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A Literature Review of Educational Robotics and Early Childhood Education

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Technological Innovations in Education

Abstract

Educational robotics is an emerging field with school aged children; however, it is relatively new to the field of early childhood education and care. This means that the use of educational robotics to help support and develop learning with young children has not been researched extensively. As such, teachers may push back on the use of educational robotics in the classroom or may not have the skills to support the learning of young children. There is a growing need to understand current research around educational robotics and early childhood education, especially in prior to school settings (children aged birth to five years). Across the literature however, little attention has been given to acknowledging the use of educational robotics in early childhood education, especially given the difference of the early childhood education context compared to formal schooling. This article draws together the brief research literature that is available to provide an international snapshot of current trends for educational robotics in early childhood education and care settings by answering the question—what are the current trends in research for educational robotics and early childhood education and care. The findings from the review have the potential to provide a reflection of educational robotics while also prompting ways forward for the development of computational thinking with young children. Key messages are given for working with the very youngest of children to ensure that they are also supported when we talk about educational robotics.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Griffith University, Mount Gravatt, QLD, Australia

    Susanne Garvis

  2. La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Therese Keane

Authors
  1. Susanne Garvis
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  2. Therese Keane
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Susanne Garvis .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Griffith Institute for Educational Research, Griffith University, Mt. Gravatt, QLD, Australia

    Susanne Garvis

  2. School of Education, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Therese Keane

Appendix

Appendix

Year

Authors

Title

Journal

2019

Neumann, Michelle M

Social Robots and Young Children’s Early Language and Literacy Learning

Early Childhood Education Journal

2021

Fridberg, Marie; Redfors, Andreas

Teachers’ and children's use of words during early childhood STEM teaching supported by robotics

International Journal of Early Years Education

2020

Turan, Sedat; AydoÄźdu, Fatih

Effect of coding and robotic education on pre-school children’s skills of scientific process

Education and Information Technologies

2020

Weng, Jiayi; Li, Hui

Early technology education in China: A case study of Shanghai

Early Child Development and Care

2019

Bers, Marina Umaschi

Coding as another language: a pedagogical approach for teaching computer science in early childhood

Journals of Computers in Education

2020

Çiftci, Serdar; Bildiren, Ahmet

The effect of coding courses on the cognitive abilities and problem-solving skills of preschool children

Computer Science Education

2020

Hunsaker, Enoch; West, Richard E

Designing Computational Thinking and Coding Badges for Early Childhood Educators

TechTrends

2020

Otterborn, Anna; Schönborn, Konrad J; Hultén, Magnus

Investigating Preschool Educators’ Implementation of Computer Programming in Their Teaching Practice

Early Childhood Education Journal

2021

Wang, X. Christine; Choi, Youngae; Benson, Keely; Eggleston, Corinne; Weber, Deborah

Teacher's Role in Fostering Preschoolers’ Computational Thinking: An Exploratory Case Study

Early Education and Development

2021

Brainin, Einat;

Shamir, Adina;

Eden, Sigal

Robot programming intervention for promoting spatial relations, mental rotation and visual memory of kindergarten children

Journal of Research on Technology in Education

2021

Wang, Xin;

Yin, Nian;

Zhang, Zhinan

Smart design of intelligent companion toys for preschool children

Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing

2019

Clarke-Midura, Jody; Lee, Victor R; Shumway, Jessica F; Hamilton, Megan M

The building blocks of coding: a comparison of early childhood coding toys

Information and Learning Science

2019

Nam, Ki Won;

Kim, Hye Jeong; Lee, Suyoun

Connecting Plans to Action: The Effects of a Card-Coded Robotics Curriculum and Activities on Korean Kindergartners

Asia Pacific Educational Researcher

2021

Clarke-Midura, Jody; Silvis, Deborah; Shumway, Jessica F; Lee, Victor R; Kozlowski, Joseph S

Developing a kindergarten computational thinking assessment using evidence-centered design: the case of algorithmic thinking

Computer Science Education

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Garvis, S., Keane, T. (2023). A Literature Review of Educational Robotics and Early Childhood Education. In: Garvis, S., Keane, T. (eds) Technological Innovations in Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-2785-2_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-2785-2_6

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-99-2784-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-99-2785-2

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