Robotikos mokykla (School of Robotics) is a non-profit educational institution, a provider of non-formal education in the field of STEAM (science, technologies, engineering, arts and mathematics) in Lithuania.
The school offers a wide range of technological classes, depending on the learners’ age group and previous experience with robotics. Learning activities involve:- Robotics and electronics;- 3D modeling and printing (Solidworks, Fusion, Tinkercad);- Programming with micro:bit, Minecraft: Education Edition, Scratch, Unity (including VR and photogrammetry), Arduino;- Artificial Intelligence (Google Teachable Machines, TensorFlow, Dobot Magician, ChatGPT).
Main learners’ groups are schoolchildren and adult learners (around 350 per school year). Thematic courses for grown-ups currently include learning with Arduino (an open code electronics platform that allows implementing ideas easily) and 3D modeling and printing. Since 2022, we are making efforts to include Ukrainian children in our activities by offering them to join Scratch, 3D printing and other courses as well as thematic robotics camps during school holidays.
Another important target group is the educators’ audience. Since 2014, the company has conducted teacher training in the field of robotics, electronics, engineering, and innovation. Robotikos mokykla now offers several state-acknowledged qualification programs for beginner and experienced educators.Hands-on teaching methods are applied, to engage and motivate learners to get familiar with the technologies while arming them with the real-world knowledge required by today’s global society.
The school is well equipped with modern learning equipment and resources. Thanks to a grant received from an EU-funded programme, Robotikos mokykla purchased modern learning equipment in 2019, including 3D printers, robotic arms, laser cutting machines, sets of VR, Internet of Things and experiments, computer vision processors and optics, and various electronics.
We also have numerous local partnerships with educational institutions, NGOs and industry to ensure relevance of our activities to local and international context. Partner organizations include public libraries, as a major player in the non-formal educational sector; “IN RE”, a certified Solidworks training and technical support center in Lithuania; “RoboLabas”, a robotics training center in Panevezys; “EU Trade” and "Mokymu akademija", both actively engaged in hosting international learners under Erasmus+ programme. Robotikos mokykla is also a member of INFOBALT association.
We communicate with our audiences mostly through our website and social media accounts. Our Facebook account has more than 10000 followers.Robotikos mokykla currently employs 3-5 staff members, has up to 10 collaborators (professionals and interns from the fields of ICT, engineering, graphic design, and andragogics) and up to 20 teachers who provide technology and engineering education for learners all over Lithuania.
Robotikos mokykla has participated in a range of local, national and international projects in formal and non-formal education. The school has significant experience in the development of technological learning content, training programmes and courses as well as delivering training to target groups.
The school’s activities within the Erasmus+ KA2 started in 2017. Since then, the school initiated and coordinated 7 projects and was a partner in another 4 projects in different fields: school education, VET, Youth, and Adult education.
Our first project, How to Raise an Inventor. Technology and engineering learning material for schools was nominated in the annual Quality Contest in 2020. Its results were acknowledged as “very innovative and promoting STEM”. An example of a recent successful project is Think Inside The Box! A methodological STEAM toolkit for schools that gained European recognition at the #EITA2022 European Innovative Teaching Award.
In the field of adult education, we have recently completed the project ADaPT4Future: ADult People create Technologies for their Future that we carried out in partnership with organizations from Italy, Poland and Lithuania. During the project, we developed, validated and disseminated a methodological toolkit for teaching the basics of 3D printing to adults with a focus on repairing or updating household items with the 3D printed parts. More than 200 adult learners participated in the learning activities, more than half of them from disadvantaged groups (seniors, migrants, disabled, etc). Thanks to the project, we developed our knowledge in adult learning practices in other countries, passed our knowledge in 3D printing to learners and educators from other organizations, implemented satisfaction and impact polls among the target groups.
