The FERTILE project aims to support educators across various educational contexts in designing innovative Educational Robotics learning activities by integrating simulators and remote collaboration into the educational practice. The innovation lies in promoting the collaboration of different disciplines’ teachers to design robotics activities for blended learning. Through an interdisciplinary approach to Art and Educational Robotics, the ultimate goal is to cultivate students’ Computational Thinking systematically.
Actions included in the project:
- The FERTILE methodology
To develop a methodology for designing artistic educational robotics projects for blended learning toward cultivating students’ Computational Thinking skills. We focus on addressing how Computational Thinking relates to problem-solving and creativity in Arts and Educational Robotics. To determine what experiential learning can be actualised in the classroom and what should students do remotely. To suggest digital tools that promote exchanging experiences and ideas for implementing an artistic educational robotics project.
- The FERTILE Community Platform
To develop a platform supporting educators to design and share learning activities based on the FERTILE methodology and students to implement them. We focus on addressing how and where different disciplines’ educators having backgrounds in Information Technology or Arts can meet to share ideas and materials on designing and implementing artful educational projects.
- The FERTILE educational material
To develop training material as OER that will be freely available through the FERTILE platform. To communicate the FERTILE methodology and provide exemplary educational robotics projects for various educational contexts as a starting point for its implementation.
- The FERTILE training
To disseminate the project results through experiential teachers’ training in the FERTILE methodology towards designing artistic educational robotics projects in various educational contexts. The aim is to trigger the development of an online educator community sharing a common interest in the interdisciplinary approach of Educational Robotics and Art.
Project Τitle: FERTILE: Artful Educational Robotics to promote Computational Thinking
Project Duration: 3 years (February 2022 – January 2025)
Project URL: https://fertile-project.eu
Project Framework & Funding: Erasmus+ Strategic partnership in Higher education. Total budget 353.090,00 Euro and UniWA budget 96.799,00 Euro.
Scientific coordinator (UNIWA): Cleo Sgouropoulou
Consortium – Partners:
Coordinator: University of West Attica, Department of Informatics and Computer Engineering, Greece.
Partners:
- Univerzita Komenskeho V Bratislave, Slovakia
- Univerzita Karlova, Czech Republic
- Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain
- Universidad de Valladolid, Spain
Research Results:
- The FERTILE Methodology
- The FERTILE community platform
- The FERTILE educational material
- The FERTILE teacher training