The Directorate of Education and Sports of the Municipality of Thessaloniki, through the Department of Programs and Lifelong Learning, in collaboration with the company Robotixlab, in the context of disseminating science and technology to children through Educational Robotics, is organizing on Saturday, February 28 and Sunday, March 1, 2015, a two-day festival of educational activities for children on the theme of robotics and new technologies, entitled ¨Electric Circus¨.
The two-day Educational Robotics Festival includes a robotics competition and side events, such as workshops, presentations, roundtable discussions and interactive robotics exhibits. All activities will be held in the Multipurpose Hall and the Water Hall of the Thessaloniki City Hall.
In the competitive part of this two-day event, 15 groups of 3-4 people, 4th, 5th, 6th grades of Primary School will have the opportunity to participate. All public and private schools in the city and the wider region, as well as groups from various educational institutions, can potentially register to participate. Each group for the two-day event must have an adult as a chaperone, either a school teacher or a guardian. The chaperone will have the obligation to bring and receive the group to the action areas. The first 15 groups that express interest will participate in the competitive part of the festival.
The first day of activities is exclusively for the participants of the competition, during which full-day workshops (master classes) will be held. In the workshops, the children will be trained with the necessary knowledge on the construction and programming of robots. The preparation will take place entirely in the Water Hall of Thessaloniki City Hall. During this day, there will be breaks between the workshops and snacks will be offered to the children. At the end of the day, the competition topic will be announced to the groups, specially designed for their cognitive level. Each group is required to have their own laptop with them, at least from the last 4 years.
The second day will be open to the public. Competing teams will build, program, test, and refine their robot for the competition.
At the same time, there will be events for the public such as workshops, speeches, presentations of interactive robots, round table discussions, etc. During the parallel events, there will also be a section where middle and high school students, in groups, will have the opportunity, within a period of 5 minutes, to present to the public and to a jury of expert scientists their own robotic construction (prepared from their school or home) with a free theme. The first 15 groups that express interest will participate in the exhibition part of the festival. All participating groups will be given commemorative participation diplomas.
At noon, the competition between the teams will take place and the two-day event will close with the awarding of the winners.
Within the framework of sound pedagogical values, a competitive activity in a subject that is not taught in schools (educational robotics), it is important to ensure that all the work and effort is exclusively the students'.
Through the two-day Festival of educational activities, we expect the children who will participate to have fun, activate their imagination and creativity, learn about robotics by building and programming robots, and take initiatives in a climate of team cooperation, with educational robotics as a medium.
The organization of the Festival aims to function as a pilot of this educational action and year after year to strengthen, grow and become an institution. Interested parties can find more information on the website www.robotixlab.com/events
Participation is completely free, as it is based on donations, and the costs of the event (materials, robotics equipment, snacks for participants, etc.) will be covered by the co-organizers, as well as by sponsorships, so that all children have equal opportunities to participate.
Those wishing to participate as a school / organization / team in the competitive part of the 2-day Educational Robotics Festival are asked to complete the relevant application.
Priority will be given as places are limited.
SECURING PRIORITY AND PARTICIPATION IN THE COMPETITION PART OF THE 2-DAY FESTIVAL
Completion and submission of the participation application
The application form for participation of all those interested in joining the above 2-day Educational Robotics Festival, once completed, will be sent electronically to the e-mail: p.benardi@thessaloniki.gr or will be submitted in person to the Directorate of Education and Sports, Administrative Support Department, Gr. Lambraki & Kleanthous 57, from Tuesday, January 27th until the teams are complete.
SECURING PRIORITY AND PARTICIPATION IN THE EXHIBITION PART OF THE 2-DAY FESTIVAL
Also, those who wish to participate as a school / organization / team in the exhibition part of the 2-day Educational Robotics Festival (March 1, 2015 morning), presenting their own robotic construction with a free theme, are asked to send an e-mail to e.livada@thessaloniki.gr from Tuesday, January 27 and until the teams are filled, with the following information:
1. Name of school / institution / team
2. Names, email addresses and contact numbers of team members
3. Description of the exhibition - presentation (equipment used and construction operation).
Priority will be given as places are limited.
For more information, please contact the Department of Programs and Lifelong Learning of the Directorate of Education and Sports: 2310 / 840 295 and 2310 / 841 962
The application for participation for the competitive part of the 2-day Festival will be posted on Tuesday, January 27th at 09:00.
Source: tro-ma-ktiko.blogspot.gr
