Robots for Kids: Exploring New Technologies for Learning

Within the sphere of children's learning and play, the concept of robot and the application of actual robots are undergoing a dramatic expansion. Here the term "robot" refers to a growing range of interactive devices-including toys, pets, assistants to the disabled, and overtly educational tools-which are being used in ways that are expected to have profound and beneficial effects on how our children develop and grow.

Robots for Kids: Exploring New Technologies for Learning opens with contributions from leading designers and researchers, each offering a unique perspective into the challenge of developing robots specifically for children. The second part is devoted to the stories of educators who work with children using these devices, exploring new applications and mapping their impact. Throughout the book, essays by children are included that discuss their first-hand experiences and ideas about robots. This is an engaging, entertaining, and insightful book for a broad audience, including HCI, AI, and robotics researchers in business and academia, new media and consumer product developers, robotics hobbyists, toy designers, teachers, and education researchers.

Features

• contributions by leaders in the fields of human-computer interaction and robotics
• product development stories told by leading designers and researchers in organizations such as Microsoft, MIT Media Lab, Disney, and Sony
• product application stories told by educators who are making robots a central part of kids' learning experiences, both in and out of the classroom
• essays by kids-some, users of robotic technology, and others, designers in their own right

Authors:

Allison Druin is assistant professor at the University of Maryland, both in the Institute for Advanced Computer Studies and the College of Education in the Department of Human Development. Her recent work has focused on developing-with children as her design partners-new robotic storytelling technologies. Druin is the editor of The Design of Children's Technology and coauthor of Designing Multimedia Environments for Children (John Wiley & Sons, 1996).

James Hendler is program manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and professor at the University of Maryland, where he heads the Autonomous Mobile Robotics Laboratory and the Advanced Information Technology Laboratory. Hendler is the author of a book, Integrating Marker-Passing and Problem Solving (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1988), and more than 100 technical papers in AI, robotics, intelligent agents, and high-performance computing.

Table of Contents:
Section I - New Robot Technologies for Kids
Chapter 1 - To Mindstorms and Beyond: Evolution of a Construction Kit for Magical Machines
Chapter 2 - Robot Entertainment
Chapter 3 - PETS: A Personal Electronic Teller of Stories
Chapter 4 - Bolts from the Blue: How Large Dreams Can Become Real Products
Section II - Innovative Approaches to Using Robots for Education
Chapter 5 - Teaching Diverse Learners Using Robotics
Chapter 6 - Technological Prayers: Parents and Children Exploring Robotics and Values
Chapter 7 - "So That'S what Pi is for!" and Other Epiphanies from Hands-on Robotics
Chapter 8 - Eat, Sleep, Robotics
Chapter 9 - RoboCamp: One Hands-On Week of Exploring Science Through Robotics
Section III - Future Visions
Chapter 10 - The Landscape of Robots for Kids

Related Titles:

Human-Computer Interaction
Artificial Intelligence
Information Technology