This book will offer ideas on how robots can be used as teachers' assistants to scaffold learning outcomes, where the robot is a learning agent in self-directed learning who can contribute to the development of key competences for today's world through targeted learning - such as engineering thinking, math, physics, computational thinking, etc. starting from pre-school and continuing to a higher education level. Robotization is speeding up at the moment in a variety of dimensions, both through the automation of work, by performing intellectual duties, and by providing support for people in everyday situations. There is increasing political attention, especially in Europe, on educational systems not being able to keep up with such emerging technologies, and efforts to rectify this. This edited volume responds to this attention, and seeks to explore which pedagogical and educational concepts should be included in the learning process so that the use of robots is meaningful from the point of view of knowledge construction, and so that it is safe from the technological and cybersecurity perspective.

At a time when ICTs are proliferating various facets of society and human interactivity, optimizing the use of these tools and technologies not only enhances learning but also transforms learning experiences all together, resulting in an increase of effectiveness and quality of education around the globe. As such, teachers are being challenged to implement a wide range of tools, such as mobile learning and augmented reality, to create smarter learning environments inside and outside of the classroom. Cases on Smart Learning Environments explores the potential of SLE tools for enhanced learning outcomes as experienced by educators, learners, and administrators from various learning institutions around the world. This publication presents cases on the real-world implementation of SLEs in 11 countries that span the continents of Asia, Africa, Europe, and North and South America. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as learner engagement, teacher training, and intelligent agent technology, this book is ideally designed for academicians, instructors, instructional designers, librarians, educational stakeholders, and curriculum developers.

This open access book contains observations, outlines, and analyses of educational robotics methodologies and activities, and developments in the field of educational robotics emerging from the findings presented at FabLearn Italy 2019, the international conference that brought together researchers, teachers, educators and practitioners to discuss the principles of Making and educational robotics in formal, non-formal and informal education. The editors’ analysis of these extended versions of papers presented at FabLearn Italy 2019 highlight the latest findings on learning models based on Making and educational robotics. The authors investigate how innovative educational tools and methodologies can support a novel, more effective and more inclusive learner-centered approach to education. The following key topics are the focus of discussion: Makerspaces and Fab Labs in schools, a maker approach to teaching and learning; laboratory teaching and the maker approach, models, methods and instruments; curricular and non-curricular robotics in formal, non-formal and informal education; social and assistive robotics in education; the effect of innovative spaces and learning environments on the innovation of teaching, good practices and pilot projects.

This monograph presents the challenges, vision and context to design smart learning objects (SLOs) through Computer Science (CS) education modelling and feature model transformations. It presents the latest research on the meta-programming-based generative learning objects (the latter with advanced features are treated as SLOs) and the use of educational robots in teaching CS topics. The introduced methodology includes the overall processes to develop SLO and smart educational environment (SEE) and integrates both into the real education setting to provide teaching in CS using constructivist and project-based approaches along with evaluation of pedagogic outcomes. Smart Learning Objects for Smart Education in Computer Science will appeal to researchers in CS education particularly those interested in using robots in teaching, course designers and educational software and tools developers. With research and exercise questions at the end of each chapter students studying CS related courses will find this work informative and valuable too.

This proceedings volume comprises the latest achievements in research and development in educational robotics presented at the 9th International Conference on Robotics in Education (RiE) held in Qawra, St. Paul's Bay, Malta, during April 18-20, 2018. Researchers and educators will find valuable methodologies and tools for robotics in education that encourage learning in the fields of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) through the design, creation and programming of tangible artifacts for creating personally meaningful objects and addressing real-world societal needs. This also involves the introduction of technologies ranging from robotics platforms to programming environments and languages. Extensive evaluation results are presented that highlight the impact of robotics on the students’ interests and competence development. The presented approaches cover the whole educative range from elementary school to the university level in both formal as well as informal settings.

How might digital technology and notably smart technologies based on artificial intelligence (AI), learning analytics, robotics, and others transform education? This book explores such question. It focuses on how smart technologies currently change education in the classroom and the management of educational organisations and systems.

This proceedings book gathers the latest achievements and trends in research and development in educational robotics from the 10th International Conference on Robotics in Education (RiE), held in Vienna, Austria, on April 10–12, 2019. It offers valuable methodologies and tools for robotics in education that encourage learning in the fields of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) through the design, creation and programming of tangible artifacts for creating personally meaningful objects and addressing real-world societal needs. It also discusses the introduction of technologies ranging from robotics platforms to programming environments and languages and presents extensive evaluations that highlight the impact of robotics on students’ interests and competence development. The approaches included cover the entire educative range, from the elementary school to the university level in both formal and informal settings.

This book comprises the latest achievements in research and development in educational robotics presented at the 12th International Conference on Robotics in Education (RiE), which was carried out as a purely virtual conference from April 28 to 30, 2021. Researchers and educators find valuable methodologies and tools for robotics in education that encourage learning in the fields of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) through the design, creation, and programming of tangible artifacts for creating personally meaningful objects and addressing real-world societal needs. This also involves the introduction of technologies ranging from robotics platforms to programming environments and languages. Evaluation results prove the impact of robotics on the students’ interests and competence development. The presented approaches cover the whole educative range from kindergarten, primary and secondary school, to the university level and beyond. Chapters “17 and 25” are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Discover how to use the LEGO MINDSTORMS Inventor kit and boost your confidence in robotics Key FeaturesGain confidence in building robots using creative designsLearn advanced robotic features and find out how to integrate them to build a robotWork with the block coding language used in robotics software in a practical wayBook Description LEGO MINDSTORMS Robot Inventor is the latest addition to the LEGO MINDSTORMS theme. It features unique designs that you can use to build robots, and also enable you to perform activities using the robot inventor application. You'll begin by exploring the history of LEGO MINDSTORMS, and then delve into various elements of the Inventor kit. Moving on, you'll start working on different projects which will prepare you to build a variety of smart robots. The first robotic project involves designing a claw to grab objects, and helps you to explore how a smart robot is used in everyday life and in industry. The second project revolves around building a working guitar that can be played and modified to meet the needs of the user. As you advance, you'll explore the concept of biomimicry as you discover how to build a scorpion robot. In addition to this, you'll also work on a classic robotic challenge by building a sumobot. Throughout the book, you'll come across a variety of projects that will provide you with hands-on experience in building creative robots, such as building a Dragster, Egg Decorator, and Plankton from Spongebob Squarepants. By the end of this LEGO book, you'll have got to grips with the concepts behind building a robot, and also found creative ways to integrate them using the application based on your creative insights and ideas. What you will learnDiscover how the Robot Inventor kit works, and explore its parts and the elements inside themDelve into the block coding language used to build robotsFind out how to create interactive robots with the help of sensorsUnderstand the importance of real-world robots in today's landscapeRecognize different ways to build new ideas based on existing solutionsDesign basic to advanced level robots using the Robot Inventor kitWho this book is for This book is for robot enthusiasts, LEGO lovers, hobbyists, educators, students, and anyone looking to learn about the new LEGO Robot Inventor kit. This book is designed to go beyond the basic build through to intermediate and advanced builds, and enables you to add your personal flair to the builds and codes.

This proceedings book comprises the latest achievements in research and development in educational robotics presented at the 11th International Conference on Robotics in Education (RiE), which was carried out as a purely virtual conference from September 30 to October 2, 2020. Researchers and educators will find valuable methodologies and tools for robotics in education that encourage learning in the fields of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) through the design, creation and programming of tangible artifacts for creating personally meaningful objects and addressing real-world societal needs. This also involves the introduction of technologies ranging from robotics platforms to programming environments and languages. Evaluation results prove the impact of robotics on the students’ interests and competence development. The presented approaches cover the whole educative range from elementary school to university in both formal as well as informal settings.