University language instructors programming robotic learning applications: Design and implementation of encouraging workshop experiences

People use technology in every aspect of their lives, and educational settings are no exception. Different devices, such as computers, tablets, smart screens, and even robots, have occurred for years in schools and universities. In recent years, educational robots have been used for different purposes, including supporting the learning of second languages, improving the social skills of students with autism, and developing communication skills, among others. Although educational robots have been utilized for some time, for the most part, the programming and implementation of activities on top of them are done by technology specialists. Additionally, educational professionals with no programming knowledge have been involved in programming robotic applications in fewer studies than educators with programming knowledge. Nevertheless, educators would be the ideal learning activity designers since they better know the pedagogical content and their students’ needs and possibilities. This thesis project aimed to design and implement a series of encouraging programming workshops, where two language instructors from Tampere University learned to program the social robot NAO. University language instructors designed and implemented robotic applications that students could use to practice their speaking skills. The research questions were related to the expectations and needs of university language instructors towards programming a social robot for teaching languages, their perceptions of the benefits and challenges of programming by themselves, and their experiences of the programming workshops. Learning journal, focus group interview, and questionnaires were implemented as data collection methods aiming to respond to these questions. Initially, language instructors participated in a co-design workshop to collaborate in designing the series of programming workshops. After being created, language instructors evaluated the programming workshops, assessed their benefits and challenges, and suggested possible improvements. During the workshops, language instructors designed and implemented robotic activities, which were tested by 35 students of Finnish I and Finnish II language courses. The main findings of this project show that hands-on programming workshops, where participants can implement the activities by themselves, are a fast and easy way to learn to program a social robot. Additionally, some aspects that help maintain motivation during the sessions include having concrete and clear goals, observing progress, learning something new, and having a precise schedule. On the other hand, some of the challenges experienced by the language instructors are related to NAO not responding as expected, the overwhelming feeling when visualizing programming software for the first time, and previous knowledge regarding text-based programming languages. In the future, language instructors would like to use NAO with beginner students if the activities presented respond to a clear objective. Moreover, activities should be delivered within a context, providing students with a meaningful learning experience. However, language instructors expressed concerns about how NAO could influence students’ speaking skills. The robot’s speech recognition still needs further development, and currently, the robot can not recognize diversity in accents, the stress of words, intonations, speech speed, and complex sentences. The results of this research project contribute to the previous literature about the role of educational professionals in programming social robots. Moreover, the research project aims to provide further knowledge on using robots for language learning with adult learners, which is currently limited. In addition, the research concludes with 12 implications for designing and implementing encouraging programming robotic learning application workshops for educators, including conducting a co-design workshop, establishing clear and concrete objectives for the participants, and generating hands-on and collaborative opportunities with a purpose