A Playful Experiential Learning System With Educational Robotics

This article reports on two studies that aimed to evaluate the effective impact of educational robotics in learning concepts related to Physics and Geography. The reported studies involved two courses from an upper secondary school and two courses froma lower secondary school. Upper secondary school classes studied topics ofmotion physics, and lower secondary school classes explored issues related to geography. In each grade, there was an “experimental group” that carried out their study using robotics and cooperative learning and a “control group” that studied the same concepts without robots. Students in both classes were subjected to tests before and after the robotics laboratory, to check their knowledge in the topics covered. Our initial hypothesis was that classes involving educational robotics and cooperative learning are more effective in improving learning and stimulating the interest and motivation of students. As expected, the results showed that students in the experimental groups had a far better understanding of concepts and higher participation to the activities than students in the control groups

Synthetic worlds, synthetic strategies: attaining creativity in the metaverse

This text will attempt to delineate the underlying theoretical premises and the definition of the output of an immersive learning approach pertaining to the visual arts to be implemented in online, three dimensional synthetic worlds. Deviating from the prevalent practice of the replication of physical art studio teaching strategies within a virtual environment, the author proposes instead to apply the fundamental tenets of Roy Ascott’s “Groundcourse”, in combination with recent educational approaches such as “Transformative Learning” and “Constructionism”. In an amalgamation of these educational approaches with findings drawn from the fields of Metanomics, Ludology, Cyberpsychology and Presence Studies, as well as an examination of creative practices manifest in the metaverse today, the formulation of a learning strategy for creative enablement unique to online, three dimensional synthetic worlds; one which will focus upon “Play” as well as Role Play, virtual Assemblage and the visual identity of the avatar within the pursuits, is being proposed in this chapter

Synthetic worlds, synthetic strategies: attaining creativity in the metaverse

This text will attempt to delineate the underlying theoretical premises and the definition of the output of an immersive learning approach pertaining to the visual arts to be implemented in online, three dimensional synthetic worlds. Deviating from the prevalent practice of the replication of physical art studio teaching strategies within a virtual environment, the author proposes instead to apply the fundamental tenets of Roy Ascott’s “Groundcourse”, in combination with recent educational approaches such as “Transformative Learning” and “Constructionism”. In an amalgamation of these educational approaches with findings drawn from the fields of Metanomics, Ludology, Cyberpsychology and Presence Studies, as well as an examination of creative practices manifest in the metaverse today, the formulation of a learning strategy for creative enablement unique to online, three dimensional synthetic worlds; one which will focus upon “Play” as well as Role Play, virtual Assemblage and the visual identity of the avatar within the pursuits, is being proposed in this chapter

EDUCATIONAL ROBOTICS AND COMPUTATIONAL THINKING IN EARLY CHILDHOOD - LINKING THEORY TO PRACTICE WITH ST(R)EAM LEARNING SCENARIOS

STEAM enhances critical and computational thinking, problem-solving, algorithmic thinking, decision-making, through Science, Technology, Engineering and Arts, as well as Mathematics. With the contribution of Reading (Reading) and Writing (wRiting) which include recognition and visualisation, pattern formation as well as skills acquired through the use of tools such as pencil and brush, which are proven to be valuable for children's development, STREAM is now also linked to Thinking and Art in its broadest sense. Therefore, in this paper, STREAM Learning Scenarios are proposed that can be implemented within the kindergarten and primary school classroom using the BeeBot robot, highlighting its added pedagogical value and linking the theoretical framework with the playful practical implementation.  Article visualizations

Playful AI Education

In this talk, Neller shared how games can serve as a fun means of teaching not only game-tree search in Artificial Intelligence (AI), but also such diverse topics as constraint satisfaction, logical reasoning, planning, uncertain reasoning, machine learning, and robotics. He observed that teachers teach best when they enjoy what they share and encouraged AI educators present to teach to their unique strengths and enthusiasms

Piloting Multimodal Learning Analytics using Mobile Mixed Reality in Health Education

© 2019 IEEE. Mobile mixed reality has been shown to increase higher achievement and lower cognitive load within spatial disciplines. However, traditional methods of assessment restrict examiners ability to holistically assess spatial understanding. Multimodal learning analytics seeks to investigate how combinations of data types such as spatial data and traditional assessment can be combined to better understand both the learner and learning environment. This paper explores the pedagogical possibilities of a smartphone enabled mixed reality multimodal learning analytics case study for health education, focused on learning the anatomy of the heart. The context for this study is the first loop of a design based research study exploring the acquisition and retention of knowledge by piloting the proposed system with practicing health experts. Outcomes from the pilot study showed engagement and enthusiasm of the method among the experts, but also demonstrated problems to overcome in the pedagogical method before deployment with learners

Modification of logical reasoning through an informal gamification platform

Informal Gamification based on video games turns out to be attractive due to its playful presentation, its motivational resources, and open access. This is important for the benefit of cognitive constructs such as logical reasoning, in the area of mathematics. Through this research, we implemented an experimental program based on the inclusion of the Plants vs Zombies video game as a cognitive modifier of reasoning. We developed the Gamification project through a pre-experimental design for six months. The sample consisted of 96 Basic Education students (M = 6.56 years of age; SD = 0.3). The pre-calculation test allowed us to contrast results between the pretest and posttest measurements. We obtained effective results in the dimensions of seriation, cardinality and cognitive conservation. The effects were much more decisive in conservation. These results allowed obtaining that the complexity of this game allowed to reduce the cognitive reload in the mathematical operations, as well as to increase the sustained attention in the development of logical reasoning tasks, and to achieve greater fluency in the operational calculation

Opening doors: a collective case study of integrating technology in the preschool through 3rd grade classroom in a developmentally appropriate way

Children today are growing up in a technology-saturated world and yet early childhood teachers do not typically include technology in their classrooms, or if they do, they include it inappropriately. The literature states that integrating technology in early education can yield many benefits, but many teachers of young children avoid using technology because they do not know how to incorporate it appropriately. This dissertation is an exploratory observational study of early childhood teachers (preschool through third grade) who integrate technology in their programs in developmentally appropriate ways. This study involved three classroom teachers who were identified as model teachers at integrating technology in their classrooms: a preschool teacher and two kindergarten teachers. The study was guided by the recommendations from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children\u27s Media at Saint Vincent College (2012) position statement for early childhood teachers in the appropriate use of technology and digital media in the early childhood classroom. In this exploratory collective case study, visits to the classrooms were conducted several times and observations were performed. Checklists and field notes were used to record the findings. The teachers were interviewed before and after the observations to create a clearer picture of the classroom practices. This resulted in three cases that can serve as examples for teachers on how to integrate technology in the early childhood classroom in a developmentally appropriately way for young children. This study also provides recommendations for teachers who want to provide children with digital learning tools that can extend, enrich, and scaffold their learning. This study contributes four conclusions and five recommendations to guide teachers in integrating technology in a developmentally appropriate way for young children