This contribution aims to focus attention on the research that the working group of the Department of Educational Sciences of the University of Bologna is developing in the field of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (AIR). In particular, the research group is developing two lines: AIR for Learning with a focus on learning processes and levels of personalization supported by AI and ER; Learning for AIR with a focus on AI and Robotics education and the need to integrate the school curriculum.
This contribution aims to focus attention on the research that the working group of the Department of Educational Sciences of the University of Bologna is developing in the field of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (AIR). The application of AI and robots in education is innovating teaching and learning methods and tools, redefining the roles of teachers and students respectively [1] [2]. The concept of learning environment is also evolving towards an open ecosystem in which multiple stakeholders interact (children, teenagers, teachers, educators, families, policy makers, producers/suppliers of technological tools, …). In this general context, AI and ER become both objects of study and tools/environments to support the processes of cognition and metacognition and open up to the experimentation of new spaces of action/communication/intersection between the different areas of knowledge and creativity [3]. With reference to the scientific literature [4] [5], two main lines of research specifically emerge: AIR for Learning with a focus on learning processes and levels of personalization supported by AI and ER; Learning for AIR with a focus on AI and robotics education and the need to integrate the school curriculum. On these two lines, an experimentation is being launched which will involve some schools of the first and second cycle of Emilia-Romagna.
Recent studies and research [6] [7] highlight
how the use of educational robots within
socioconstructivist teaching activities has a significant
impact on the learning of the younger generations:
it stimulates their interest and their motivation
towards knowledge; encourages interaction with
the environment through realistic challenges [8]
[9]; enhances the playful dimension of the
teaching experience. Starting from kindergarten,
many experimentations have already introduced
different types of robots [
Cheng, Su, and Chen [6] identify two main potentials in the use of robots in teaching. First, robots have several characteristics that make them particularly useful in supporting students' acquisition of knowledge and skills: the ability to reproduce and perform repetitive tasks accurately; flexibility, interactivity, humanoid aspect; the ability to move and move one's body. Secondly, robots can facilitate learning, acting on student motivation, through practical experiences that create an engaging, attractive, and interactive learning environment. Specifically, sector studies highlight how educational robotics: i. favors the development of computational thinking [14] ii. develops problem solving by facing and solving real situations and challenges [15] iii. promotes the learning of abstract concepts in concrete contexts of exploration and discovery [16] iv. supports students with attention difficulties by making them more responsive and inclined to listen [17] v. improves relational skills [18] vi. supports the development of creative thinking [19]. 2.1.
Recent developments in AI and robotics
support teachers by automating activities based on
predefined formats that deliver personalized and
adaptive instruction [20] [21]: from monitoring
student progress [
Personalized learning prioritizes the specificities of each student, allowing them to offer differentiated and flexible teaching solutions. In particular, tutoring systems based on AI and robotics, which consider the different elements that are involved in the knowledge processes of students, can have a relevant impact and make learning more meaningful.
In educational-didactic contexts, robotics finds
application above all in contexts in which
reinforcement learning is necessary to
progressively adapt the difficulty of the proposed
exercises to the knowledge and skills achieved by
the students [23]. Specifically, Han, Kang and
Hong [
Huang [
The system is based on three aspects: speech
recognition, interaction management and speech
synthesis. The recognition accuracy is improved
by the algorithm. The results show that the
accuracy of the AI speech recognition system can
reach 90%, allowing the robot to communicate
with students and timely answer their questions
[
There is a growing scientific literature
concerning educational robotics, artificial
intelligence, and creative learning [28] [
With reference to the first point, the process of building robotic models is characterized by a constant search and movement between thought and generative strategies and thought and exploratory strategies and vice versa. In relation to the second point, to be able to simulate the creative process, robots as autonomous agents must be able to: 1. Acquire and lean new knowledge. 2. Activate and re-use knowledge in a wide range of environments. 3. Select and modify problem solving strategies. 4. Use meta-reasoning to define and redefine problems, evaluate process and artifacts.
AI embodied inside a robot poses new and interesting challenges to educational robotics. The AI machine must be able to incorporate new input data generated by multiple sensors and to update its internal representation of the world, integrating the new information with what the robot itself already has.
In this way, the robot can "learn" from its own
experience, read data, and build hierarchical
architectures of knowledge that provide advanced
levels of input and output [
The growing development of AI technology
and robotics in society finds a fundamental
interlocutor in school education. In response to
this necessary dialogue, recent studies and
research have developed innovative teaching
materials for AI and robotics education, as well as
proposals for integration into the school
curriculum [
Williams, Won Park, Oh and Breazeal [
Pre-schoolers train and interact with social
robots to learn about knowledge-based intelligent
systems, supervised machine learning and
generative AI. Hsu et al. [
In response to the growing demand for AI education, development environments integrated with programming blocks such as Machine Learning for Kids, eCraft2Learn and Cognimates have been developed on specific online platforms.
These environments provide many AI
experiences and learning activities that allow
young users to engage in the creation of a
customized AI project and to understand its
applications [
Specifically, educational materials with child focused programming languages and customization of open source robots aim to refine an AIR curriculum for children. STEM-based robotic tools, especially select robotic kits with machine learning (ML) capabilities, can be used to address ML concepts in K-12 classrooms [27]. These elements of attention have led to the progressive development of a training system. In fact, since AIR is an integral part of the industry 4.0 era, it becomes necessary to introduce AI and Robotics literacy with reference to primary and secondary education. Hence the need to train educators and teachers by providing them with adequate tools and methods to achieve this goal. This need has led to the definition of a standardized and internationally recognized certification system – European Patent for Robots and Intelligent Systems – EDLRIS – for AI and robotics at K-12 level, aimed at teachers and students in order to promote their literacy. This license is based on several projects previously implemented and evaluated and includes teaching curricula and training modules on artificial intelligence and robotics, following a blended learning approach based on the acquisition of specific skills.
The application, through an innovative
approach, of a standardized and widely
recognized training and certification system for
AI and robotics at the K-12 level for both high
school teachers and students, thus aims to
promote the literacy on AI/Robotics [
.
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Designing Child-Robot for Facilitating Creative