Description
Over the last few years, increasing attention has been focused on the development of children’s acquisition of 21st-century skills and digital competences. Consequently, many education scholars have argued that teaching technology to young children is vital in keeping up with 21st-century employment patterns. Technologies, such as those that involve robotics or coding apps, come at a time when the demand for computing jobs around the globe is at an all-time high while its supply is at an all-time low. There is no doubt that coding with robotics is a wonderful tool for learners of all ages as it provides a catalyst to introduce them to computational thinking, algorithmic thinking, and project management. Additionally, recent studies argue that the use of a developmentally appropriate robotics curriculum can help to change negative stereotypes and ideas children may initially have about technology and engineering.
The Handbook of Research on Using Educational Robotics to Facilitate Student Learning is an edited book that advocates for a new approach to computational thinking and computing education with the use of educational robotics and coding apps. The book argues that while learning about computing, young people should also have opportunities to create with computing, which have a direct impact on their lives and their communities. It develops two key dimensions for understanding and developing educational experiences that support students in engaging in computational action: (1) computational identity, which shows the importance of young people’s development of scientific identity for future STEM growth; and (2) digital empowerment to instill the belief that they can put their computational identity into action in authentic and meaningful ways. Covering subthemes including student competency and assessment, programming education, and teacher and mentor development, this book is ideal for teachers, instructional designers, educational technology developers, school administrators, academicians, researchers, and students.
Author's/Editor's Biography
Stamatios Papadakis (Ed.)
Dr Stamatios Papadakis has been an assistant professor in educational technology with an emphasis on mobile learning at the Department of Preschool Education at the University of Crete, Greece. He has worked on several international and national pedagogy projects for pre-K to 16th grade education. His scientific and research interests include the study of mobile learning, especially on using smart mobile devices and their accompanying mobile applications (apps) in Preschool and Primary Education, focusing on developing Computational Thinking and students’ understanding of numbers. Furthermore, he currently investigates how a STEM learning approach influences learning achievement through a context-aware mobile learning environment in the preschool classroom and explains the effects on preschoolers' learning outcomes. He has published and book chapters in scientific peer-reviewed journals and international conferences (including Computers & Education, Education and Information Technologies, and Early Childhood Education Journal).
Michail Kalogiannakis (Ed.)
Michail Kalogiannakisis an Associate Professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Thessaly and Associate Tutor at School of Humanities at the Hellenic Open University in Greece. He graduated from the Physics Department of the University of Crete and continued his postgraduate studies at the University Paris 7-Denis Diderot (D.E.A. in Didactic of Physics), University Paris 5-René Descartes-Sorbonne (D.E.A. in Science Education) and received his PhD degree at the University Paris 5-René Descartes-Sorbonne (PhD in Science Education). His research interests include science education in the early childhood, science teaching and learning, e-learning, the use of ICT in education, distant and adult education. He has published many articles in international conferences and journals and has served on the program committees of numerous international conferences.