“It can recognize you and enjoy you like a real pet. More or less, it’s like an artificial puppy”tell about one of the robots, the older students from the capital’s 121 SU “Georgi Izmirliev. In it, science classes are not what you imagine them to be. Students of different ages give commands to robots that have emotions, can take pictures or follow different directions.
This is possible thanks to the STEM center built in the school.
STEM education has been a term thrown around a lot in recent years. This educational approach differs from the traditional method in that the learning environment is more flexible and dynamic and aims to show children how science can be applied in everyday life. STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math/science, technology, engineering, mathematics) should make science, technology, engineering learning more interactive, fun and interesting.
It is no coincidence that among the main priorities in education under the Recovery and Sustainability Plan is the construction of a STEM environment in all Bulgarian schools. Mediapool told you in detail how the allocation of funds and the construction of the new offices is going.
In the country, 250 schools have already built STEM classrooms under the national program of the Ministry of Education and Culture for building a school STEM environment.
Among them is the capital’s 121 SU “Georgi Izmirliev”, which is one of the large and technologically developed schools in the capital with more than 1,200 students.
The school’s STEM center has virtual and augmented reality classrooms and a robotics classroom. In them, children from the pre-school group to seniors prepare for the challenges and opportunities of the digital world in which they are about to live.
At school we enter the big recess. Crowds of students, shouting and laughing surround us and escort us to the director’s office. Galina Teneva – Nedeva meets us there.
“In the beginning, the requirements seemed crazy to us. But now we see how much the students like it. We have caves, a lawn at the top, functional corners and a real water wall,” says the director of the STEM center.
It was built during the pandemic when schools are free and there are no students in the classrooms. A disused hall and a normal classroom become a place for skill development, fun and relaxation within 6 months.
“It separates an entire small wing from the third floor of the building. It includes an outside corner – in the corridor – and two offices – one for Virtual and Augmented Reality and another for Robotics and Programming”explains Teneva.
And the STEM center really is a little oasis on the third floor. The monotonous beige walls are replaced by a colorful lobby, a small waterfall, patterned graffiti, a small climbing wall and a few swings.
The interactive wall with a small built-in waterfall in the corridor in front of the STEM cabinets, Sn. Mediapool
How is the STEM center used in the school?
One of the concerns with building classrooms and labs in all public schools is that these spaces may go unused. In 121 SU, however, there is no such risk. 3 years after the implementation of the project, the STEM center is used by both children and adults.
“It is accessible to children and students of all levels of education. Any class that wishes can use it. One of the halls is so popular that children from preparatory groups and students from 1st to 4th grade hold your celebrations in it”says the director.
This year, the programming and robotics club classes are also held in the robotics office. The 11th grade students who participate in the club win an “Erasmus +” project.
“12 children traveled together with two young teachers to Budapest. There they exchanged experiences with students from Hungary, Germany, China, India”says Teneva.
The students were very satisfied with the experience and the pleasant surprise for them was the fact that their peers were impressed with their skills and knowledge. In their humble opinion, Bulgaria surpasses most of these countries in knowledge of natural sciences.
Aleko (from left), Nicole and Christian talked about their experiences in Budapest and their impressions of STEM education, Sn. Mediapool
Any student who has an interest and skills in programming can join the club. Most often, its members are joined by students between the 10th and 12th grades. Then profiled classes begin to study so-called “special subjects” and begin to program more intensively.
“The newest profile is that of software and hardware sciences. The parallels are already between 7 and 10 and the STEM center is not enough. Therefore, this year the school plans to build three new computer science classrooms, which are also STEM oriented and have new and modern technique”explains the director.
According to her, 6 years ago the school was about to be closed. About 450 children studied there, and the number of students today exceeds 1,200. The interest in the school is largely due to its modernization. National programs and projects are helping to renovate the school base and in recent years it has undergone numerous renovations.
Today, “Georgi Izmirliev” school has “smart” classrooms. In 4 of them there are cabinets in which laptops and other types of mobile equipment can be charged. When it is necessary to use the laptops for educational purposes, students take them from the cabinet, disconnect them from the chargers, work, and then return them there to be charged for the next class.
Almost all classrooms in the school are equipped with interactive displays, and some of them don’t even have a whiteboard.
In robotics class
In the robotics room of the STEM center, we find fifth-graders who, with the help of the robotics club, communicate with several types of robots, give them commands – by voice or through their mobile phones, create routes to move along, hug them, pet them and amuse by making them angry.
“They are made so that even the smallest ones can get to know them without having to know how to program”Aleko from the robotics and programming club explains to us.
He explains that computer science classes and club activities at the STEM center are different.
Moon arouses the interest of all students, Sn. Mediapool
“In class we follow a program, and in the club we experiment. Basic knowledge is necessary, you cannot directly sit down to program. However, in the club everyone works with their favorite robot. We program what we are interested in. We create games for the younger ones”he says.
According to 11th graders, programming is practically math, “you just do the tasks on the computer”.
“You don’t know what direction the world will take and what will be sought in the future. Programming is not so much in demand anymore. There is more and more hunger for programmers with robotics competencies. There are many programmers, but people who do robotics “not enough”the students are emphatic.
A robot pet and play partner
“It can recognize you and enjoy you like a real pet. More or less, it’s like an artificial puppy”the older students tell about one of the robots.
Luna is the most complex and expensive robot the school has. She can walk on her own and study the terrain at a distance of 20 square meters. He also recognizes people’s emotions, is happy, angry and follows their commands. It is programmed in many more and more complex programming languages. Students do this for practice.
Students have fun and learn at the same time with the robot Luna, Sn. Mediapool
Futon is a robot for the little ones – it is programmed in a very simple language and any child can do this through their phone. Students can program the path it takes. He can record voice and speak. Futon even pronounces words in different languages and can do simple addition and subtraction calculations.
Beebot (robot bee) and Mousebot (robot mouse) are the simplest robots for the youngest children (from 1st to 3rd grade). One passes and collects coins, and the other “eats” cheese. In both cases, in an extremely accessible way, a route must be set within a special pad for the robot to reach the desired goal – the coin or the cheese.
Emo spins in circles and gets angry when he is lifted into the air. He expresses his emotions very well and hence his name. And it can also take pictures.
The adults show the little students how to use the robot “Emo”, Sn. Mediapool
The children are happy, but the teachers?
“The biggest problem is with the teachers. It is very difficult to find young and motivated people to work for a teacher’s salary. In this respect, I am lucky”says director Teneva when she introduces us to part of her team.
We meet with three motivated teachers – one with more teaching experience – Gülver Pirova, who teaches mathematics and informatics, and two who have recently started teaching – Chelsea Sokolova and Gabriel Pilichev.
“We had to start thinking more innovatively. At my age it was more difficult than for my younger colleagues. You have to develop all your life – that’s the profession”says Pirova.
Mrs. Pirova in the company of her students and the robot Luna, Sn. Mediapool
The Ministry of Education and Science (MES) and the National STEM Center offer both training and ready-made lessons to facilitate the work of teachers in STEM centers. However, at the beginning, 3 years ago, when the STEM center of 121 SU began to function at full capacity, there were almost none and teachers had to learn on their own.
According to them, it was worth it because of the idea – for the students to see why they will need what is in the textbooks in their lives.
“We live in a digital world. The more education is digitized, the easier children perceive it”explains Sokolova.
The motivation of one of the youngest teachers in the teaching team is the dynamics in everyday work.
“It’s more interesting. When I applied for this job position, I told Mrs. Teneva that my job was boring and I wanted a more dynamic everyday life. At school, every day is different, we can’t complain about a lack of variety”Gabriel shares with us.
Future STEM Labs
We don’t get to see the virtual and augmented reality classroom because the students have a test. But the teachers tell us that it is equipped with stereoscopic and interactive displays, computers and functional furniture. There, students can see a three-dimensional image of a polar bear, take a close look at the heart, even dissect it.
However, the school does not want to stop its development there. It is already applying for new funding through the Recovery and Resilience Plan for two new laboratories.
The corridor in front of the STEM offices Sn. Mediapool
“We have been approved for the first two stages, we expect to receive the green light within 2 months. We already have an action plan – equipment, furniture and construction and repair activities”notes Mrs. Teneva.
The goal of the school is to have two STEM science labs – physics, chemistry and biology, where there will be mobile equipment.
As Mediapool informed you, the MES hope to have signed all of the more than 2,000 contracts with schools across the country by the end of September. They could take an example from 121 SU “Georgi Izmirliev” in the integration of STEM education.
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