Lori writes:
Oklahoma is known for its oil pumping jacks, volatile weather and football. But we have other important treasures in the state that I think get overshadowed by the above mentioned. One of those is the advancement of science and technology. I recently attended an autonomous aerial vehicle (aka drone or flying robot) contest for K-12 students. Held by the KISS Institute for Practical Robotics and the OU College of Engineering, it is the first time in the U.S. that middle and high school students had the chance to compete in this arena. This high level engineering and programming is typically reserved for college students, and only a handful of colleges hold competitions. The fact that OU and KIPR believed young students were not only up to the challenge, but also devised a competition, is one example of how Oklahoma is forging the way in STEM advancement for the rest of the country.
By the way, the kids did a fantastic job. All of the AAV’s were flying, completing tasks such as landing on a moving object and retrieving objects from a land robot. A couple of students even designed new ways to complete the challenges—a glimpse at the minds who will be engineering our future.
Before I recently joined the Anglin PR team, I worked at the Universityof Oklahoma’s K20 Center. It is an educational and professional development center for K-12 schools. One of the programs the K20 Center developed was a suite of games based on digital game based learning. The first game, McLarin’s Adventures, challenged nearly 1,500 ninth grade students to solve math, engineering and life science problems in a race to advance their avatar through an uninhabited island. The game platform motivated students to convert text knowledge to problem solving in order to win the game.
When I would mention the program to organizations located in more high profile parts of the country, the typical first response was, “…in Oklahoma?” To which I would reply, “Sure, Oklahoma. Definitely, Oklahoma.”
We all want our children to be able to compete in whatever field in whatever part of the country, or world, they desire. Oklahoma’s forward thinking in STEM areas such as AAV and digital game-based learning are just a few examples of how our state is preparing them to succeed. To think that this (along with oil wells and football) is in our backyard and available to our children is another great treasure that should be identified with Oklahoma.
Tags: Anglin PR, flying robots, KIPR, Oklahoma, public relations, University of Oklahoma College Engineering
