One of the more interesting things that we saw at the 2014 Florida Educational Technology Conference (FETC) was the VEX booth. Vex specializes in robotics and, “is the leading co-curricular robotics platform designed to nurture creative advancement in robotics and knowledge of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education.”1 Until recently, VEX has focused its efforts on the high-school classroom. However, with their newest line of robotics kits, the Vex IQ line, they have shifted to the elementary and middle school classrooms.
The VEX IQ sets are perfect for younger students as they are extremley easy to set-up and use. According to the Vex IQ Product page:
VEX IQ is a robotics platform designed to transform STEM learning for young students and their teachers. Students as young as 8 can jump right in and snap robots together using this intuitive, toolless platform while educators can utilize the free VEX IQ Curriculum to help teach them valuable lessons and skills that are needed in today’s changing world.
VEX IQ Curriculum, mentioned in the passage above, is where the company really stands out. With every VEX IQ kit, the company includes “twelve flexible units of instruction that can be used in sequence, in chunks, or as standalone lessons.” 2 What’s even more, the VEX IQ starter kit sells for only $249.99.
We had a chance to speak with the VEX representative at FETC, and we were also able to see these robots in action:
