# Frequently asked questions | Stick ’Em Source: https://stickem.sg/faq/ # Frequently asked questions All 55 questions we get asked, with our answers. Search, or pick a topic. The kitTeaching with itTeacher workshopsPricing and buyingAcademy and appsMinistries and fundersPartners ## The kit What arrives, what it is made of, what a student can build, and what happens when a part breaks ### What exactly is in the kit? Bamboo chopsticks and 3D-printed connectors make the frame, and an electronic board with motors makes it move. No part arrives pre-shaped, so students work out the structure themselves. A Sensor Kit adds ultrasonic, light, temperature, humidity and gyroscope sensors and an LCD screen, and is bought separately. ### What is the difference between a Robotics Kit, a Classroom Set and a Sensor Kit? A Robotics Kit is one kit: connectors, chopsticks, a board and motors. A Classroom Set is 10 Robotics Kits in one box, for up to 40 students working in groups of 2 to 4. A Sensor Kit is an add-on, sold separately and not included in a Classroom Set. ### What can students build? Cars, cranes, cable cars, catapults, drawing machines, dragon boats, gliders, humanoid robots and more. One Classroom Set has enough chopsticks and connectors for hundreds of different builds, and everything else comes from the classroom: cardboard, string, bottles and tape. ### Does it need a screen, and does it need charging? Not for building. Chopsticks grip into the connectors by friction, with no glue, screws, batteries or apps. To make a build move, you need the board, a USB power bank and a device to control it from. ### What devices do we need in the classroom? Laptops or Chromebooks with Chrome or Edge, which connect to control.stickem.sg over Bluetooth. On iPads, download the Stick ’Em Control app from the App Store, because Safari does not support Web Bluetooth. Each group of 3 or 4 students only needs one device. ### Do students need to know how to code? No. Most classes start by driving their build from the control app. Block coding, and even vibe coding a web app, are there when a class is ready to go further, but neither is needed for a first lesson. ### How long does a kit last, and what happens when parts break? Usually 2 to 3 years in everyday classroom use. Chopsticks need replacing about once a year, and the connectors and boards last much longer. For replacements, send us your order number through the contact form and choose “I already have a kit”. ### Does it work for students with additional needs? Yes. Stick ’Em is used in mainstream classrooms with a wide range of abilities and in special education settings. There is no single right answer to build towards and very little reading, and pieces that do not fit simply come apart again. It does need some hand strength, so we do not recommend it for children under 7. ### Is it available in other languages? The Academy is in English. Our partners have made lesson materials in Vietnamese and Bahasa Indonesia, so let us know which language you need. ## Teaching with it Running it in a normal classroom: preparation, timing, which subjects, which ages, class management ### I have never taught robotics. Can I really run this? Yes. Most teachers who run Stick ’Em hadn’t either. The 3-hour workshop takes you from never having seen the kit to planning your own lesson. ### How much preparation does a lesson take? Very little. Every Stick ’Em Academy lesson comes ready to teach, with slides, a materials list, build steps and discussion questions, so you only need to read it through. ### Which subjects does it fit? Science, maths, languages, art, social studies, geography and character education. A catapult becomes an angles lesson, a coastal barrier becomes a geography lesson, and a build the class has to pitch becomes a language lesson. The Academy is organised by subject, so you can start from yours. ### How long is a lesson, and does it fit a normal period? A 60-minute period fits building, testing and presenting. In 45 minutes, run a shorter build and hear from 3 groups instead of all of them. Either way, a basic build finishes within one lesson. ### What age is it for? Students aged 9 and up can build on their own. Ages 7 to 9 work well with a teacher or parent nearby. We don’t recommend it for children under 7, because small hands find it hard to push a chopstick into a connector. The same kit is also used in polytechnics and universities. ### How do I manage a whole class building at once? Put students in groups of 2 to 4 around one kit, with a role for each person. A quick parts count at the start and end of the lesson helps, and for younger classes a second adult makes a big difference. ### What if students break their builds? They will, and that is part of the lesson. Chopsticks and connectors come apart and go back together, so the same set survives a class that takes everything to pieces. ### Can I see the lessons before my school buys anything? Yes. More than 20 lessons are free in Guest Mode with no account, and you can browse the whole Academy before you decide. The full library of 100+ lessons comes with a school subscription. ## Teacher workshops How long it runs, how many teachers can come, what you need to provide and how it is priced. ### How long is the workshop? Usually 3 hours. That is enough time for teachers to learn the kit, build with it, then design and test an activity of their own. We have run shorter and longer versions, from 1.5 to 5 hours, when a school’s timetable needs it. ### How many teachers can come? Anything from one department to your whole staff. We have run it for a single subject team and for 161 staff in one school hall. For bigger groups we bring more trainers and more kits. ### Do teachers need laptops, or any robotics experience? No to both. Teachers drive their robots from their phones, and most of the teachers who come have never built a robot before. Art, language and Mother Tongue teachers often enjoy it the most. ### How does it fit E21CC and our school’s programmes? Every activity teachers design is mapped to MOE’s 21st Century Competencies on our Lesson Design Template, and the afternoon runs as a design thinking cycle: define, prototype, test and improve. Schools use it to start an ALP, a STEAM week, post-exam activities or subject lessons, and we can shape the design challenge around your school’s focus. ### Do we need to buy kits before the workshop? No. If your school does not have Classroom Sets yet, we bring our own. If you already have them, we use yours, so teachers practise on the kits they will teach with. ### When can you run it? All year round: on a staff development day, after exams, or in the June and year-end holidays. Let us know the date you have in mind when you get in touch. ### How is the workshop priced? We price the workshop per teacher, separately from the kits and the Academy. Tell us how many teachers are coming and how long you have, and we will send you a quote. ### What happens after the workshop? Every teacher receives a certificate and keeps the activity they designed. The Stick ’Em Academy has 100+ ready-made lessons, written alongside MOE teachers, and if the lesson you need does not exist yet, ask us and we will write it. ## Pricing and buying What it costs, trying it first, purchase orders and tenders, delivery, and what to do if something arrives broken ### What does it cost? It depends on how many classes you are equipping, whether you add a teacher workshop, and whether you take Academy access. A Classroom Set covers up to 40 students and is 5 to 10 times cheaper than traditional STEAM kits. Tell us how many classes you have and we will send a quote in your school’s name. ### Can we try it before committing? Yes. Most schools start with a pilot: 1 or 2 Classroom Sets, Academy access for one cohort and a teacher workshop, run over a term. Ask us for a pilot quote sized to your school. ### Do I have to subscribe to the Academy as well as buy the kit? No. The kits are a one-off purchase and the Academy is a yearly subscription, so a school can buy one without the other. Anyone can use the 20+ free lessons, and the full library and customised lessons come with a school subscription. The teacher workshop is priced separately. ### How do we raise a purchase order, and can you invoice our finance office? Yes. We send a dated quote, you raise a purchase order, and we invoice a few days before delivery. You pay once the goods arrive. Singapore government schools can use e-invoicing through Vendors@Gov, and we can split a quote into hardware, training and Academy for separate budget lines. ### Do we need to run a tender? That is up to your finance office. Stick ’Em Private Limited (UEN 202216916C) is the only distributor of Stick ’Em in Singapore, and we can provide a sole distributor declaration letter and a quote in your school’s name for whichever route your office chooses. ### Is there a discount for buying several sets? Yes. Multi-set and pilot bundles bring the cost per set down, and delivery within Singapore is often waived. We also look at charity and NGO requests case by case, so tell us how many classrooms and which term. ### How long does delivery take? 12 to 14 days within Singapore, with tracking. For other countries, we confirm the lead time in your quote. Your order may arrive in 2 parcels, because Robotics Kits and Sensor Kits ship separately. ### Do you ship internationally? Yes, to many countries. Duties and taxes depend on how your country classifies the goods, so we send the commercial invoice, packing list and certificate of origin your broker needs. We currently cannot sell to individuals in the European Union, but schools and distributors anywhere are welcome to write to us. ### What happens if something arrives broken? Let us know through the contact form (choose “I already have a kit”) with your order number, and for a board, the number printed on it. A board that seems dead is often a motor in the wrong port, which takes a minute to fix in the control app. Anything faulty, we replace. ## Academy and apps Accounts, free lessons, the control app, devices and offline use ### Do I need a code to use the Academy? Not for Guest Mode and its 20+ free lessons, which need no account at all. A paid subscription comes with an access code, usually one for your whole staff, with an expiry date. ### I paid and have not received my access code. Let us know through the contact form (choose “I already have a kit”). Access codes are set up by our team, so please allow a few hours. ### Is the Academy only for teachers? No. Anyone can use Guest Mode, and the introductory lessons are written for someone opening the box for the first time, teacher or not. ### Can I use it without internet in the classroom? Building needs no connection. The Academy is a website, so you need a connection to open a lesson, and it keeps working once it is open. The control app only needs Bluetooth. If your school filters its network, please allow academy.stickem.sg and control.stickem.sg. ### Can you build a lesson for the exact topic I teach? Often, yes. Schools on a full subscription get lessons customised to their programme, and popular ones go into the library for everyone. ## Ministries and funders Curriculum mapping, evidence, procurement and what a national or district programme involves ### Can this be procured at national scale? Yes. Stick ’Em is designed to scale: after train-the-trainer, your own team runs the workshops. Brunei’s Ministry of Education has run a national teacher tour with us through its STEP Centre, and 60+ Ministry of Education schools in Singapore use Stick ’Em. ### Does it map to our national curriculum? We have mapped 8 national curricula lesson by lesson so far: Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Cambodia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Between 53% and 82% of our 111 lessons fit a specific learning outcome in each one, at the same grade level, and we share the full mapping document with you. If your curriculum is not one of the 8, mapping it is the first thing we do together, at our own cost. ### What does it cost per student? One Classroom Set serves up to 40 students for 2 to 3 years, shared in groups, and is 5 to 10 times cheaper than traditional STEAM kits. Tell us how many schools and year groups you have in mind and we will work out the costs with you. ### Is there evidence that it works? 658 teachers rated our Level 2 workshop 4.67 out of 5, and 97% gave it a 4 or 5. If your process follows an evidence framework, tell us which one and we will send what fits. If you are a researcher who would like to study Stick ’Em with us, we would love to chat. ### Does it keep running after the programme ends? Yes. One 3-hour workshop prepares a teacher to run lessons and to train colleagues. Kigezi High School in Uganda was trained over a video call, now runs its own robotics club, and ranked first in the country a year later. ### Can we start with something non-commercial? Yes. We can run a pilot workshop at our own cost before any commercial agreement. If your rules cap the value of anything received before a procurement, tell us the cap and we will work within it. ### What happens to student data? Building a robot collects no data at all. The Academy uses access codes, usually one for the whole staff, so students do not need their own accounts and no student names are required. If your ministry runs a data protection review, send it over and we will complete it. ### What does a grant buy? Kits, the lesson library and teacher training, in whatever mix your programme needs. We cost it per school and per year group, the way schools order. ### What happens when the grant ends? The kits, the lessons and the trained teachers all stay. Teachers keep teaching and train the next ones, and a Classroom Set lasts 2 to 3 years, with only chopsticks to replace. ## Partners Territories, pricing, training and how a partnership works ### Can I distribute Stick ’Em in my country? Yes, we would love to hear from you. Most partnerships start with a small pilot in a few schools. Tell us about your market, the schools you work with and how you would run teacher training. ### Can I have exclusivity in my market? Not at the start. We work non-exclusively, and most markets have more than one partner. You get exclusivity on the schools you sign, plus a head start in a new market, and we can talk about territory exclusivity as your volume grows. ### What are the commercial terms? Distributor pricing is banded by order size, with a better band in your first months while you get started. You set your own selling price, and we don’t publish ours so it never undercuts yours. Teacher training is yours to deliver and charge for. We share the exact bands on a call, since they depend on your market and volume. ### What do you expect a partner to do? Run the teacher training in your market. We train your trainers, give you the materials and support your first sessions, and after that the training is yours. ### Can we white-label it? We offer co-branding, so your name sits alongside ours on everything you bring to schools. The Stick ’Em name stays on the kit, because schools value that it is designed and made in Singapore. ### Can we get a sample kit? We don’t give out free sample kits, because we receive a huge number of requests to distribute Stick ’Em. You are very welcome to order a single kit from us to try it yourself. ### What is the minimum order? There is no fixed minimum, because we want Stick ’Em to be within reach of distributors of any size. As a guide, most distributors start with around 300 kits and then grow to dozens of schools across their country. Still have a question? [Contact us](https://stickem.sg/contact/) ## Still have a question? [Contact us](https://stickem.sg/contact/)