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Educational Robotics Acceptance by Italian Teachers, Educators, Psychologists and Psychotherapists

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Education in & with Robotics to Foster 21st-Century Skills (EDUROBOTICS 2021)

Part of the book series: Studies in Computational Intelligence ((SCI,volume 982))

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Abstract

The exploration of acceptance of robotics by teachers, educators, psychologists and psychotherapists appears vital for the effective implementation of Educational Robotics (ER). This exploratory study evaluated acceptance of ER by Italian teachers, educators, psychologists and psychotherapists (N = 88). This research used a cross-sectional exploratory approach with a self-administered survey based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). The results indicated that the professionals’ intention to use robotics in their profession was negatively related to anxiety evoked by robotics, but positively related to the following aspects: 1) positive attitudes about the use of robotics, 2) perceptions that there are factors in the environment that facilitate using robotics, 3) perceptions of ability of robots to be adaptive, 4) perceptions of robotics as enjoyable, 5) perceptions that robotics will improve the user’s workplace performance, 6) positive perceptions of what other people think about robotics, 7) perceptions that robotics performs with integrity. Teachers, educators, psychologists and psychotherapists declared themselves to be quite favorable towards the use of robotics in their profession. These results showed that ER may be more integrated in educational contexts and for therapeutic and rehabilitation purposes.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In Italy, according to the law 205/2017, the roles of socio-pedagogical professional educator and the pedagogic professional were also defined. These professionals work in the educational and pedagogical field (not only in schools), in relation to any activity carried out in a formal and informal way, towards people of all ages, from a perspective of personal and social growth.

  2. 2.

    Supplementary materials file: https://mfr.osf.io/render?url=https://osf.io/m76kb/?direct%26mode=render%26action=download%26mode=render.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Dr. Alba Di Primio for her comments and literature suggestions on the Italian education system. We also thank the reviewers for their efforts and much appreciated comments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human and Social Sciences, The University of Bergamo, 24100, Bergamo, Italy

    Silvia Di Battista & Monica Pivetti

  2. Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences, The University of Chieti-Pescara, via dei Vestini 31, 66100, Chieti, Italy

    Brunilda Simaku

  3. Department of Information Engineering, The University of Padova, 35124, Padua, Italy

    Gloria Beraldo, Emanuele Menegatti & Michele Moro

  4. Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council of Italy, Rome, Italy

    Gloria Beraldo

Authors
  1. Silvia Di Battista
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  2. Monica Pivetti
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  3. Brunilda Simaku
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  4. Gloria Beraldo
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  5. Emanuele Menegatti
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  6. Michele Moro
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Silvia Di Battista .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Information Engineering and Mathematics, University of Siena, Siena, Italy

    Monica Malvezzi

  2. European Lab for Educational Technology, Edumotiva, Sparta, Greece

    Dimitris Alimisis

  3. Department of Information Engineering, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy

    Michele Moro

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Di Battista, S., Pivetti, M., Simaku, B., Beraldo, G., Menegatti, E., Moro, M. (2021). Educational Robotics Acceptance by Italian Teachers, Educators, Psychologists and Psychotherapists. In: Malvezzi, M., Alimisis, D., Moro, M. (eds) Education in & with Robotics to Foster 21st-Century Skills. EDUROBOTICS 2021. Studies in Computational Intelligence, vol 982. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77022-8_15

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