Teaching Educational Robotics Blended and Online with Augmented Reality

This report informs about the possibilities of using Augmented Reality to teach Educational Robotics and is based on primary and secondary research. The report aims to explore the existing knowledge and possibilities of supporting Educational Robotics methods with Augmented Reality in the online and blended formats, especially in the contexts of pandemic-related restrictions to laboratories and equipment. The report describes the results of three studies, each providing a different perspective on the topic of using Augmented Reality to teach Educational Robotics. The literature review Teaching principles in Educational Robotics and Augmented Reality presents the analysis of 65 research articles that cover both Educational Robotics and Augmented Reality identified from the literature. The results of the review covered the following five topics: learning theories and concepts, teaching principles in Augmented Reality, teaching principles of Educational Robotics, programming robots in education, and teaching principles of Robotics and Augmented Reality, combination of both. The Review of Educational Robotics platforms and literature presents an in-depth analysis of 13 Educational Robotics platforms, exposing multiple indicators drawn from eight research articles identified from literature. The indicators we used in the analysis include cost, tangibility, durability, processor or microprocessor technology, software, hardware, available programming languages, support, community, available literature, fields of applications, and target age range. In particular, we suggest a complex indicator - friendliness to Augmented Reality, which consists of logical simulation-friendliness, visual simulation-friendliness, and selective exposure. The results of this review are concluded in a comparison matrix of the Educational Robotics platforms. The Group Concept Mapping study Augmented Reality for Educational Robotics presents the primary research data collected and analyzed for this report. In this study, we used the Group Concept Mapping research approach to collect and prioritize ideas on the topic of designing Augmented Reality to support Educational Robotics from 40 experts. We used advanced statistical techniques of multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis to analyze data. Collected ideas were grouped in six clusters: Educational ideas, Educational feedback, Requirements, modularity, and content, Hardware and design requirements, Educational Robotics platform selection, and Educational Robotics - Augmented Reality concept design. In addition, a list of ideas which were highly rated by the experts both in importance and feasibility is derived. The report summarizes the work undertaken during the initial phase of the project Educational Robotics at Schools Online with Augmented Reality - eROBSON: in 2021-2023. The report is published by the eROBSON consortium with a CC-BY-SA-4.0 license.