On Friday, June 20, 2025, the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at VSB-TUO in Ostrava hosted a professional workshop organized by the Moravian-Silesian Technology Academy (MTA), focused on supporting automation education in secondary vocational schools. Dozens of educators from across the region participated, gaining not only deeper technical insights but also firsthand updates on the development of the EduBox educational platform.
Introducing the Structure of the EduBox: Automation
The workshop began with a presentation of the concept behind the new EduBox module focused on automation. Attendees were introduced to the structure divided into thematic chapters, along with its objectives, instructional scenarios, and teaching methodology. The session also featured a discussion on the formation of a new “Automation Teachers’ Hub” – an open platform for sharing materials, ideas, and experiences among educators from different schools.
EduBox Chapters: Practical Content Tailored to Schools
The workshop program was split into two hands-on blocks, allowing teachers to select specific topics relevant to their instruction. Each topic represented an individual chapter of the upcoming EduBox module:
• Pneumatics – working with pneumatic systems, their modeling, and simulation options for classroom use.
• Microcontrollers – basic and advanced microcontroller applications for controlling simple devices.
• Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) – practical demonstrations of PLC systems and their integration into school curricula.
• Machine Vision – applications of camera systems, object recognition, and their use in automation.
• Sensor Technology – an overview of sensor components and data acquisition for automation tasks.
• Automation Technology – system-level solutions and designing control systems for technological processes.
• Virtual Instrumentation – data visualization and processing using software tools like LabVIEW.
• Fundamentals of Python Programming – an introduction to the scripting language and its applications in technical education.
Lab Tours and Shared Inspiration
The program also included a guided tour of the cybernetics laboratories at VSB-TUO. Teachers explored modern technological setups used for both instruction and research in the fields of automation, robotics, and industrial digitization.
Advancing Vocational Education Together
The workshop confirmed the strong interest of educators in modern teaching tools, sharing best practices, and gaining access to ready-to-use instructional resources. The development of the EduBox: Automation marks another important step in the systematic innovation of technical education in the region – and most importantly, it proves that education is most effective when shaped by the teachers themselves.
