KIPR's Limitless Initiative

KIPR strives to offer equal access to educational opportunities for low income kids.  During the pandemic, 80% of our kids were not able to attend school regularly. We needed to provide learning opportunities they could access no matter what their circumstances.   It had to develop skills, provide reinforcement, & be engaging, whether or not they attended school.   Our solution – a 3D robot simulator kids could use on their phones. While kids play, they meet STEM educational milestones for each grade K-12.  No computer or internet access is required.   We started with a 2D version.  5,000 kids, primarily elementary schoolers, have used it. Our students, even those who struggle to read and write, can communicate through C and have mastered basic STEM concepts.   Creating this affordable product that anyone can access, allows KIPR to offer it to kids everywhere in the world.  All they need is a phone.   

KIPR strives to address the big issues of educational equity and lack of access to quality education.  Educational equity occurs when the educational system gives each student the resources needed to acquire basic work and technical skills, reading, writing, math, science, technology, engineering and coding.    In the United States alone, of the 53.1 million students enrolled in K-12 education, 40% have no access to computer science education in school and, of schools with STEM programs, 54% are underfunded.  Worse, in the low income and minority communities we serve in the US, up to 80% of students have no access to STEM / computer science education.   For those without access, remote learning is an option.  But to date, the failure rate for remote learning is high; yet there has never been a greater need for teacher support, educational enrichment, and teaching students to be independent learners both inside and outside the traditional classroom.   

KIPR attempts to close the education equity gap by providing access to innovative technology that offers guided educational programs which are highly engaging, comply with national educational standards, support educators, and promote independent learning among our students. 

KIPR is making education accessible to all; starting with our STEM curriculum.  We accomplish this by offering a 3D Robot Simulator that is gamified to capture the attention of students, provide educators with teaching tools, and offer affordable technical education at a cost, after development costs, that is less than $1 per person per month.   Internet connection is not required to use the application.  It works on Android and iOS smart devices and can be used via web portal on computing devices. It allows for multi-student and educator cross collaboration. Our software and coding environment translates seamlessly to KIPR’s physical robot, allowing it to be hands on.  Achievement levels correspond to curriculum mastery K-12.  No prerequisites required.   Our curriculum currently meets ITEEA STL, CSTA, ITSE, NGSS, CCSS Math, and CCSS ELA standards.  For educators we provide professional development workshops, classroom implementations, curriculum packages, student tracking and performance metrics, achievement awards, support for group projects, and the ability to participate in virtual competitions.

In addition to mastery of educational standards, our product teaches discipline, perseverance, innovation, productivity, flexibility, literary skills, computational thinking, science, computer programming, technology, engineering, math, critical thinking and problem solving.

Our kids are the forgotten ones, those who are undervalued and those for whom the bar is set very low.  We raise the bar. 

80% of our kids were unable to attend school during the pandemic.  During that first winter after schools were closed, we learned our kids without internet at home were huddled outside McDonalds' restaurants using McDonalds' free internet on their phones to try to go to school. It galvanized us.  We needed to bring educational opportunities to those who clearly demonstrated their hunger to learn.  

What we did had to teach them their math, science, technology, and coding. It needed to be a substitute and/or provide enrichment for what they were unable to learn during their school day.   It had to be affordable because our families were not able to pay. It had to work in environments that might not have internet access. It had to work for kids that might not have access to a computer in their home.  It had to be able to be used by kids that may not have a private space to work on their schoolwork.   We also realized that most of our kids, even those who were very young, had their own smart phone.   While their data plans might be limited, they did have some access to be able to download our application.  We also learned that our kid's parents might not be able to help or support the kids.  This meant that any module we created had to be engaging and also something the kids could figure out how to use on their own.  We also had to account for cultural differences and differences in ability levels.

We took all this into account, and more.  

Our 2D launch was well received.  We had kids from the Creek Nation participate, kindergarteners from New Mexico, and elementary students and middle school students from South Central LA.  We saw kids that had trouble reading and writing English learn to code in C and make our robots do tricks on the simulator.  

It was fantastic.  

We learned that relatively quickly the kids completed the programs available. We needed to buildout more and more difficult challenges.  

KIPR increases student engagement in remote, hybrid, and physical environments by offering virtual as well as hands on robotics experiences. Both provide curriculum, support  and technical support for children, parents and teachers.  Access to learning in low-connectivity settings is ensured, as the virtual option does not require access to internet or computers.  

Each level presents new challenges. Challenges can be individualized or competitive. Coding skills are required; kids learn C starting in kindergarten.  Kids work as individuals or on groups/teams.  They can participate in virtual competitions.  

When used in classrooms, teachers can work one-on-one or in multi-student, teacher cross collaborations.  

We have launched our 2D simulator; but, have not completed development of our 3D simulator.  To date about 5,000 students have used the 2D simulator. More recently, we have added some features to the simulator that makes it appear in certain circumstances as if it works in 3D.  These features have also been tested.  A completed 3 dimensional environment is required to completely build out the math, science and technology curriculum past 3rd Grade.