AI and robots building schools in rural areas

Gushan Middle School in Suining County of Jiangsu Province, East China, is somewhat unusual in this area. It is not in the county seat, but in the countryside and on the border with the neighboring province of Anhui. The number of school children has increased from just 300 five years ago to about 2,000 now. Why is it like this? What special changes have taken place in this rural school in recent years? A unique robotics competition recently held at the school provides important answers.

Drones, humanoid robots, and 3D printers could be seen on the competition grounds. More than 100 robots were on display at the event. Intelligent programs (AI), sophisticated sensors and of course children controlled the machines that were delivered to the rural school as part of an aid program. The children controlled the robots to perform various fun tasks.

Wang Yuwen, a teacher at the Guashan School, said, “We started programming to impart knowledge and skills to students, to program artificial intelligence, and to use robots. Long-term trained students participating in the competition Gaya. Our Gunjan School is a rural middle school. The kids have never had anything to do with robots before, so they were all thrilled. “

Guangshan School Director Peng Yuelong said, “Our students are from rural areas. The teaching staff of the school is relatively weak. Rural schools usually do not conduct such high-tech activities. And we are proud to build something in this area We believe in scientific and technological popularity as a breakthrough in the growth of our school. We want to cultivate the spirit of research and problem solving skills of the students. “

Many of the Gushan school students come from poor rural families in the area. To them, the robots distributed at the school by the Jiangsu Provincial Education Bureau looked like otherworldly things.

Zhu Feng, who is in charge of the education promotion program in Jiangsu Province, said, “Providing good education to children in poor areas is an important way to escape poverty in rural areas. Nowadays, robots are extremely popular in cities, but they are rarely seen in rural areas. We try to provide education and platform to the children of rural areas in the same way as their peers in cities. “

Thanks to the efforts of various teams, the Gushan School has now appointed three professional teachers who teach how to use artificial intelligence, such as programming and building robots. In addition, three AI experts regularly ensure that appropriate activities and competitions are organized.

Student Zhang Junji said, “I really like the artificial intelligence course. In the classroom, the teacher encourages us to do things ourselves and does not restrict us in programming. We feel very free. “

Student Zhang Ventao also shares his thoughts: “I particularly like the operation of the robot. This is very good. It opens my mind and helps me improve my math problem solving skills. I look forward to spending time with robots every day and it has become a part of my life. ‘