The City as Learning Lab: Spreading Technological Fluency Through Creative Robotics

城市即学习实验室(CALL)是一项全面的研发计划，旨在创造新的衡量受众在技术体验中的影响的指标；确定促进可持续社区项目的大学与社区合作的特征；并生产一套工具和资源，允许其他城市为独特的受众量身定做创造性的机器人项目。项目合作伙伴包括匹兹堡大学校外环境学习中心(UpClose)、卡内基梅隆大学机器人研究所的社区机器人教育和技术赋权(CREATE)实验室、佐治亚理工学院以及当地博物馆、社区组织和课外俱乐部。Call建立在匹兹堡现有的三个面向9-15岁受众的青年技术项目的基础上：机器人日记、邻里网络和机器人250。研究问题涉及非正式学习环境中的创造性过程，使用机器人技术吸引不同的受众，以及学生离开非正式学习环境并在家里或其他学习环境中应用他们的新知识和技能后技术流利性的变化。这项研究纳入了多达1000名项目参与者的数据。研究结果将为如何通过非正式的技术学习经验来衡量、支持和发展技术流畅性提供证据。项目成果包括CALL课程、工具包、受众影响力的新衡量标准，以及支持大学/社区合作的因素的确定。通过开发灵活的工具包，使其他社区能够适应和采用CALL技术、课程和活动，将在非正式技术教育中产生更广泛的影响。

The City as Learning Lab (CaLL) is a comprehensive research and development initiative designed to create new measures of audience impact in technology experiences; identify features of university-community collaboration that facilitate sustainable community programs; and produce a set of tools and resources that allow other cities to tailor creative robotics programs to unique audiences. Project partners include the University of Pittsburgh Center for Learning in Out-of-School Environments (UPCLOSE), the Community Robotics Education and Technology Empowerment (CREATE) lab at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute, and the Georgia Institute of Technology as well as local museums, community organizations, and afterschool clubs. CaLL builds on the work of three existing youth technology programs in Pittsburgh targeting audiences ages 9-15: the Robot Diaries, Neighborhood Nets, and Robot 250. Research questions relate to creative processes in informal learning settings, use of robotics to engage diverse audiences, and changes in technological fluency after students leave the informal learning setting and apply their new knowledge and skills at home or in other learning contexts. The research incorporates data from up to 1000 program participants. Findings will establish evidence for how technological fluency can be measured, supported, and developed through informal technology learning experiences. Project deliverables include a CaLL curriculum, toolkit, new measures of audience impact, and identification of factors that support university/community collaborations. Broader impacts in informal technology education will be achieved by developing flexible toolkits that allow other communities to adapt and adopt CaLL technologies, curricula, and activities.