to look more like the world of work where students are challenged to solve relevant problems.

In my constant search for examples of programs that are making great strides in helping students develop 21st century skills, I came across an interesting article about the new VEX EDR Autodesk curriculum in Robot Magazine. Lewis Chappelearat at James Monroe High School in North Hills, California talks about how he is working to bridge the gap between school and the real world. Chappelearat won the 2008 California Teacher of the Year award and has been developing the Robotics Academy at his site where he is now adopting the new VEX EDR Autodesk curriculum. I was struck by this quote from the article: “In a school in which not all the kids are there to become engineers, doctors and lawyers, robotics nonetheless brings absolute relevance to the classroom. Robotics gets all of the kids excited about learning, and it also teaches the “soft skills” they will need in life and to keep jobs—working as a team, problem solving, working with the community”.

In describing his enthusiasm for this new curriculum Chappelearat noted that “Autodesk is more Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)-related than robot competition-related, which is what I think it should be”. From my perspective,he really nails this one. While some students may discover through the curriculum that they are drawn to an engineering career path involving robotics, that is not the most valuable aspect of the learning experiences facilitated by the curriculum.  What really counts is how such a curriculum supports students in developing 21st century skills related to relevant problem solving, thinking critically, sequencing ideas, using imagination, acquiring technological literacy and expanding a host of high and low tech communication and collaboration skills. The argument for supporting the adoption of innovative educational programs such as the VEX EDR Autodesk curriculum should be based on supporting our students to be prepared for life and work in the global economy where success resides in their ability to remain flexible and adapt to the unprecedented level of technological change that will shape the 21st century.