This article offers a first insight into the digital environment of Slovenian toddlers. We report on the use of digital technology and toys allowed by parents in their children’s home environment. The study is based on the results of an online questionnaire completed by parents of 26 Slovenian children up to 2 years of age (M = 17.8 months; SD = 5.6). On average, 9% of all children’s toys are digital toys and they spend 10% of their play time playing with digital toys. Among the most commonly, but still only occasionally, used digital toys or technology are smartphones and tablets. Compared to other types of digital technology, parents believed that screen-based digital toys in particular supported their child’s skills development. Ultimately, parents do not strongly associate digital technologies with positive developmental and educational effects, but rather they believe that digital technology provides entertainment, enables information-seeking and keeps children busy. Nevertheless they allow, or will allow, the child to use digital technology mainly because they believe it enables learning. Further research, if needed, will be carried out to look closely at the children’s use of digital technology and its effects on young children’s development.
Author : Violeta Rosanda
Pre-Service Teachers’ Concerns about Social Robots in the Classroom: A Model for Development
Social robots are being tested in the educational arena with current thinking in two main directions. One is arguing for the benefits of robots in affective and efficient instruction and is more teacher- centered. Within the second, more student-centered oriented, proponents of human uniqueness are raising long-term concerns. Teacher-centeredness and student-centeredness form pedagogical beliefs underpinning teachers’ attitudes guiding technology integration. Limited research has explored teachers’ underlying beliefs and attitudes to social robots, with some presenting mixed feelings identifying some concerns with some identifying more positive attitudes. Preservice education is critical in forming beliefs, and this paper presents a qualitative study of Slovene pre- service pre-primary school and primary classroom pre-service teachers’ attitudes and underlying beliefs. Students were asked to reflect on their perception of social robotic educational technology in which they would highlight at their own discretion the positive, neutral and negative aspects. Students’ reflections predominantly expressed concerns. The research model was designed in part, drawing from participants reflections and on related studies. Previous studies indicated the concerns teachers hold about robotic technology, but lacked a more holistic model. We built a threefold model distinguishing instructional, social-emotional, and legal concerns. Our findings differ from related studies because they identified participants’ negative attitudes and a clear rejection of robot technology with a human-like appearance and social skills in the classroom. Previous student- centered studies reported on single groups of concerns within specific contexts without developing a holistic view relating diverse concerns in one picture. Related teacher-centered studies were arguing for refinements anticipating robot’s social intelligence affordance in the classroom. The participants in our study are not rejecting social robots as such, but in their view, the robot is not granted the status of a social entity capable of engaging in student-centered teaching and taking care of child wellbeing and development. The findings of our study call for action and informed robot development, taking into consideration teachers as co-designers.
A review of social robots in classrooms: Emerging educational technology and teacher education
The 21st century is the age of robots, an age in which we are witnessing the development of social
robots for education. In the future teachers will be required by the labour market to prepare students
for work with robotic technology and co-work and interact with robots. Initial teacher education
needs to follow the development of robots and prepare students and teachers in applying robotic
technology in teaching. In the review study, we aim to identify how robotic technology is applied in
classrooms on different educational levels and subjects. We performed a review of the Web of Science
Database for the period between 2006 and 2018. The analysis categories included: the educational
level and research participants who experienced social robot activities, subject areas, outcome
types and robot-learner interaction time. We also examined the research design and publication
source. Findings indicate that the educational-pedagogical aspects in the studies often represent
more a vehicle, rather than a final goal of integrating robots into teaching practice. The studies
reviewed focus mostly on mixed human-robot interaction (HRI) and educational-pedagogical
outcomes. Robotic learning activities are prepared in the function of research goals, and not for
the introduction of robots into regular teaching practices. They engage a small number of students
in a diversity of learning contexts. Robot-learner interaction takes place primarily as a unique
experience or as several short-term ones, during fragmented activities that rarely approach the time
unit of the lesson. Robots carry out short, detailed tasks in classrooms for which lengthy studies and
preparations have been required. The novelty of this work is in focusing also on (1) The demarcation
between the focus of studies on educational-pedagogical outcomes; educational-pedagogical and
HRI outcomes; HRI outcomes; (2) study of the robot-learner interaction time dimension.