Socializing STEAM education to save 50 billion USD for Vietnam in the future

Overview of applying STEAM models in Vietnam

Within the framework of activities of the Vietnam International Innovation Exhibition 2023 (VIIE 2023), the Workshop "Developing STEAM community for young Vietnamese generation" and STEAM experience activities took place at the National Innovation Center, Hoa Lac campus, from October 29 to November 1, providing a panoramic picture of STEAM education trends in the world and Vietnam in recent times.

At the workshop, many issues related to the current situation, needs and practical experience in applying STEAM models in the world to Vietnam as well as ways to connect and develop an open STEAM community in Vietnam were also of special interest.

According to Mr. Do Tien Thinh, Deputy Director of the National Innovation Center (NIC), STEAM is not only limited to the education sector, but the Ministry of Planning and Investment, as the state management agency for socio-economic development strategies, is also particularly interested in developing STEAM education to promote education in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, adjusting promptly to the 4th Industrial Revolution.

STEAM education also has the potential to contribute to enhancing individual development, community development, national development and building the economy of the future.

Currently, STEAM is being applied in teaching integrating knowledge and skills related to 5 fields including Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics for students.

Mr. Le Ngoc Tuan, Founder of Maker Viet shared at the Workshop.

Overviewing the activities of the STEAM community in Vietnam through his own experiences, Mr. Le Ngoc Tuan - Founder of Maker Viet said that Maker Viet has formed a "Maker village" community to create open source products for STEAM education in Vietnam, to live and work together, make products, and share projects with K12 youth (from kindergarten to grade 12) through competitions and alliances of high school clubs - Vietnam STEAM Union.

This formation is based on the Fablab network communities (a model of innovation lab from MIT University, creating a space, a community with manufacturing tools, open resources to learn and create products together), the Arduino open source community (a platform that combines open source hardware and software to create products very quickly, thereby easily helping people make innovative products quickly, with few resources), the FIRST community (a robotics community for students from primary to high school around the world with a learning model according to robot clubs, not only making robots but also like a business with all departments from administration, business, communication and engineering to help young people develop other skills in addition to technology equally).

Therefore, developing STEAM communities in Vietnam has a lot of potential and advantages.

Mr. Nguyen Viet Anh, Technology Director of VIA project - Maker Viet also shared about a product that young people can learn about Arduino open source code, learn about Robotics and use it to learn about the latest knowledge such as IoT or AI.

All of that knowledge was developed by domestic experts and engineers in technology corporations and startups in Vietnam. Experts and young people have built an open document system, open hardware, and simulation system so that anyone can learn AI at zero cost on self-driving car products.

According to experts, from open source codes like Arduino, “made in Vietnam” products are being brought to the world. STEAM education is growing, which means that more and more STEAM teaching methods and tools are being created, helping children - the future talents - to have easier access to STEAM.

Nowadays, STEAM and Arduino are not only applied to the traditional fields of robotics or engineering that most people know, but also applied in the field of art - a new and unique application full of creativity. Thanks to technology, we have been able to transform the sounds, lights, and rhythms of nature into the Cloud, transmitting from Tam Dao, Vietnam to art exhibitions in Europe.

Potential, contributing to bringing about great advances in technology and digitalization, however, in reality, STEAM education in Vietnam still has certain limitations, especially in remote mountainous areas, where students still have difficulty accessing STEAM. To remove these barriers, many dedicated teachers have made efforts to bring STEAM closer to students in their own way.

Ms. Dao Thi Hong Quyen - member of the STEAM Alliance, a teacher who received the UNICEFT "Shining the Power of Knowledge" award also shared the story of "6 teachers in STEAM education in rural mountainous areas", including Professor of Nature (God), Associate Professor of Difficulty, Labor Tutor, People's Teacher - Community Culture, Teacher as a Platform for Digital Transformation, Teacher Doing Community Activities on STEAM.

Up to 6,000 teachers and 36 education departments have been directly trained by the STEAM Alliance through recent activities. That is also the reason why ROBOTICS in rural highlands such as Lang Son, Cao Bang, and Ha Giang has developed strongly in the past 1-2 years.

The aspiration of Vietnamese youth to assert themselves

The workshop “Developing STEAM community for young generation of Vietnam” not only focuses on sharing from experts and managers but is also a place for young people to share their experiences and efforts in conquering STEAM.

Nguyen Minh Thai - student of Son Tay High School and Pham Xuan Dat - student of Thai Phien High School, gold medalists of the First Global competition, emphasized that students can learn by themselves through domestic movements and competitions such as Vietnam Robotics Challenge and international competitions such as FIRST Global Challenge or FIRST Tech Challenge.

Vietnamese youth are pioneers and important contributors to this development. There are many students who are only high school students but have clearly shown their passion for STEAM and ROBOTICS, constantly learning and researching, affirming the position of STEAM, technology, and especially of Vietnamese youth with friends around the world.

Recently, the Vietnamese team participated in the FIRST Global Challenge tournament held in Singapore - one of the largest robot tournaments on the planet, and excellently won the gold medal of this tournament.

STEAM Discovery Space at Vietnam International Innovation Exhibition 2023.

Through the discussion "Global Citizen - STEAM for Vietnam Journey connecting children to the world", Ms. Nguyen Thi Hang - STEAM for Vietnam Program Manager shared that bringing technology from the world to Vietnam, developing STEAM in Vietnam in all fields is bringing opportunities, but also challenges for young people in realizing their ambitions to become "global citizens", turning the knowledge they have into achievements, affirming the position, affirming the ability of Vietnamese youth, technology in Vietnam to the world.

Expectations for Vietnam's unicorn startups in the next 10-15 years
According to Mr. Le Ngoc Tuan, Founder of Maker Viet, STEAM products, solutions, and programs “made in Vietnam” are very important in promoting the socialization of STEAM. With a plan of more than 20 years to expand competitions such as Vietnam Robotics Challenge to 2,500 high schools, it is feasible, from which there will be 2,500 ROBOTICS clubs to guide and guide other students around them to learn and do STEAM from school with open tools.
A club will have 100 members, from which there will be 2.5 million “teachers” who are students to share with 50 million other students nationwide. From these 2.5 million young “teachers” will create hundreds, thousands of innovative products in the future, unicorn startups of Vietnam in the next 10-15 years.

Hue Linh

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