Virtual Robotics League

Stereotypes about gender blend with perceptions around how different students learn. But in an age of personalization and unique identity, these generalizations can be harming. A mix of learning preferences and personal experience is in every student. 

The fact that boys in middle school, who perform on par with girls in math and science, are twice as likely to show interest in science and engineering-related careers indicates some kind of difference or bias in career choice. By college, boys are five times as likely to choose a STEM career path.

Yet tools for the granular analysis of gender bias and understanding how students perceive, learn, and interact with multimodal STEM workforce content are lacking. 

Without granular analysis and personalized adaptation we are left with monolithic solutions about how girls engage with and learn in STEM.

The Virtual Robotics League is a video game that teaches robotics in immersive worlds integrated with STEM workforce content. Think: Traditional high school robotics team meets the fun and action of Fortnite with a dash of Minecraft building.

A popular device in video games is to create "attachments" or "pick-ups" to modify your ability on the fly. There are 10x more sensor options in a virtual world.

Go on team "missions" in STEM relevant contexts.

Like modern video games, the game tracks extremely granular player data that can be analyzed to see how different demographics of players are responding to content. We can run A/B tests on content fixes or content additions that shed light on whether learning preferences are being addressed or whether there is gender bias in the presentation of the content. This type of data analysis and iterative development optimizes student outcomes and illuminates potential differences in cohort performance.

In terms of gameplay, student/players go on missions to solve challenges, "level up", and in the process are exposed to STEM and STEM workforce content like welding with chemistry and materials science, forklift operation with physics and mechanical advantage, electrical engineering integrating mathematics, blueprint reading and spatial reasoning, and logistics to name a few. The game can recommend challenges based on a players skills and interests.

High intensity welding at an arctic outpost

Identify, analyze, and run experiments while monitoring physics forces in action.

Connect to larger meaning and context like building a biodome in harsh conditions.

In the big picture, playing through the game will help a student can discover a career path in the STEM workforce.

Product Demo video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBI67OnE8OM

Traditional robotics teams are known for attracting highly engaged and high performing students interested in robotics and engineering. High tech companies support this effort in STEM. According to the First Lego League's annual report, $60M in sponsorships have supported Lego programs and tournaments (https://www.firstinspires.org/about/annual-report). 

In fact, female participation in robotics improves knowledge in STEM and increases interest in STEM careers:

Yet due to the cost of hardware, after-school time constraints, tournament travel, and lack of teacher resources, less than 1% of the total female student population is reached. According to statistics compiled by the Michigan Department of Education, it is estimated that girls make up 14-25% of traditional robotics teams (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/robotics-good-girls-some-still-need-convincing-180960131/). Costs for an average robotics team ranges from $30- $70,000 per school.

We are initially targeting high schools and students who do not have access to robotics (we have a waitlist of 92,000 students in three of the largest school districts in the US representing 265 schools). Unlike traditional robotics that only reach 10-30 students at a time, the video game approach can be used in core classes, after-school programs, and with esports teams to attract interest from all students.

In addition, esports is now extremely popular in high schools attracting a diverse population. In an interview with Scot Fry, Director of Workforce Development at the Mid America Industrial Park (Tulsa, Oklahoma), he offered anecdotal evidence that the robotics teams they sponsored in their surrounding county were losing team members to esports.

According to the National School Boards Association, 80% of students in after-school esports have never participated in an after-school program (https://www.nsba.org/ASBJ/2020/February/esports ). VRL will run challenges and hold team competitions that support an inclusive social experience.

As the VRL scales, we will analyze the gameplay data to detect gender bias and inform us as to where to improve the game. We will run A/B tests as we introduce new content to validate the efficacy and impact through player data.

We will hire a diverse set of team members and work with partners to address the specific content needs and interests of various demographic groups as we build out the game.

To create opportunity for young women in STEM, we'll raise sponsorship dollars for high value prizes for participating and winning in esports contests. This includes access to scholarships similar to First Lego League.

Our team is a cross-functional development team led by a successful innovator in the education space. Prior to working on the Virtual Robotics League, the team created the first full 3d action-adventure video game to teach algebra that has reached over 7M students in over 40 school districts. The team has worked directly with advisory boards on content, C-level stakeholders, implemented teacher training sessions, run focus groups with students, and interfaced with the research community on data and outcomes. 

(Focus Group w Girls in Ohio. Beta Testing in Harlem)

We understand the pressures K-12 educators are under to deliver results in the outdated education system. Standardized testing is often at odds with innovation and complex problem solving or student engagement.

The Team Lead has taught algebra in the New York City Public Schools, robotics and coding in a charter school in Oakland. Both schools had minority populations over 97%. He has also tutored in after-school programs including teaching Lego to 2nd-5th graders.

Our Team is a blend of creators and service provider. On one had, all of us spend a good amount of time dreaming up, thinking up, prototyping, and working on our own IP. That's balanced out with contract work where we serve the client. 

Serving the client is how we are approaching this problem space, as experts in certain domains outside the current solution set, with a "listening to the client" methodology that informs the progress as solutions emerge.

This approach has been highly successful with game publishers that have objectives, milestones, and requirements as well as with clients like the Gates Foundation that had a diverse team of SMEs. 

The development approach involves establishing a key direction with high level features, content, and objectives with anticipated outcomes. We then begin working in short sprints, 2-4 weeks in duration. At the end of each sprint, we present the progress to stakeholders for feedback and input. We then review the objectives for the next sprint to align priorities in case anything has changed as a result of the prior sprint. 

At major milestones in the development, we hold larger user tests commonly referred to as alpha and beta testing, generally 3 and 6 months into production.

Engaging the community during the process is critical. This goes beyond presentations to major stakeholders. In the video game industry, an early community is rallied by creating social media channels about the project. This serves as a two-way communication between developers and users. These early adopters serve as champions for the product and inform early decisions around feature sets and content.

In short, we are a cross-functional team of experts that work with domain experts to explore, test, and create innovation in support of K-12 educators in teaching STEM in classroom and afterschool settings.

We have over 1500 hours of code written for the game which includes: 

• 3 Mech/robot chassis
• articulated models: walking, flying, failure animations
• an attachment/build system for customizing the toolset on the robots
• player library for saved configurations
• 18 models for tool attachments and power systems on the robots
• economy system for allocation of costs to upgrades
• scoring system
• demo island environment with buildings
• a HUD (heads up display) for 2d information containing locations of other robots, a distance sensor, fuel guages, damage status, and communications
• special FX for lasers, smoke and fire
• AI for NPC (non-player character) pathing and targeting
• multiplayer networking code
• professional GitHub repository

(Same link to the product demo): https://youtu.be/GBI67OnE8OM

The game has also been uploaded and tested with Steam Early Access.

Second, we have LOI's from prior clients ready to pilot our solution. These school districts represent 92,000 students in 265 schools.

The Virtual Robotics League is applying to the MIT Solve Gender Equity in STEM Challenge because we are a startup at the crossroads of this problem. Both the challenge and the opportunity are here in Oklahoma.

As a startup in Tulsa, there's both the critical need for more robust STEM education and an impactful community support for gender equity in STEM education. 

As the world faces a strategic shift in the STEM workforce, Oklahoma is positioning itself to attract new manufacturing  capabilities.

Unfortunately, Oklahoma ranks 49th in k-12 education. Only 1 in 5 students are proficient in math, 1 in 4 in science. That doesn't support a strong STEM workforce even at the associate degree level.

In order to attract new global manufacturing business, industrial parks are supporting the local schools where new executives will reside (Mid America Industrial Park: https://maip.com/community/education/). In addition, charter schools ensure a better education for those that can afford it. These "solutions" don't reach those in the most need living in the rest of the state.

However, community leadership in Tulsa has lead the charge in social justice with more equitable access to resources and outcomes. The MIT Solve US Equity Summit had speakers from Techstars, Tulsa Innovation Labs, ImpactTulsa, Atento, Cherokee Nation Film Office and Original Content, Oklahoma Indian Child Welfare Association, and the George Kaiser Family Foundation. Aaron Slater also represented the Navajo Nation and the indigenous Communities. The resource partners to support and empower this initiative are here in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Recently, Tulsa won a $38M award from the federal government's Build Back Better program to develop an advanced mobility corridor (drones, autonomous vehicles) (https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tulsa-awarded-38-2-million-build-back-better-grant-from-the-us-economic-development-administration-301617134.html) which is expected to create 30-40,000 jobs. 

"The projects that will be created as part of the TRAM Corridor are intentionally designed to address economic disparities particularly among the tribal, black, and minority populations in and around Tulsa."

If this is to truly happen, innovation in STEM education must be part of the solution. How else will young girls in underserved communities experience air-traffic control, logistics, robotic sensor capabilities, coding, alternative fuels, battery technology, and the physics of drone flight so they can begin to make informed decisions about their career pathway? 

In interviews with recruiting and workforce personnel, one of the key factors missing in k-12 education is content directly related to jobs in STEM workforce fields. Game-based learning is effective in supporting classroom teachers, engaging students, and significantly increasing performance. (https://www.dimensionu.com/assets/resources/ucfresearch_brief_june_202008.pdf) . 

These solutions are scalable and can reach students outside the industrial zones creating a more equitable solution.

MIT Solve will bring the right expertise and focus to the critical issue of gender equity in STEM that will attract and engage the support of the partners and resources here in Tulsa.

The needs assessment to accelerate impact, network of industry partners, and support for scaling financially are all elements of the program that will position the VRL to resonate, align, and participate with the community work ongoing in Tulsa.

The VRL team is connected to three critical communities required to bring an innovative solution to market: K-12 teachers, video game development, and social justice in entrepreneurial communities.

K-12 Education

At various times in his career, Mr. Clegg has been a classroom teacher. Right after 9/11, he was a full-time substitute teaching algebra in the New York City Public School system. He has taught coding and robotics in a charter school in Oakland where he was trained in and practiced Restorative Justice. He has also tutored students directly in math at Sylvan Learning Centers, taught Lego to 2nd-5th graders in after school programs, and coached girls 7th grade basketball and JV soccer teams.

Entrepreneurship Community in Tulsa

In terms of the entrepreneurial community here in Tulsa, Mr. Clegg is a client of i2e.org, a group funded by the state to foster innovation and entrepreneurship. 

The VRL finished in the top 20 companies this year considered for Techstars investment and has also had ongoing discussions with Atento, a venture capital firm here in Tulsa.

Social Justice/Education

Ultimately, his work in algebra put him dead center in the challenge of how innovation, through a lens of social justice, is adopted in k-12 education. Mr. Clegg worked with the founding team and impact investors to design a product that would revolutionize how students of color would be engaged, supported, represented while learning algebra. 

As the co-founder and CPO of Tabula Digita/DimensionU.com, he's embodied the entrepreneurial spirit from spark of invention to fund raising, prototyping, focus group testing, product development, teacher training, conference speaker presentations, and stakeholder reporting.

Video Game Development

The development team brings professional game development to the table. Working with video game publishers on the latest projects, the team has implemented the technologies that will be crucial to executing on plan.

Video games instantly change attitudes and perspectives

The algebra game instantly changed student attitudes towards algebra when they sat down to play. Students went from hate, frustration, and a non-growth mindset to leaning in, getting excited, expressing emotion, extreme focus, enjoying challenge, and learning. The brain associated all things good about video games to the experience and disassociated algebra from the classroom experience. The result was immediately perceivable and phenomenal.

Just listen to the students complain when the person running our beta test told the kids to quit where they were in the game and move on to the next part! Keep watching to see kids laughing and having fun as they play the "mission". As an algebra teacher, I was desperate for this kind of engagement!

Video Link of Beta Tests w Students: https://youtu.be/z28NOQdp2yQ

Video games trigger the suspension of disbelief - not only about the game or storyline, but about themselves and what they are able to do while in the game.

The VRL is building a game environment for robotics and STEM learning where young women can suspend their disbelief about stereotypical gender roles and explore new content, try on new roles, fail without stigma, and succeed where they previously thought they couldn't (or shouldn't).

Data Analytics, granular data

The second major innovation is player analytics, the ability of the game to track individual player data at a granular level. Video game development is now less product delivery than it is a live service. Teams analyze thousands of data points from players and can find out where they disengage. The team can analyze these points in the game to determine what is causing players to drop out from playing the game at a specific point. It may be that the game was too hard at that point, contained bias, or that some information wasn’t clear. The granularity and personalization of the data helps avoid treating girls in STEM as a monolithic group.

Esport

Third, the esport format of the game will bring the social and interpersonal roles to the fore as teams work together to solve challenges requiring teamwork, coordination, problem solving, and communication. This creates opportunities for young girls to explore, learn and practice approaches to team-based challenges.

Scalability

The scalability of the Virtual Robotics League is an innovation in the access to robotics teams and tournaments. Currently, less than 3% of the high school population has access to robotics teams. It is estimated that 14-25% of team roles belong to girls. The Virtual Robotics League opens access to all.

Role Models

Last, a new form of role model has emerged in esports. The reason these new role models/influencers/Twitch streamers are so popular is: 1) they are closer in age to the younger students, 2) They are interacting with the same content as it is relevant and interests both parties. This is very different from adult role models in jobs the students aren't really familiar with.

Existing Data

Base on our prior work in algebra, we were able to reach over 5 million students in over 40 school districts at a time when social media was in its infancy (2003-2010); 2.3M of those students were young girls. 

VRL has LOI's from 3 of the largest school districts in the US that have already used the algebra solutions as part of their after school programs for 5-10 years. These districts represent a waitlist of 92,000 students in over 250 schools. We plan to pilot the VRL with these schools and begin sales to schools the following year.

To accelerate the rate of impact, we will have direct to consumer marketing to reach those that do not have the resources or leadership in place to run an after-school program. We project reaching an additional 1M young women in the next 3-5 years. 

Note the impact Roblox is able to generate for a younger audience, 2M visits in 6 months for the Mission Mars exhibit by the Museum of Science:

Sponsorship

As a comparable, First Lego League generates $60M/year in sponsorship from the who's who of high tech industry. In a virtual world, we will be able to do much more with sponsorship including, brand awareness, product/technology placement (think Caterpillar), tournament sponsorship, scholarship awards, and more.

Combining the reach of school, consumer, and sponsorship channels will enable us to reach the following impact goals over the next 5-7 years.

In year one, we will:

• Launch our pilot program with a core group of partner schools.
• Work with a sponsor to integrate technology content and opportunity awareness for young women.
• Develop an initial influencer campaign for consumer market reach
• Create teacher training around best practices for working with young women using the VRL.
• Engage critical community partners in the Tulsa region.

Our 5-7 year impact goals:

• Increase the participation of young women in high school robotics (through the Virtual Robotics League) by 10x.
• Generate $5M in scholarship awards in robotics and STEM fields for young women.
• Work with female robotics influencers to generate $5M in brand content sponsorships.
• Establish a $1M prize pool for Virtual Robotics League Tournaments for the young women's division.
• Generate novel research on learning preferences in STEM content involving gender identity, racial demographics, and other dimensions of diversity.
• Reach 10,000 teachers with advanced tools, data, and strategies to teach robotics in STEM workforce content.
• Generate $28M in sponsorship from high tech and global manufacturing companies by 2028

Three categories are used to measure our progress towards impact goals: Player/Student metrics, community engagement, and employee trust and engagement.

In terms of player/student metrics, we measure time played in the game, achievement levels, replay effort (gaining higher scores), friend connections and invites to others to join and play, team play, customization of characters, specific areas of content engagement.

For community engagement, we will measure our growth of social media channels, ROI on ad spend, PR and media reach and effectiveness, activity and participation of our Discord early ambassadors, Sponsor inquiries, sales, and engagement.

As we grow, aligning our employee trust and engagement with our impact goals is crucial. As a company, will we attract passionate dedicated workers that reflect the problem space we are addressing making our company reflective of the product we are creating.

Our Theory of Change is outlined in the diagram below:

Our solution integrates four core technologies: video game technology, psychology, pedagogy, AI and ML.

Psychology

Mindset

We use the suspension of disbelief that arises from the use of video games (similar to movies and books) to reduce fear with connections to prior experience. This also enables a freedom for experimentation with the understanding that events can be retried without penalty for exploring or "playing".

Customization/Personalization

Game Technology creates opportunity for the customization of experience through character representation and choice of object design.

Role Models

We apply the psychology of role models in two powerful ways: 1) in-game as character representation of various traits and behaviors to which students may aspire or identify, 2) externally to the game in social media about the game as influencers creating content and community with players.

Pedagogy

The VRL encodes learning objects in multimodal environments to give players options on how to complete challenges.

We apply aspects of neuroscience to influence the pacing and presentation of the story embedded with instructional content. We leverage the dynamics of motivation and feelings of success with learning.

Below is a link to a video of one of my algebra tutoring sessions showing how game technology creates incredible amounts of focus, interest, persistence and collaboration:

https://youtu.be/_jFuT1fZwxw

A game based approach also lends itself to tutoring scenarios with young students as it creates fascination to explore and achieve. Here's a link showing how a younger girl, Pamela, wants to try what the older boys were doing!

https://youtu.be/-zDOo-tqGKQ

AI and ML

We use AI and ML to analyze data and performance around player cohorts that inform the development and iteration of content for optimal performance.

AI is used as a recommendation engine to analyze a player's learning preferences and then recommend content related to career pathways.

AI and ML will be used to analyze data for gender bias in the presentation of content.

We use Mid-Journey to create concept art for character design and feedback.  We will also teach Mid-Journey as part of workshops for students to design their own imagery.

As AI progresses, we anticipate "creators" being able to create content for the VRL platform.

Video Game Technology

We use the Unity Game Engine to:

• simulate robotics and STEM concepts impossible to perform in a hardware based high school robotics program.
• leverage multiplayer technology to network players together from vastly different regions that may or may not have a local community in team challenges.
• utilize multiplayer networking to create complex team challenges that give rise to teamwork strategies, roles, and communication.
• implement multiplayer technology to hold virtual/remote tournaments requiring zero travel for students and schools. 
• capture granular player data for bias detection and learning analysis

We are pre-seed at this time:

1 full time, CEO

4 contract/other

2 Advisors

4 years, founder, full time; 2 years part time.

1500+ hours, contract dev team (prototype)

250 hours, contract: creative

Advisor 1: 20 hours (business)

Advisor 2: 20 hours (business)

My family has a rich history of working for equity and inclusion in the field of education. My father, Dr. Ambrose A. Clegg Jr., co-authored a text book at the University of Washington in the field of social studies with James A. Banks who is considered the father of multicultural education in the US: Teaching Strategies for the Social Studies: Inquiry, Valuing, and Decision-making (Banks, J. A., & Clegg Jr., A. A. (1973)). Dr. Banks went on to publish a compilation of his work: Race, Culture, and Education, The Selected Works of James A. Banks in 2006.

My mother wrote her doctoral dissertation at the University of Washington entitled: The Effectiveness of Learning Games Used by Economically Disadvantaged Parents to Increase the Reading Achievement of Their Children; 1971. She went on to work as a professor of elementary education at the University of Akron.

My lived experience valued the empowerment of everyone to learn honoring excellence, community, belonging and mutual respect.

My own work in the field emerged in 2004 when I worked with impact investors and a diverse co-founding team to publish the first action-adventure video game to teach algebra. The game was the first in the field of modern video 3d immersive video games to teach a STEM subject. It starred a female lead character and signaled the importance of underserved populations with graphics announcing a black character. 

There was intense interest from foundations and graduate students for the early data. This marked an inflection point in the use of games for learning.

My partners on the development team worked with me on Dimenxian, the algebra product, as well as work on a project funded by the Gates Foundation. They work extremely well interfacing with outside experts and stakeholders. They are an equal opportunity employer. As the team grows, all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, ancestry, or national or ethnic origin.

Impact Business Model:

Schools are our first customer. We already have LOI's from three of the largest school districts in the US representing 92,000 students in 265 schools.

As the platform is adopted by major school districts, we will sell to consumers that do not have school licenses. School players may also buy a home subscription.

As the platform grows, VRL will attract sponsorship revenue from brands aligned with our values. These sponsorships may include product placement, custom content and messaging, prize awards, and/or scholarships.

A summary of our financial model is here:

A link to the VRL financial model is available upon request.

To date, VRL has earned $50,000 for a sponsorship of another game it created in the biology space. 

Friends and Family have invested $55,000

Accelerators in the Oklahoma region have indicated interest. I2e.org has taken on VRL as a client. They have non-recourse loans available as matching funds. Note, there is no guarantee of matching funds.

Techstars, Tulsa

Tre Baker is the Managing Director of Techstars, Tulsa. He was a speaker at the MIT Solve US Equity Summit here in Tulsa. VRL finished in the top 20 out of 300+ companies for investment consideration by Techstars. Partnering with MIT Solve as a first sponsor would go a long way to moving us into the top 10 which receive investment of $120,000

Atento

Atento Capital- Adele Weaver heads up Atento's pre-seed investment team. She was a speaker at the MIT Solve US Equity Summit in Tulsa. Atento Capital was also a sponsor of the MIT Solve US Equity Summit. VRL has had on-going discussions with the firm. VRL believes partnering with MIT Solve would position us well to qualify for pre-seed funding from Atento.

I2e.org

I2e.org is a state funded organization supporting entrepreneurs. VRL is a client of i2e.org. The have non-recourse loans from $50-100k available as matching funds. They also invest as equity investors through Plains Ventures.