An Experimental Methodology for Introducing Educational Robotics and Storytelling in Therapeutical Activities for Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Abstract

Educational robotics is a valuable tool in education and therapy for children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD), especially when introduced in activities, combined with gamification and storytelling elements. However, the lack of familiarity of therapists with the technologies involved makes their widespread introduction difficult and leads to case-specific rather than more generalizable methods. In this paper, we present an experimental methodology which provides a guide for the introduction of these elements in therapeutical activities with children with NDD. Providing a common framework reduces the gap between the different expertise of therapists, educators, and engineers. While establishing a common vocabulary and objectives, the methodology provides a guide for designing activities and evaluating their therapeutic effectiveness. We provide an example with a pilot study using a low-cost robot (Ozobot) in a therapeutic environment. Results regarding the children’s task involvement, level of attention, and use of social skills were positive. In addition, the attitude of some children changed throughout the sessions, improving frustration tolerance. The discussion of the pilot study provides clues for improving future implementations of the presented methodology, which serves as a framework for the design of future experiments that include therapeutic activities with educational robotics, gamification, and storytelling.

The Participation of Students with Autism in Educational Robotics: A Scoping Review

“…Cooperation scenarios (Kollar et al 2006) recommend structuring the interaction process to facilitate the participation of students with autism in the ER learning environment. This structure is guided by specific collaboration scripts and rules defined to support teamwork (Caci 2004;De Franca Monteiro et al 2020;Di Lieto et al 2020;Fachantidis et al 2020;Nanou et al 2022;Papazoglou et al 2021;Perez-Vazquez et al 2022;Peribañez et al 2023).…”

“…ER activities have shown positive impacts in various domains, including: a) the improvement of social status (Di Lieto et al 2020;Fachantidis et al 2020;Papazoglou et al 2021), b) the enhancement of participation and collaboration (Costa et al 2010;Di Lieto et al 2020;Nanou et al 2022;Papazoglou et al 2021;Peribañez et al 2023;Prummer et al 2022;Tsiomi and Nanou 2020;Wainer et al 2010), c) inclusion (De Franca Monteiro et al 2020;Di Lieto et al 2020;Fachantidis et al 2020;Papazoglou et al 2021;Poletti 2023), and d) cognitive improvement (Albo-Canals et al 2013;Arias and Madrid 2017;Arshad et al 2020;Caci 2004;De Franca Monteiro et al 2020;Lindsay 2011;Silva et al 2012).…”