Preschoolers and robots! Special workshops as part of Industry 4.0 Week
When is the right time to tell the youngest about modern technologies? The sooner, the better. This was the assumption made by the organizers of Industry 4.0 Week, who invited preschoolers to the Silesian University of Technology.
Industry 4.0 Week takes place as part of 50 weeks of Science in the European City of Science Katowice 2024.
On the third day of this event, special classes for preschoolers entitled “Small hands, great technologies - adventure with robots” were held. Children had the opportunity to see with their own eyes that modern technologies can be fascinating and accessible even to the youngest.
Industry 4.0, or the fourth industrial revolution, is the integration of modern technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things (IoT) in manufacturing processes. Although it may seem that this topic is too complicated for preschoolers, such classes show that even the youngest can benefit from contact with modern technologies.
“Through these initiatives, children learn that technology is part of their daily lives and that they can understand and use it in the future. A visit to the Silesian University of Technology, one of the leading scientific centres, may inspire them to continue learning and develop their interests in the field of science and technology – says Ewa Głuszek, the producer of the event.
Classes for preschoolers began with the presentation of an industrial robot, which laid blocks and drew pictures for children, including teddy bears, with great precision.
To teach robots to perform tasks, we need to know their precise and literal language of communication. Just like with children; to reach them, we need to speak simple and direct language. As part of our mission to make learning accessible to everyone, we taught robots to draw, build from blocks, play chess and instruments. All this to make robots closer to children and encourage them to interact – said M.Sc., Eng. Grzegorz Głuszek from the Department of Mining Mechanization and Robotization at the Silesian University of Technology.
“We have shown that the way we use robots is up to us and that it is worth learning their language to work with them. We want that the games with robots will encourage children to learn to communicate with them, which may be the beginning of their fascination with Industry 4.0 technology.
The children also watched a robot play chess and a robot play bells. This extraordinary experience proved to the little ones that robots can be not only tools of work, but also partners in play and learning.
- Children, despite their young age, are very interested in technological novelties, so we applied to take part in those workshops without further ado. As you can see, children are fascinated by robots – said Katarzyna Szymczak, the educator of the kindergarten group from Kindergarten No. 1 in Pyskowice.
At the end, the children had the opportunity to meet a robot-dog who carried out various orders.
The schedule of events that take place during Industry Week 4.0 can be seen here:
https://program.miastonauki.pl/tydzien-przemyslu-40
fot. Jan Szady, Ewa Głuszek
