The city of São Paulo will host, this Saturday (20), the FIRST® LEGO® League international robotics tournament. The regional stage of the competition will bring together students aged 6 to 10 from public and private schools.
The stage will be carried out at Belo Futuro International Collegefrom 8am to 1pm. Educacional supports the tournament and offers pedagogical and technological support with LEGO® Education.
Robotics and AI Literacy
According to experts, Artificial Intelligence has acted as a powerful catalyst for change in education, bringing concrete opportunities, but also structural challenges.
“Making students literate does not mean transforming every child into a professional programmer, but rather into a conscious citizen prepared for their time”, explains Alex Paiva, head of Educacional.
For him, technology can optimize and automate bureaucratic tasks: “AI expands the teacher’s capacity when well integrated. The big challenge for institutions today is not deciding whether to use AI, but how they are going to incorporate it in an ethical, pedagogical and equitable way so that students make the best possible use of this new reality.”
In a way, knowing how artificial intelligence works develops the critical thinking necessary to identify false or erroneous information and understand the ethical limits of using data.
That is, AI literacy ensures that students master digital tools and make informed choices, rather than just being dominated or directed by them.
“In Brazil, the recent inclusion of the Computing and Digital Culture axis in the BNCC and the ongoing discussions about the (PNLD) for technology materials signal that this movement has already reached educational policy — which creates a real window of implementation in education networks”, analyzes the expert.
“In short, AI literacy is not about technology, but about autonomy. Ensuring that students master digital tools, and are not dominated by them, is one of the most strategic bets that education can make today.”
Access to technologies in public education
To ensure that technology is a force for inclusion and not exclusion, it is essential to support actions across three integrated pillars, according to Alex Paiva, head of Educacional.
“Those focused on basic infrastructure are essential, ensuring quality internet and adequate devices in public schools across the country. Then, it is necessary to invest massively in the continued training of teachers, as a prepared educator can extract pedagogical and innovative value even from simple technological resources”, he explains.
Furthermore, the expert points out that the curricular focus should be on digital literacy, not just access to the device.
“If private schools teach students to create and program, while public schools only teach them to passively consume content, inequality increases. The right to create and think logically with technology must be universal”, he reiterates.
Technology without harm
Approaching technology in a balanced way is also a concern in . In basic education, the hybrid teaching model offers a solid structure: the screens come in at specific, planned moments, such as to carry out guided research, view a scientific simulation or practice a logic game.
The remainder of the pedagogical time is preserved for face-to-face interactions, reading in printed form, group debates, artistic expression and motor activities, dimensions of development that no screen can replace.
“The secret to this balance is treating technology as a strategic pedagogical means, never as an end in itself. One of the most successful examples of this balance in practice are the Maker and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) approaches”, says Alex Paiva.
The head of Educacional points out that, in these methodologies, technology appears integrated into essentially hands-on dynamics.
“The student can use block programming software to then physically assemble a circuit, build a model or test a hypothesis with concrete materials. The screen has a defined function and time — it is not the center of the experience, but a tool within a larger project. This reduces passive exposure and increases active engagement, which is exactly the opposite of the content consumption logic that saturates children”, he explains.
FIRST® LEGO® League Explore
The event arrives in São Paulo as a way to stimulate learning in robotics to strengthen learning by putting into practice concepts that seem abstract. This process demystifies exact disciplines, transforming science into an investigative and fun journey, in which making mistakes is part of the natural process of innovation.
With this in mind, it brings together 26 teams, three of which will be selected to participate in the national event, which will take place in October.
“This selection is made based on rubric criteria, evaluating students not only in robotics and programming, but also in creativity and teamwork”, explains Alex Paiva, head of Educacional.
The kits used combine the brand’s traditional building blocks with technological components such as motors and sensors. Students use a programming platform, using blocks, specially developed for elementary education.
