VEX Robotics Educators Conference
2026 Speakers & Schedule
Get ready to Connect, Learn, and Grow with the leaders of STEM and robotics education. Dive into hands-on sessions, gain insights from leading educators, and explore classroom strategies with a global community. It's a unique opportunity to enhance your curriculum, ignite student curiosity, and shape the future of learning through the power of the VEX Continuum.
Important
- Hands-On Workshops: Pre-registration required to participate. All Workshops are 75 minutes.
- Keynotes, Main Stage Presentations, Small Group Presentations, Educators Lounge, and VEX Worlds Events are open to every attendee with no registration required.
- VEX Robotics World Championship: Daytime competitions open to all conference attendees; no registration required.
Schedule
Opening Events
Speaker : Jason McKenna
Robotics is more than STEM. It’s a shared language that can connect classrooms across neighborhoods, states, and continents. In this keynote, Jason McKenna introduces the idea of the VEX Passport: a simple, repeatable way for students to “travel” through collaboration with other VEX classrooms, learning not just engineering and code, but stories, traditions, and perspectives. When we treat VEX as a medium for connection, we build better problem-solvers and better citizens.
Block 1: 10:00am - 11:15am
Speaker : Dr. Chris S. Crawford
This talk highlights innovative approaches for engaging students in STEM through physiological computing and robotics. Dr. Chris Crawford will share how tools such as EEG/EMG sensors and robotics platforms have been used to make computing concepts hands-on and interactive. He will also discuss recent work with the VEX AIM robot to introduce students to data science and AI, demonstrating how real-time data and intelligent systems can spark curiosity and deepen student engagement in STEM. The session will also introduce the latest version of his Neuroblock software, which integrates the VEX AIM robot with new consumer-grade physiological sensors.
Turn everyday lessons into high-energy competitions that motivate students and deepen learning. In this workshop, you’ll explore practical ways to design classroom-ready VEX IQ competitions that reinforce core concepts, encourage teamwork, and keep students excited from start to finish.
Bring real-world relevance into your CTE classroom with robotics. This session highlights how VEX CTE supports career pathways, industry-aligned skills, and authentic learning experiences that connect classroom instruction to workforce expectations.
Experience the new VEX AIR platform from the learner’s perspective. Through guided, hands-on activities, you’ll explore flying in the VEX AIR Simulator, piloting the physical drone with the VEX AIR Controller, and coding the drone using VEXcode AIR.
Block 2: 11:30am - 12:45pm
Speaker s : H. Chad Lane , Charity Freeman
Teachers across the country are facing an unprecedented challenge: AI is transforming education, but most educators have had little preparation, support, or voice in how these tools are designed and used. Helping teachers navigate AI effectively is a national priority, and it requires both accessible resources and research grounded in what teachers actually need. The NSF INVITE AI Institute is working on both fronts. In this session, we’ll start by sharing resources and discussing INVITE’s outreach efforts, including our AI K-12 Teacher Fellow program, professional development initiatives, and opportunities for teachers to participate in cutting-edge research on AI in education. We’ll then turn to our research, introducing Keating — a conversational AI interface being co-designed with teachers to help them interact with classroom data in natural, useful ways. Drawing on findings from teacher focus groups, where educators told us they want non-intrusive, real-time insights, strategic information delivery that doesn’t overwhelm, and above all, control, we’ll walk through how teacher voices are shaping every design decision. The guiding principle is an AI-teacher partnership built on complementary strengths: AI sees patterns across data that humans can’t easily track, while teachers bring contextual understanding, relationships, and professional judgment. Together, they produce deeper and more useful insight into how students are learning. We’ll share our technical progress and close with an open invitation: we want more teachers involved, more voices in the conversation, and more classrooms helping us get this right.
Turn everyday lessons into high-energy competitions that motivate students and deepen learning. In this workshop, you’ll explore practical ways to design classroom-ready VEX IQ competitions that reinforce core concepts, encourage teamwork, and keep students excited from start to finish.
Explore how artificial intelligence concepts come to life using the AI Vision Sensor with VEX EXP / V5. You’ll engage in hands-on challenges that build computational thinking, connect algorithms to intelligent behavior, and help students understand how AI vision systems work in the real world.
Ready to bring AI into your classroom? This session introduces VEX AIM through engaging activities that demystify AI concepts and show how students can interact with intelligent systems in meaningful, age-appropriate ways.
Block 3: 1:00pm - 2:15pm
Speaker : Tina Dietrich
This session explores how writing can be a powerful tool to deepen learning in computer science classrooms through the use of engineering notebooks. By combining writing with hands-on coding and design challenges, students strengthen their communication, reflection, and problem-solving skills while developing a STEM mindset.
One robot, three powerful coding approaches. Discover how physical touch coding, physical card-based coding, and app-based programming with VEX 123 can support different learning styles, grade levels, and instructional goals—all while building strong CS foundations.
Explore how artificial intelligence concepts come to life using the AI Vision Sensor with VEX EXP / V5. You’ll engage in hands-on challenges that build computational thinking, connect algorithms to intelligent behavior, and help students understand how AI vision systems work in the real world.
Experience the new VEX AIR platform from the learner’s perspective. Through guided, hands-on activities, you’ll explore flying in the VEX AIR Simulator, piloting the physical drone with the VEX AIR Controller, and coding the drone using VEXcode AIR.
Block 4: 2:30pm - 3:45pm
Level up your programming workflow. Learn how to use VEX Visual Studio Code with VEX IQ to write, manage, and debug robot code—while preparing students for authentic, industry-style coding experiences.
When systems get complex, debugging gets real. This fast-paced session challenges you to diagnose and fix issues under time pressure, building practical strategies you can pass on to students working with advanced EXP / V5 projects.
Crack codes, solve puzzles, and escape the vault. In this immersive, escape-room-style workshop, you’ll use VEX AIM to apply computer science concepts like logic, sequencing, and data analysis in a highly engaging problem-solving experience.
Additional Events
Watch the world’s top middle school and college V5 teams compete in the 2025–2026 VEX V5 Robotics Competition World Championship Finals, and celebrate their achievements on the global stage. Then, be among the first to experience the official reveal of the 2026–2027 VEX V5 Robotics Competition game, kicking off the next season for teams and educators worldwide.
Opening Events
Block 1: 10:00am - 11:15am
Speaker : Dr. Andreas Stefik
Humans have spent centuries probing reality for its secrets. We started with vague guesses and crude measures. Over time, we moved to gross math in N dimensions and computer code that processes data. Today, we call this data science and academics have designed it … for academics. In this talk, we will discuss a five-year journey into how to make data science easier for us pesky humans. Making it more accessible and easier to understand could help us all get back to a shared language of facts.
Help students move beyond trial-and-error debugging with VEX IQ. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll work with paired projects—one functioning and one intentionally flawed—to practice systematic troubleshooting through observation, code comparison, and targeted testing. You’ll explore how to design productive bugs that challenge without discouraging and treat debugging as a collaborative, reflective process—leaving with a ready-to-use protocol for your classroom.
Level up your programming workflow. Learn how to use VEX Visual Studio Code with VEX EXP / V5 to write, manage, and debug robot code—while preparing students for authentic, industry-style coding experiences.
Explore the real-world capabilities—and limitations—of AI vision systems through hands-on experimentation with the VEX AIM robot. In this workshop, you’ll play with the built-in AI Vision Sensor to see how it detects, interprets, and sometimes misinterprets its environment. Through project-based exploration, you’ll gain practical strategies for helping students understand what AI can do, where it falls short, and how to teach these concepts in meaningful, accessible ways.
Block 2: 11:30am - 12:45pm
Speaker : Erin Lowery
This presentation provides an overview of how Prince William County Schools is implementing Unified Robotics, an inclusive STEM initiative that pairs students with disabilities and general education peers to collaboratively build, code, and compete with robots. The session highlights the program’s purpose, structure, and alignment with PWCS goals for belonging, access, and innovative learning. Attendees will learn about the implementation process, school-based team models, coaching supports, partnerships with Special Olympics, and early successes from the inaugural year. The presentation also outlines the next steps for expansion, sustainability, and strengthening inclusive robotics opportunities across the division.
Using VEX GO, educators build a short robot behavior and design a “failure artifact” for peers to solve. Teams plant bugs across modalities (build, code, sensors), trade projects, and debug together, treating the buggy model as an object-to-think-with and object-to-share-with. The emphasis stays on process over product: articulate your reasoning, test hypotheses, and capture routines that make collaboration the default.
Explore how vision systems are used to verify and validate tasks in automated environments using the VEX CTE Workcell and the AI Vision Sensor. In this workshop, you’ll investigate how object detection and AprilTag decoding can be applied to monitor task completion and system performance—mirroring how vision is used in real-world automated workcells. You’ll leave with practical ideas for bringing authentic industrial automation concepts into your classroom.
Experience the new VEX AIR platform from the learner’s perspective. Through guided, hands-on activities, you’ll explore flying in the VEX AIR Simulator, piloting the physical drone with the VEX AIR Controller, and coding the drone using VEXcode AIR.
Additional Events
Join the Opening Ceremony and Parade of Nations as the Middle School VEX IQ Robotics Competition World Championship officially begins. It’s an unforgettable celebration of global teams and shared excitement for STEM and robotics. Come cheer, connect, and be part of the moment that kicks off an incredible event.
Block 3: 2:30pm - 3:45pm
Build foundational computational thinking skills that support early AI understanding using VEX 123. This workshop focuses on helping elementary students explore how robots sense and interpret the world, emphasizing the AI4K12 Big Idea of *Perception* by comparing human senses to a robot’s sensors. Through engaging, age-appropriate activities—and interdisciplinary connections to subjects like art (such as hue values) and students’ real-world experiences—you’ll learn how to introduce these concepts in a developmentally appropriate, meaningful way.
Turn everyday lessons into high-energy competitions that motivate students and deepen learning. In this workshop, you’ll explore practical ways to design classroom-ready VEX EXP competitions that reinforce core concepts, encourage teamwork, and keep students excited from start to finish.
Extend the capabilities of VEX AIM by connecting robotics with modern AI tools. In this advanced workshop, you’ll use VEX AIM’s Wi-Fi WebSockets feature to run Python code locally, send real-time commands (such as driving, turning, and object manipulation) to the robot, and stream video from the AI Vision Sensor back to your computer for custom vision processing. You’ll explore how this workflow enables integration with external services—including large language models—opening the door to powerful, flexible, and authentic AI-driven robotics applications. Advanced programming experience is recommended.
Additional Events
Community Happy Hour is the place to be for great conversations, new connections, and plenty of VEX community energy. Come unwind, trade stories, and leave with new ideas (and new VEX friends) to take home.
Opening Events
Step into the action with the Pit Walk and Tour for a behind-the-scenes look at how VEX IQ middle school and elementary teams prepare and compete. Ask questions, see creative builds up close, and gather ideas you can bring back to your own program.
Block 1: 10:00am - 11:15am
Speaker s : H. Chad Lane , Jeff Ginger , Chris Palaguachi
The NSF INVITE AI Institute is partnering with VEX Robotics and teachers to create an AI-enhanced version of VEXcode VR for research that can deliver personalized feedback to encourage students to be more persistent, resilient, and collaborative when learning computer science topics. This session focuses on our work co-designing an AI-enhanced version of VEXcode VR that delivers personalized feedback to students. We demonstrate how teachers are shaping our privacy-first approach to AI and discuss what we’re learning from students’ collaboration working with VEXcode VR.
Explore how artificial intelligence concepts come to life using the new VEX IQ AI Vision Sensor. You’ll engage in hands-on challenges that build computational thinking, connect algorithms to intelligent behavior, and help students understand how AI vision systems work in the real world.
As VEX EXP / V5 systems grow more complex, effective debugging becomes essential. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll compare a working baseline robot to an intentionally flawed version to practice systematic troubleshooting through testing, code review, and mechanical inspection. You’ll experience repeatable “debugging by design” routines that help teams clarify intent, gather evidence, and iterate with purpose—leaving with practical workflows and norms you can apply immediately in your classroom.
Experience the new VEX AIR platform from the learner’s perspective. Through guided, hands-on activities, you’ll explore flying in the VEX AIR Simulator, piloting the physical drone with the VEX AIR Controller, and coding the drone using VEXcode AIR.
Block 2: 11:30am - 12:45pm
Speaker : Dr. Hung Tuan Duong
This session explores how Vietnam is scaling STEM education through robotics and hands-on innovation. Dr. Hung Tuan Duong will share how the Vietnam STEM Alliance integrates VEX Robotics, AI, and engineering tools across schools nationwide. Educators will learn how teacher training and competitions can build sustainable robotics programs and inspire student innovation.
Step into Col. Jo’s world and use VEX GO to strengthen students’ engineering design-process habits through a story-driven challenge. In this hands-on workshop, educators complete a three-part animal rescue sequence—designing a ladder to reach an elevated animal, building a raft for a pond rescue, and redesigning the solution to become mobile with wheels. Along the way, you’ll practice planning with sketches, testing and iterating on designs, and sharing reasoning through a simple debrief protocol you can bring directly back to your classroom.
Explore how data can be used to inform decisions in robotics using VEX EXP / V5 and Python. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll investigate ways to collect, organize, and analyze robot data to better understand system performance. You’ll focus on using data to evaluate results, identify patterns, and guide improvements—leaving with flexible strategies for introducing data science concepts through meaningful robotics experiences.
VEX AIM challenges a familiar assumption: even when a robot “works,” it may not be doing what the designer intended. In this collaborative workshop, you’ll intentionally design AIM behaviors with hidden flaws, then exchange projects to analyze what the robot perceives versus what the original designer meant. Through shared troubleshooting, discussion, and iteration on both environment and code, you’ll experience how productive failure builds persistence, resilience, and learner agency—while walking away with facilitation prompts you can use immediately with students.
Block 3: 1:00pm - 2:15pm
Explore how artificial intelligence concepts come to life using the new VEX IQ AI Vision Sensor. You’ll engage in hands-on challenges that build computational thinking, connect algorithms to intelligent behavior, and help students understand how AI vision systems work in the real world.
Your automated workcell is running—but something isn’t right. In this scenario-based workshop, you’ll diagnose system-level issues in a simulated smart factory, applying real-world troubleshooting skills using VEX CTE.
Experience the new VEX AIR platform from the learner’s perspective. Through guided, hands-on activities, you’ll explore flying in the VEX AIR Simulator, piloting the physical drone with the VEX AIR Controller, and coding the drone using VEXcode AIR.