Until recently, the educational revolution in ai had not reached American Samoa, a US territory in the South Pacific that spans several islands.
“Much of our science curriculum emphasizes the environment, oceans and land management,” says Bone Taase, assistant director of edtech at the American Samoa Department of Education.
“ai was not present in the curriculum,” adds Taase. But that changed recently.
American Samoa has a new STEM initiative aimed at expanding its STEM curriculum. It got a big boost recently when more than 150 robotic cars from RobotLAB, a robotics and STEM company, were delivered to the territory. These robotic cars facilitate artificial intelligence, coding, and other STEM lessons.
Bringing robotics to American Samoa
Each of the robotic carts that arrived in American Samoa can accommodate classrooms of up to 24 students and includes three age-specific product packages that include humanoid robots, virtual reality headsets and projected reality stations, and lesson plans.
“There's something for every grade level,” says Amy George, educational account manager at RobotLAB. She adds that products for kindergarten students lay the foundation for more advanced coding lessons as students advance through the grades.
Challenges
“In preparation for the launch of this project, we have overcome challenges such as limited experience in technical support and how to use these tools to teach relevant topics,” says Taase. “Our educators, over the months, have received extensive training on how to use these tools to teach our students, but we also face the unpredictable challenge of connectivity. Fortunately, most of the programs RobotLAB provided can work offline and can be limited to the school network.”
These connectivity challenges arise because much of the infrastructure in American Samoa is being rebuilt, so Internet access is not always a given. George says that while she was visiting schools, she and the RobotLAB team encountered disruptions in connectivity, but it wasn't all that different from the challenges faced by some communities on the continent. “It's a lot like any other rural area,” she says.
In addition to a generally spotty internet connection, many school buildings are made of concrete, which interferes with Wi-Fi, but that's why certain RobotLAB tools are designed to be used offline. “We are happy to have had solutions that sometimes did not need the Internet,” he says.
<h2 id="a-future-that-includes-ai–technology“>A future that includes artificial intelligence technology
Thanks to its STEM initiative, American Samoa's curriculum now includes artificial intelligence and other coding lessons that can help students better prepare to be active in the modern world.
“Partnering with RobotLAB will expose our students to robotics and artificial intelligence, greatly improving their college and career readiness, and bridging the gap between access to advanced technologies typically available on the continent,” says Taase. “ai is now being introduced into schools and as technology advances, it is important to ensure students are up to date with the latest developments.”
