Robotics and Virtual Participation
Bridging the gap
A wide range of topics will be discussed at this conference, and the process is expected to improve the knowledge transfer among the computing/technical community and the educational community. The workshops on Special Education Software and Educational Robotics have a highly practical orientation, and the event's organizers anticipate that they will become meeting points that demonstrate how software can be used to support special learning needs.
ICTs for voice recognition and speech-synthesis technology is most effectively integrated into instruction when educators and education decision makers develop detailed plans to deploy technology as a tool to increase learning opportunities. ICTs not only provides a vehicle for teachers to create individually differentiated learning materials for pupils, but it can also, if used sensitively, support the inclusion of pupils with disabilities into everyday classroom activities. ICTs can support a range of learning needs through supportive software, devices to enable/ improve educational access and systems such as voice recognition and speech synthesis.
Robotics for learners and teachers
The goal of Educational Robotics (ER) is to allow the acquisition of general skills in problem solving and scientific concepts in domains like experimental science and technology. ER involves uses of computers to acquire, analyze, control, and model different physical worlds not reduced to screen simulation but with real device control. Pedagogical robots can be very different devices like a computer that controls a physical experiment or a modular micro-robot activated by computer.
The educational strategies developed are those most often linked to theories of constructivism and refer to active pedagogy. Learning environments in ER offer the opportunity to take up an economic and educational challenge of enabling young children - and also adults - to adapt to new technologies and use them to solve problems in various activities.
Virtual Participations
For those researchers whose work is directly related to the conference topics but who are unable to attend it personally, a Virtual Participation modality will be established that has with the same validity as the "physical" one in terms of certificates or publications, for example.
For this kind of presentations, authors will be requested to send "virtual posters" as Power Point® presentations. These will be shown on the PCs available in the posters rooms, as well as the corresponding paper. Every virtual paper/poster will have an electronic forum associated with it that will allow interested researchers and authors to e-interact, even after the end of the conference. Authors interested in virtual participation should indicate their interest both on the abstract and the pre-registration form. Pre-registration is now open.