EU Code Week is a grass-roots movement that celebrates creativity, problem solving and collaboration through programming and other tech activities. The idea is to make programming more visible, to show young, adults and elderly how you bring ideas to life with code, to demystify these skills and bring motivated people together to learn.

It is called Academia: simulated practice and is a platform for students who are finishing Vocational Education courses and can thus apply for Higher Education. The project was developed within the scope of ANPRI (National Association of Teachers of Informatics) and is aimed at students of VET courses, especially those in the last year, that is, the 3rd year, which corresponds to the 12th year (EQF 4). These students should be carrying out a training stage in a workplace, but with most companies closed or telecommuting due to the pandemic situation caused by COVID-19, there is no possibility of internships.

Have you ever wondered if your school is making the most of digital technologies for teaching and learning? If so, we present to you the SELFIE tool, developed by the European Commission. It is a free, easy-to-use, customisable tool to help schools assess where they stand with learning in the digital age. Curious? Click the link for more details!

A recent study published in June 2020 by the Spanish Ministry of Education and VET reveals the most popular VET qualifications among the students

«In June 2020, the Ministry of Education and VET of Spain published the National System of Indicators in Education report, updated annually, that aims to “contribute to the knowledge and evaluation of the system and guide decision-making in the institutions and sectors involved in education”. Apart from giving very specific information about the Education System at all its levels, the report offers detailed data about the employability, unemployment tax and average income according to the level of studies accomplished. The report also analyses the influence of variables as gender, age or geographical location of the population, both in Spain and the European Union.
In the EU, the population’s level of education reveals that in 2019, 78.7% of the people between 25-64 has accomplished Secondary Education studies or upper.

The popularity of VET in Spain is increasing the last years, narrowing the distance with the EU countries.

The project «Learning by competing» offers the opportunity to share learning modules on robotics for students among Europe through a free accessible plateform. During a discovery session, we presented how the plateform works to allow them to discover its ergonomics, its usefulness and its accessibility.

The health crisis invites us to strengthen the social, digital and educational engineering of hybrid learning (synchronous, asynchronous) through an smart arrangement of digital tools and devices. The multiplicity of means used for teaching is likely to undermine this learning. We also explained them the interest of the e-learning platform created and designed for this project which allows them to train online, learn, see and review courses, assess themselves with interactive and fun content on robotics, for example.

According to OECD, robotics would not lead to fewer jobs for humans. While technological progress makes occupations obsolete, it also creates new jobs. In the next years, 14% of jobs could be automated, with more significantly changing. But, many adults do not have the right skills for emerging jobs. 6 out of 10 adults lack basic ICT skills or have no computer experience.

Therefore, a project like Learning by competing in robotics area is helpful to adress the need and anticipate the ecosystem changes.

The Educational Robotics Olympics are organized by the Directorate-General for school systems and the evaluation of the national education system and are managed, by agreement, by a school or an entity awarded the ordinary restricted procedure.

In the context of the European Robotics Week 2020 (ERW2020), euRobotics has encouraged national coordinators and event organisers to come up with and share as many online robotics education resources and activities as possible: webinars, chats, discussion boards, quizzes etc. National coordinators and event organisers will discuss during an online meeting organised by euRobotics and moderated by Steve Doswell how robotics education and ERW2020 have been facing the COVID-19 crisis.

The European Commision’s White Paper on Artificial Intelligence is the European approach to excellence and trust regarding the digital transformation that is there for all to see. Digital transformation must be at the service of all, must reflect the founding characteristics of the European Union and, among these, respect for fundamental rights and freedoms.

The 24th edition of the RoboCup will take place in France from June 22 to 28, 2021, at the Parc des Expositions de Bordeaux.

La RoboCup a pour objectif de favoriser l’intérêt, la pratique et la connaissance des sciences afférentes. C’est la plus grande compétition de Robotique et d’Intelligence Artificielle du monde.

Educational robots enable students of all ages to become familiar with and deepen their knowledge of robotics and programming, while at the same time learning other cognitive skills.
The word robot was invented by Czech writer Karel Capek to designate the automata in his science fiction play R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots), which premiered in Prague in 1921. A word coined by Capek from the Czech term robota, which refers to hard work.

ESIEESPACE is the electronics, robotics and aerospace student association of the ESIEE Paris engineering school.

La SumoBot est une compétition annuelle de combat de robots ouverte au public et à tous les niveaux. L’objectif est de construire un petit robot autonome qui doit trouver et pousser son adversaire en dehors du terrain de jeu circulaire, à l’image d’un combat de sumos. Les participants sont séparés en deux catégories : débutant et expert.

The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, declares that soon there will be a specific law that regulates the VET courses in Spain.

El presidente añade que «La mayor parte de las ofertas de trabajo que va a haber de aquí a muy pocos años van a ser ofertas de trabajo de cualificaciones intermedias, que es donde España está peor». Es por ello que el gobierno de coalición pone sobre la mesa la necesidad de elaborar legislación propia de la Formación Profesional, con el fin de fortalecer y consolidar este área educativa.

Robotics is taking center stage in many aspects of our lives. The 33rd National Spanish Congress of Surgery was celebrated the past month of November. The president of the Spanish Association of Surgery declared that «Nowadays, our speciality is passing through a very exciting moment thank to robotics», due to the progressive implementation of guided surgery and robotics -as well as AI and big data – in this kind of health interventions. These advances are allowing to perform much safer surgeries, more individualized and respectful with the patients. If you have doubts on how do robots perform in an actual surgery, don’t miss this video!

Maker Space and Shop, the new robotics academy, opens in Pontevedra to teach robotics to children.

No es la primera vez que hablamos de la combinación de niños y robótica: durante los últimos años, la robótica ha surgido como una de las actividades extraescolares estrella entre los más pequeños. En la gallega ciudad de Pontevedra ha abierto sus puertas «Maker Space and Shop», una academia de robótica en la que los chavales podrán aprender a ensamblar robots con materiales reciclados – ayudados por una impresora 3D – y programarlos a través de un IPad.

Some information to create awareness of need in companies for people with robotics experience thus entailing the need for schools to provide courses on these subjects in order to provide the workforce required in today’s world.

La robotica è un settore che sta acquistando sempre maggiore importanza scientifica, tecnologica ed economica ed è uno dei punti caratterizzanti le recenti trasformazioni industriali e del lavoro.

Technology and Robotics are moving from a specialised area of engineering to a situation where they are fully integrated into everyday life in society. Many European school curricula now reflect this change and subjects such as; Technology, Computer Science and Programming/Coding are beginning to reappear, creating increasing demands upon teachers at all levels from primary level education to upper secondary school and beyond.

A short description of dates and how to register for the 2021 Automation Olympics for high schools.

29 gennaio 2021 – Chiusura delle iscrizioni
21 maggio 2021 – Invio progetto
28 maggio 2021 – Proclamazione vincitori
giugno 2021 – Premiazione

A push to automate is changing the way humans and machines work together. The number of industrial robots installed in factories reached about 3 million units worldwide in 2020 – more than doubling in ten years, according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR). The IFR has researched how robotics training shapes current and future workforce education, enhancing skills development for employees.
“Automating dull, dirty and dangerous tasks is changing job profiles of factory workers for the better,” said Milton Guerry, IFR president. “Academies run by robot manufacturers play a key role in making this transition possible. Employers send thousands of workers to robotics training every year.”

The National Association of Computer Science Teachers (ANPRI) explains that participation in the project implies that teachers of computer science make the proposal in their schools, so that it can be integrated as a school offer, complement to artistic education, workshop, club or other initiative created within the flexibility and autonomy of schools.

Universal Robots Academy has set up a new training course, called “Educational Robotics”, intended to students and teachers of universities and high schools. The goal of the Educational program is to authorize teachers to teach in their classrooms and allow them to become UR recognized certifiers.

An overview of the effects of Covid-19 on the dynamics that led to the birth of worker robots. This will endanger jobs and makes the need to rethink the society.

Due to Covid restrictions, the French team, the Roosters, participated in the first mobility from France but during the same week as the other teams. Click here to see more.

In Portugal, there are many businesses supporting IT and Robotics education in schools. Thus, expressions such as the classroom of the future, programming, robotics or virtual reality appear in the school context as support tools for the use of technology in teaching. Both robotics and virtual reality are two technologies that will increasingly influence not only the way we teach and learn, but also the way companies of the future operate, with a special focus on the retail sector – one of the largest employers in the country. To achieve this, the companies offer schools theoretical and practical training with collaborative robots «for students who will certainly be called to work on projects during their apprenticeship or at the end of their studies.