2022 VEX Robotics World Championship
The world’s largest robotics competition was back in person and in full force this year! 3,000 robotics teams from 36 nations descended on Dallas, Texas in early May for this unique and inspiring event. Teams competed in the VRC Tipping Point middle school, high school and JROTC championships, the VIQC Pitching In elementary and middle school championships, and the VEX U championships. More than just a competition, VEX Worlds is a celebration of STEM and the teamwork, problem solving, persistence, and ingenuity required by competitive robotics. Highlights of the event included the electrifying opening ceremonies, fabulous team costumes, the high-spirited Finals and the much-awaited game reveal for 2022-2023: VRC Spin Up and VIQC Slapshot. Congratulations to everyone who participated and volunteered at this year’s event!
Learn more: https://www.roboticseducation.org/vex-robotics-world-championship/
The Inaugural VEX Educator Conference
The first-ever VEX Educator Conference was held on May 6 and 7, 2022. The event kicked off with Google’s Drivers of STEM Welcome dinner, and was followed by a day of in-depth workshops and presentations. The conference brought together like-minded educators to delve into teaching with VEX 123, GO, IQ, EXP and V5 Workcell. Topics included student-centered assessment with VEX GO and 123, integrating robotics into regular education classrooms, reaching all students with the VEX Continuum and much more. Participants were able to learn from the VEX experts and well as classroom and district educators with a passion for integrated STEM. Everyone left with ideas and strategies to take back to their classrooms, along with new colleagues with whom to collaborate in the future. All told, it was a great two days, and we are already looking forward to next year’s conference!
Registration to the VEX Educator Conference is part of VEX Professional Development Plus (PD+), and is just one part of the wealth of professional development opportunities provided.
Learn more about VEX Professional Development Plus, or Sign up for a free PD+ 3 Day Trial.
VR Skills for 2022-23 is Live!
Get your students excited about the 2022-23 competition season with VR Skills! VR Skills is a fantastic way to try out the 2022-23 games, practice coding, test out strategy ideas and more. Because VEXcode IQ and VEXcode V5 are now web-based, VR Skills can be played anywhere.
VR Skills is included with VEX IQ Competition registration or VEX Robotics Competition Registration.
Code Disco, the VRC Spin Up 2022-23 Herobot, to score on the “Spin Up” field! Code and test your strategy with VR Skills. Collect disks, spin rollers, score points, and learn “Spin Up” with VEXcode V5! Or, for VIQC Slapshot, you can code Snapshot, the 2022-23 Herobot, to score on the “Slapshot” field! Code and test your strategy for collecting and shooting disks on the field with VR Skills. Practice and get excited for the season with VEXcode IQ!
Get started with VR Skills now!
Exciting New Versions of VEXcode VR are On the Way!
Fall of 2022 will bring two new versions of VEXcode VR – VR Enhanced and VR Advanced! These two new VEXcode VR options add additional excitement and functionality to VEXcode VR, offering a multitude of new, creative coding and learning experiences. Both VR Enhanced and VR Advanced will offer improved graphics and resource access, including new Playgrounds. The Art Canvas + Playground includes the ability to select from a myriad of colors, change the width of the VR pen and download .png files your VR robot can draw on. The Castle Crasher+ Playground has improved graphics that will thoroughly immerse students into the coding environment. VR Advanced will offer 16 playgrounds with AI and Data Science and includes not only blocks and Python coding, but also introduces Switch, an innovative way to transition students from block-based to text-based coding. VR Advanced also provides access to VEX CS Educator PD+. And, as always, no student accounts and no installation are required.
Find out more about VR Enhanced and VR Advanced.
| VEXcode VR | VEXcode VR Enhanced | VEXcode VR Advanced | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Availability | Now at vr.vex.com | Fall 2022 | Fall 2022 |
| Price | Free | $199/educator per year | $499/educator per year |
| Languages | Blocks | Blocks, Python | Blocks, Switch, Python |
| Playgrounds | 4 playgrounds with basic graphics See the Playgrounds > | 12 playgrounds with engaging graphics See the Playgrounds > | 16 playgrounds with engaging graphics and Artificial Intelligence / Data Science See the Playgrounds > |
| Competitions | Virtual Robot Skills based on VEX GO, VIQC, and VRC competitions | ||
| Professional Development | Educator Certifications | Educator Certifications | Educator Certifications and VEX CS Educator PD+ access |
| Curriculum & Activities | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Resources | Online | Online and Integrated in VEXcode VR | Online and Integrated in VEXcode VR |
| Learning Submission | Yes | Yes | |
| Offline Version | Yes | Yes | |
| Support | VEX Forum | VEX Forum, Email, Online Chat | VEX Forum, Email, Online Chat, PD+ Community |
New Research Highlights the Power of VEX Robotics Education
VEX has been well-represented in the world of research recently, with publications and presentations taking place across the country! This innovative research encompasses such topics as teaching CS and robotics in hybrid classrooms, using robotics to teach mathematics, and CS education in the early elementary classroom.
- Our own Jason McKenna and Lauren Harter teamed up with Rachel Van Campenhout of Duquesne University on “Insights from Teaching with a Virtual Robotic Solution During the Pandemic: A Mixed-Methods Inquiry” about using VEXcode VR in a hybrid classroom environment, which was presented at the SITE conference in San Diego.
- Lauren Harter also presented “Teaching the M in STEM with Robotics: Exploring Understanding by Design for Curriculum Development to Teach Math Concepts Using Robotics” at the IAFOR Conference on Educational Research and Innovation.
- “Supporting Multiple Programming Approaches in Early Elementary School Computer Science Education”, research by doctoral student Jimmy Lin, was recently presented at the 2022 RESPECT Conference.
