Educators from 49 States, 32 Countries Register for International Coding and Robotics Competition

SAN MATEO, Calif., Sept. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Wonder Workshop, creators of iconic Dash & Dot robots, now used in more than 12,000 elementary schools to support computer science education, announced today that educators from 49 states and 32 countries have pre-registered teams for the 2017-2018 Wonder League Robotics Competition.

Recent research from Gallup found that 91 percent of parents want their children to learn computer science. Students who participate in the international competition, which drew more than 20,000 participants last year, utilize coding and robotics skills to solve social impact challenges. Last year, 47 percent of participants, including the winning Pink Eagles team from Michigan, were girls.

"Our students are already looking forward to the kick-off of this year's competition. It provides students the opportunity to translate computer science lessons into the physical world through robotics," said Cynthia Cooksey, the librarian at Perez Elementary in McAllen, TX, who coached last year's finalist, the Programming Princesses. "Students learn critical skills, like teamwork and persistence, as they develop the computer science skills needed to be competitive in tomorrow's workforce."

Dash & Dot, the programmable robots used in the Wonder League Robotics Competition, are popular among educators looking to introduce coding and robotics through project-based learning. Nearly 80 percent of teams registered for this year's competition are school-based. Participants in the Wonder League, ages 6 to 12, develop problem-solving, growth mindset, and creativity skills while learning to code.

"Each year we see more teachers and parents looking to introduce computer science in a fun and engaging way. The competition provides an opportunity for all students to explore coding and robotics while learning the vital skills of collaboration and design thinking through hands-on activities," said Vikas Gupta, CEO and Co-Founder of Wonder Workshop. "We've widened the window of opportunity by allowing for more flexibility in participation and by launching an online coaches' community."

This year's competition will feature three rounds of "missions," followed by a final invitational round. Each mission involves three story-based challenges of varying difficulties to create a scaffolded, team-based experience. The missions, the first of which will be released on September 18, must be completed by February 16, 2018. As students develop new skills and expertise in coding, robotics, and scientific thinking, the rounds will become more challenging.

The top 1,000 teams completing all three rounds of missions will be invited into the final invitational round that will run March 5 to April 27, 2018. The top five teams in the 6-8 and 9-12 age categories will all receive official certificates, competition t-shirts, and Dash robots. Wonder Workshop will award a $5,000 STEM grant grand prize to the winning team in the age 6-8 category and the winning team in the age 9-12 category.

About Wonder Workshop
Wonder Workshop was founded in 2012 by inventors, designers, programmers, and parents on a mission to transform coding into a creative tool for children, starting at age five. Within its first month, Wonder Workshop delivered robots to 37 countries. Today, Wonder Workshop's award winning, hands-on learning tools are used by K-5 students in more than 12,000 classrooms worldwide. Wonder Workshop's standards-aligned, teacher developed curriculum is designed to cultivate interests in STEM fields at formative ages for all students. For more information, visit http://www.makewonder.com.

SOURCE Wonder Workshop