Activities

From February to September 2022, the consortium conducted the task T1.1 “Literature review on the current trends in ER” to explore the Robotics technologies available in the market and the methodologies for integrating Robotics in the educational practice to cultivate computational thinking, as proposed in educational technology research.

The task concluded in delivering the report: Literature review on the current trends in ER  (M1.1) 

This report includes:

• A comprehensive review of contemporary robotics technologies, i.e., robotic technologies used in primary/secondary/higher education, programming languages used to program robots and robotics simulators currently available. 
• Examples of using educational robotics to create artful projects.
• A critical analysis of how educational robotics can potentially promote computational thinking skills. 
• An overview of robotics and arts subjects in current educational legislation across the different consortium members’ countries. 
• Conclusions of the review and elaboration on possible implications  to the FERTILE methodology.

From February to September 2022, in parallel with reviewing the literature, the consortium conducted the task T1.2 “Educator Profiling” to collect as much information as possible from educators who teach Educational Robotics (ER) or Arts to build a comprehensive understanding of the issues they face and what type of support they need to evolve their teaching practice. In our case, “needs assessment” refers to the difference between educators’ current and intended practices according to the FERTILE methodology. The intended practices involve applying contemporary pedagogies when embracing cross-disciplinary learning through integrating ER with Arts in artful ER projects cultivating Computational Thinking (CT) in a blended learning context.

This task concluded in delivering the report  Profiling of educators involved with ER (M1.2)

This report includes:

• the definition of the objectives and the main research question that has driven our research. 
• The rationale for identifying target audiences. 
• The methodology applied. Elaboration on the three phases followed in the research design and procedure. 
• The data collection and analysis methods. A description of how (i) we collected data based on Focus Groups/Interviews, (ii) we conducted the data analysis, and (iii) the FERTILE coding scheme was shaped. 
• The findings and their interpretation. 
• Conclusions of the profiling by elaborating on the findings and  reflecting on how these findings may inform the FERTILE design methodology.

• Presentation of the methodology’s development process and elaboration on the Design-Based Research (DBR) methodology applied.
• Presentation of the methodology’s theoretical underpinnings, and the interpretation of the literature review and the educators’ profiling towards synthesising the methodology’s design principles.
• Presentation of the Initial version of the FERTILE Design Methodology” by elaborating on the steps suggested and the activities incorporated in those steps. 
• Presentation of pilot Artful ER project developed based on the initial methodology.
• Findings regarding the design and implementation process of the pilot Artful ER projects.

The “FERTILE” Community Platform is envisioned as an online meeting point for teachers interested in finding collaborators, (co-)designing, sharing and reusing Artful Educational Robotics (ER) projects. The platform is also expected to help students during the enactment of Artful ER learning scenarios, providing instructions and learning resources, as well as facilitating interaction with the teachers.

From July 2022 to January 2023, the consortium has worked on the task T2.1 “Design requirements”, aiming to elicit and agree on a set of functional requirements that the platform is expected to comply with. To do so, the consortium combined (i) the partner’s knowledge from the field of Learning Design in setting up the conditions to foster learning, (ii) the partner’s expertise to setup ER learning experiences, and (iii) the evolution of the “FERTILE” Design Methodology.

The associated milestone  M2.1 “Report on  the FERTILE Community Platform Design Requirements” includes the consortium’s work on this task. Specifically: 

• Presentation of the state-of-the-art in community support for learning design.
• Elaboration on the three information sources considered for proposing the platform’s design requirements: (i) partner’s discussions,  (ii) feedback questionnaire, and (iii) the tentative version of the FERTILE Design methodology.
• Description of the information sources’ analysis.  
• Presentation of the first set of functional requirements for the FERTILE Community platform and some open issues that will need further discussion and elaboration during task T2.2 “Platform Development” 
• Illustration of all the proposed functional requirements as sample “scenarios” and detailed description as “use cases”. 
• Conclusions to serve as the input for the subsequent task T1.1 “Platform Development”.

Starting in January 2023, at the end of the project, in January 2025 we deliver a community platform. The “FERTILE” community platform is envisioned to go beyond a repository providing access to artifacts designed with the “FERTILE”  methodology. This platform is an e-place where educators, either personally or collaboratively, can meet remotely to design ER activities. They can also share designs and discuss practices. We begin by considering the platform’s design requirements and specifications and then move on to the platform development. Through several evaluation cycles, we refine its final version as one of our project’s results. 

To communicate the “FERTILE” design methodology, we deliver training material as open educational resources for pre & in-service teachers and academic educators. The training material development starts in January 2023 by designing a modular training scheme to be implemented in a blended learning context. Then, we develop content including activities f2f and online, and exemplar Artful ER projects. Finally, this training material is evaluated in pilot studies to form its final version in January 2024. 

As the final project activity, from July 2024 to January 2025, we organize multiplier events for about 200 educators. These events adopt an experiential approach to promote the role of “teachers as designers” and allow participants to operationalize the “FERTILE” design methodology in their everyday practice. To this end, the delivery mode of these events is blended, involving f2f, synchronous and asynchronous sessions.

The operationalization of the “FERTILE” methodology and the acquaintance with the “FERTILE” community platform stimulate the creation and sustainability of an educator community around the “FERTILE” platform. Participants of these events are the first members of this community to cultivate a design thinking mindset around artful ER projects.