Kids use robots and AI to solve community problems in Kingsview Village-The Westway
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Kids use robots and AI to solve community problems in Kingsview Village-The Westway
The Green Line team visited Kingsview Village Jr. Public School to learn how the he Coalition of Innovation Leaders Against Racism and teach company GlobalDWS are working with students from grades 2 to 5 to demystify AI and robots.
Ismail Mohamud, program facilitator and founding engineer at Coalition of Innovation Leaders Against Racism (CILAR), stands by the lockers inside Kingsview Village Jr. Public School.
: Martha Gai/The Green Line.
Amanda Seraphina James Rajakumar
Indian immigrant with a post-grad in journalism from Centennial College. Now living in Grange Park, meeting new people, and hearing different stories. Has four names, so it’s a pick-your-player situation.
Dec. 13, 2024
Artificial Intelligence is a hot topic right now, and like it or not, it’s slowly integrating into our daily lives.
But instead of worrying about it, one group in Kingsview Village-The Westway is demystifying AI and robotics for local kids.
With over 60 per cent of its population made up of visible minority groups, it’s an understatement to say Kingsview Village-The Westway is diverse. Bordered by Highway 401 and The Westway, this suburban neighbourhood in north Etobicoke is the ideal place to teach BIPOC kids about robotics and AI.
The Coalition of Innovation Leaders Against Racism (CILAR) wants robots and AI to be accessible to everyone, including BIPOC children. So, it teamed up with GlobalDWS, a tech solutions provider that brings innovative projects to life, to provide educational robots for the kids to interact with.
Rami Wehbe, co-founder of GlobalDWS, says AI and robotics can help solve some of the world’s current problems and that students can be part of the solution. His goal is to “democratize” access to these kinds of technological resources, especially for people in marginalized communities. “They need to [have] access to try and use it to see how they can solve their own problems,” Wehbe explains.
An educational robot from GlobalDWS stands on stage at Kingsview Village Jr. Public School.
: Martha Gai/The Green Line.
Launched this past April, “Empower to Invent” is a three-part program that offers hands-on robotics education to children from grades 2 to 5.
In the first part of the program, students brainstorm different ideas to use robots and AI in their community. Then CILAR and GlobalDWS bring in robots to interact with them. Finally, industry professionals visit the school to connect with students directly.
Najib Hassan, a grade 5 student at Kingsview Village Jr. Public School stands by a book stand inside his classroom.
: Martha Gai/The Green Line.
“I think we need robotics because in our day-to-day life, there's lots of stuff that we can help [with] — that robots can help [with] — like [picking up] the leaves on the floor or garbage on the ground,” says Najib Hassan, a grade 5 student at Kingsview Village Jr. Public School.
Swati Bhumri, a teacher at Kingsview Village Jr. Public School says Empower to Invent has motivated students to learn more about AI and robotics through hands-on experience. It has helped show them how theory from math, science and art lessons taught in class can be applied practically in the real world to solve problems.
Swati Bhumri, a teacher at Kingsview Village Jr. Public School, stands inside her classroom.
: Martha Gai/The Green Line.
“A lot of underrepresented schools or intercity neighbourhood schools don't have access to programs such as this [on robots and AI]. I can definitely relate to that myself as [someone] going to school within the Toronto District School Board; I didn't have access to opportunities like this,” says Ismail Mohamud, program facilitator and founding engineer at CILAR.
“So, having students be exposed to these programs early and letting them build that confidence within them [is important so] that they can be the young bright innovators of the future.”
Around 250 youth have participated in the Empower to Invent program since its launch in spring 2024, and it continues to grow.
Students at Kingsview Village Jr. Public School sit inside the gymnasium for a presentation by CILAR and GlobalDWS as part of the Empower to Invent program.
: Martha Gai/The Green Line.
Inspired by the program, Kingsview Village Jr. Public School secured a grant for training teachers about coding and robotics in September. The grant, which will be put into action this coming January, will help teachers develop lesson plans that connect AI concepts with school curriculum and encourage students to pursue STEM fields.
“There are these amazing robots that can help solve problems within our community, whether it's racism, bullying, picking up trash or segregating things. So, it's important that students, every student — even the BIPOC students — are given that opportunity,” Bhumri says.
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