Invited Talks: Programming by Building - Using Robotics in Education

The main aim of our research is to design and develop principles and technologies that allow everyday users to develop complex technological artifacts, and we exemplify this by initial explorative studies of the use in ICT education that would serve the needs in developing countries, in math training, in learning activities for speech therapy in cases of dyslexia and aphasia, and in story telling performed through the construction of physical characters exhibiting emotional states. The studies were performed with children and young people from Denmark, Italy, and Tanzania. The studies are based upon our development of Intelligent Building Blocks (I-BLOCKS) to support learning by construction and, more specifically, to support “programming by building.” By attaching a number of basic building blocks (each containing a microprocessor and communication channels) together, the user constructs an artifact, which can perceive input, process it, and produce output. In general, the I-BLOCKS are an innovative concept of building blocks allowing users to manipulate conceptual structures and compose atomic actions while building physical constructions. They represent an example of enabling technologies for tangible interfaces since they emphasize physicality of interaction through the use of spatial and kinaesthetic knowledge.