SBIR Phase I: KinderBots: robotics and programming in early childhood education

SBIR 第一阶段：KinderBots：幼儿教育中的机器人和编程

• 批准号: 1345446
• 负责人: Mitchell Rosenberg
• 金额: $ 15万
• 依托单位: KinderLab Robotics, Inc.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-01-01 至 2014-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1345446&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; KinderBots; robotics; programming

This SBIR Phase I project proposes to develop a developmentally appropriate robotic construction kit specifically designed for early childhood education (PreK-2) for teaching the components of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics), especially the "T" of technology and the "E" of engineering, which have been the most neglected for this age segment. Recent research on educational robotics has not focused on the foundational years. However, both from an economic and a developmental standpoint, educational interventions that begin in early childhood are associated with lower costs and more durable effects. The proposed work is consistent with the increasing Federal efforts to focus on early childhood education. It is organized around several technical and business questions: 1. What design principles inform creation of a developmentally appropriate robotic kit to be manufactured at low-cost? 2. What are the most feasible technical mechanisms for the robotic kit to be programmed by young children through the use of tangible blocks without a computer screen? 3. What manufacturing processes are needed for scaling from single prototypes to large-scale volume? 4. What are the outcomes of user testing with children, teachers and parents in school and home settings? 5. What is a sustainable commercialization plan?The broader/commercial impact of this proposal is that it will contribute to the emerging field of robotics in education by addressing the needs of an educational segment, early childhood, that today lacks the necessary tools for teaching technology and engineering in a developmentally appropriate way. This work comes at a time of re-envisioning early childhood education at the Federal level, and an accepted need to develop innovative new technologies and approaches for STEM. This interdisciplinary proposal makes contributions to the fields of learning technologies, computer science education, early childhood education and human-computer interaction. At the same time it provides an opportunity to address the needs of a target audience that, according to the latest US Census, consists of approximately 13.3 million children. Given the size of the industry devoted to early childhood education, the potential commercial impact is significant.

这个SBIR一期项目建议开发一个专门为幼儿教育（PreK-2）设计的适合发展的机器人建造套件，用于教授STEM（科学，技术，工程，数学）的组成部分，特别是技术的“T”和工程的“E”，这是这个年龄段最被忽视的部分。最近关于教育机器人的研究并没有集中在基础阶段。然而，从经济和发展的角度来看，从儿童早期开始的教育干预费用较低，效果更持久。这项提议的工作与联邦政府日益关注幼儿教育的努力是一致的。它是围绕几个技术和业务问题组织起来的：什么样的设计原则可以为低成本制造的机器人套件的开发提供信息？2. 什么是最可行的技术机制，让幼儿通过使用有形的积木，而不是电脑屏幕来编程机器人套件？3. 从单一原型到大规模生产需要哪些制造工艺？4. 在学校和家庭环境中对儿童、教师和家长进行用户测试的结果是什么？5. 什么是可持续的商业化计划？该提案的更广泛/商业影响是，它将通过解决教育部分的需求，即儿童早期，为新兴的机器人教育领域做出贡献，目前缺乏必要的工具，以一种适合发展的方式来教授技术和工程。这项工作是在联邦一级重新设想幼儿教育的时候进行的，并且公认需要为STEM开发创新的新技术和方法。这一跨学科的建议在学习技术、计算机科学教育、幼儿教育和人机交互领域做出了贡献。与此同时，它提供了一个机会来满足目标受众的需求，根据最新的美国人口普查，大约有1330万儿童。考虑到幼儿教育行业的规模，潜在的商业影响是巨大的。