Books may soon become a thing of the past with the way learning and teaching techniques are going. There is not dearth of ways, or sources of information, out there to get a mindful of knowledge from. In fact, school children today are so tech savvy that they learn more from Google and Wikipedia than they do from their text books.
Going with the trend, The Indian Public School in the city has incorporated a more practical and fun way to teach their students the fundamentals of math and physics through robotics and have even sneaked in a bit of engineering to kindle their scientific temper. And in doing so they are preserving the art of learning through books.
If you are still left in the dark, Mr Gilbert James, the Executive Director of the school will shed some light on the subject for you. “We started this club in 2011, with the aim to give our students a more practical and fun approach to subjects such as math and physics.
For example, in the eighth standard, students learn about friction, and through the robotics club the students were able to get a broader understanding of the topic. In the course of this exercise the children also get a sample of engineering studies too.”
For the students it's not only just a learning experience, it is also a lot of fun. We spoke to a few students who are active in the Robotics club at TIPS. Ajithesh R, a sixth standard student shared, “We organised a competition last November, we took on the project of making a conveyor belt, we worked day in and out, and were really proud of what we made.”
Amudan K, shared what he made, “We thought of making something more useful at home, so we came up with the concept of a 'Washinator,' a robot washing machine. It was so simple and maybe next year I will come up with something better,” he said. They have even made a few innovative robots like a gymnast robot, tractor plough, and many more.
The competition even went global last year with few students from a school in Tian Jin, Beijing visiting the school. Mr Gilbert excitedly spoke about the event saying, “We do a lot of collaborative projects, and this was one of them.
The Students from Beijing and my school students actually ended up competing with each other to make sumo robots. It was great to see the students taking so much interest in the club, and for them, it was all about working together, studying to get an edge over the others and this really helps build character and responsibility in our students,” he said.
