This book presents effective use of new technology to assist learning. The background is given for teaching today and describes how this has developed in Italian schools, universities, robotic training courses and national competitions, where students present projects involving new technology in their educational experiences. Examining such a successful practice model is the best way to learn and improve practice. It provides inspiration and motivation.
Our new challenge is not to adapt education to technology for the industrial age but to find out how it can be suitably employed to prepare us for working with intelligent machines in the future. Also, technology enables personalised learning for those we called gifted and talented as well as others with specific learning needs. This enables improvement in the quality of education across the ability range, so that everyone can contribute their talents to the social and working needs of the society in which they live.
This is the real challenge for education today, which is one of the Nobody-less Community World Network’s key strategies: How do we harmonize the industrial age needs with those of education?1
The European Pole of Knowledge Network2 demonstrates an effective example of independent, free thinking in education, which helps children become future creative professionals in the most advanced technology fields, as well as promoting prosocial values. It also facilitates the learning processes suitable for the new industrial system. To achieve this goal, the Italian network provides teacher training in Educational Robotics to enhance awareness and introduce the approaches that will embed this new concept of education and fit it into a new “clean work” future strategy that is designed to improve the lives of all human beings in the world.
The robotics, in this context, provide a means of interaction within our institutional systems and act as facilitator of an harmonic collaboration between human life, individual needs, productive methods and nature. How is this possible? Educational robotics is a perfect tool to promote the integration of technology within a new concept of education with prosocial values. Any future scientific job, will be only possible if respecting natural resources and
Integrating three European projects with the aim of reducing the use of resources – energy and pollution.
Using robotics as a serious educational tool that can motivate learners to prepare effectively for the new scientific era when they must work with and alongside intelligent machines, in harmony with nature.
Demonstrating how robotics can help nature to regain importance and through activities with robots educate the new generation in “good technology”. This respects nature, starting from an increased awareness of the origin and use of materials, like trees, and how best to employ them to enhance the world order.
Three projects, funded by the Erasmus+ European programme have formed a strategic partnership with adult education to support policy reform for social inclusion and have included a multi-discipline approach to reach this goal. An initiative, called the 3D Printer project has been promoted in primary schools with engineering support.3 The 3D printers are using natural materials instead of plastic, which is now a serious polluter of land and sea. The Robotics versus Bullying project promotes the use of robotics to prevent an escalating social problem, as technology connections anonymize users to hugely increase mental abuse and cause emotional distress.4 At the same time, this regular use of robotics enables programme coding to be acquired, with the prosocial values charter of the Nobodyless Network and School Plastic Free Movement project. The science in the primary schools is encouraging technology that can preserve our future life and enable time-consuming routines to be completed by machines to allow human beings to be involved in higher-level work.5
All these projects, that are widespread in schools across the Europole Network, are integrating the necessary technology for the industrial modern age with values preserving human identity and integrity. They enhance awareness that technology, without prosocial values, cannot facilitate the effective human transition towards a possible reasonable future for those living on our planet. Therefore, teaching cannot detach education from technology. Also, technology cannot be promoted outside of human values. The Italian experience is stimulating many countries in the world to believe in a better human
Stefano Cobello National Network of Educational Institutions