Project
The european project Au(toma)tism is an experimental project on inclusive education, pre-school and elementary education with a very advanced technology such as humanoid robotics. We want to demonstrate to our community how humanoid robots can be a resource to conduct educational activities and improve the educational and inclusive outcome from the perspective of the learning process with all students.
The project aims to create educational activities dedicated to the education and inclusion of the students from 3 to 10 years old of primary and preschool through the use of humanoid robots. The teaching activities enable the teacher to work with the whole class and especially with students with special needs on the following skills: relational, logical and mathematical, social, narrative, and emotional.
The project involves two schools and a technology partner working together to create and test materials.
Activities are carried out in the following areas:
- Image matching: Associate objects or pictures with text. This activity can be used at a basic level for the student with autism spectrum disorder in order to develop basic visual-perceptual skills and to learn to abstract;
- Proprioception and Heteroception: for example, it helps them recognize left and right, different anatomical parts of the body, and recognize movements performed by the robot. Nao and Pepper are able to perform activities to enable pupils to improve their spatial skills.
Each activity is realized through the development of ad hoc software for the humanoid robots involved (Pepper and Nao) and is accompanied by a teacher’s manual outlining how to use it, how to test it, and what can be modified.
All the material produced is opensource, editable and available on this site.
I PARTNER
Scuola di Robotica
Scuola di Robotica is a non-profit association, recognized by the Education and Training Center by the Ministry of Education, Research and University. It aims to apply robotics in contexts where it is useful in improving the quality of life. Another important mission of Scuola di Robotica is to ensure that young people use digital and robotic tools in conscious, ethical and useful ways. For this reason, it has been organizing robotics and digital competitions among young people for years. These competitions always have useful goals for others, such as programming a robot to help the elderly or supporting the learning of young people with disabilities. For the past 20 years, it has been committed to integrating robotics into college education, from kindergarten through high school.
Secondo Istituto Comprensivo
The Second Comprehensive Institute is a first-cycle public school comprising three levels of education: kindergarten, primary school and secondary school. It is attended by about 1350 pupils in total, including about 40 with learning disabilities or psychophysical disabilities (students Sen). It is equipped with a makerspace with a robotics lab, a FabLab, computer, music and science labs, indoor and outdoor gyms and an auditorium. Each classroom is equipped with with interactive monitors or interactive whiteboards.
Erasmus+
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This communication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
