RMIT offers free educational workshops to young robotics enthusiasts

Tiếng Việt

RMIT offers free educational workshops to young robotics enthusiasts

RMIT’s Centre of Digital Excellence (CODE) is making robotics accessible to young people in Ho Chi Minh City, by offering workshops free of charge.

Sponsored by the American Center at the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, the 13-week series of workshops called Robotics = Code+Creativity, is available to students aged 15 to 21 who have always wanted to learn more about robots and programming but don’t know where to start.

Each weekly session will feature a coding activity paired with a creative activity to introduce students to how a robot works, how to program it, and some of the many things that a robot can do.

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Student teams learn how to control CODE robots for the first time at the Robotics = Code+Creativity workshop.

US Consulate General Information Officer and Spokesperson in Ho Chi Minh City Juan German said “the benefits of learning and experiencing new science and technology at an early age helps enhance high school and college students’ creativity, innovation, and problem-solving skills”.

Mr German described RMIT’s continued commitment to providing high-quality programs such as this one, in addition to previous joint-projects including the Women’s Empowerment Club, Air Quality Monitors, and Education USA SAT & GRE Preparation Courses as impressive.

“Our Grants Panel reviewed several applications and we were very impressed with the Centre of Digital Excellence’s strong proposal that focused on coding and robotics study,” he said.

“The program will nurture the US-Vietnam partnership in terms of promoting academic excellence and innovation within Vietnam’s education system.”

Head of CODE Associate Professor Jerry Watkins said the workshops concentrated on practical strategies to help boost student engagement, like connecting the theory with “real-life scenarios”.

“Instead of repetitive programming exercises, we teach using games and simulations. Through this, students learn how robots can be used creatively to solve problems and develop solutions,” Associate Professor Watkins said.

“Teamwork is a very important part of this, so the program features a final project where students collaborate to produce their own robot activity,” he said.

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Twin sisters Le Xuan Nhi and Le My Nhi said this workshop is a great way to learn the fundamentals of coding.

Twin sisters Le Xuan Nhi and Le My Nhi decided to join the beginner program before going abroad to study mechanical engineering.

“Since this course is designed for absolute beginners, I thought it would be a good fit for me because I like robotics and coding; however, I have no prior experience in this area of study,” said Le Xuan Nhi, who learned some programming fundamentals during her first two workshops.

“After the workshop series ends, we hope that we will be able to do programming, understand the logic of coding, and know how to control a robot,” Le My Nhi said.

Established at RMIT University in 2016, CODE supports digital learning and teaching across Vietnam. Robotics = Code+Creativity is an extension of the Centre’s digital excellence mandate.

Story: Thuy Le

Media Release

Campus and community

27 January 2021