Editor’s Note: The following is my PERSONAL opinion on the state of K12 Robotics and does not reflect any organization, institution or entity other than myself.
If you have been reading the news from FIRST Robotics and Lego and now VEX and RECF, things are looking VERY uncertain for K-12 robotics teams for the next few years. The rather public breakups of FIRST/Lego and VEX/RECF seem to me to be issues between entities with little regard to the STEM Robotics communities they are supposed to be supporting. Who looses in all this….the kids who would have “gotten the bug” for robotics, programming, engineering and STEM in general.
All the organizations mentioned thus far should be ashamed of themselves for thinking about profit, prestige and numbers before thinking about the kids the programs were meant to help.
Teachers and coaches have a hard enough time forming teams, getting money and supplies for the teams and organizing travel to events without having to wonder “what is _____ competition going to look like next year”
I will be keeping an eye out for news on where things are heading, but for now, just like the teachers in K12, all I can do is to wait and see what happens. Who knows, we might just have to create a local competitions that will allow any platform (VEX, Lego, Etc) and use ordinary objects that can be easily found as game pieces (so they do not have to be purchased) and cut the big K12 robotics organizers out of the picture all together!