A Study Regarding Early Teacher'S Perception Toward the Introduction of Artificial Intelligence Applications and the Use of Educational Robots in the Teaching Process

Abstract

Over the years Artificial Intelligence (AI) has revolutionised not only industries but also education worldwide. With the 2020 pandemic, teachers around the world have had to reconfigure their teaching process, so AI products are becoming more and more prevalent in early childhood settings to enhance the learning and development of pre-schoolers. Although robotic toys (Bee-Bot, Robot Mouse, Robotbloq Qobo, Ozobot) have been used for several years as modern teaching tools, teachers in Romania face some difficulties in integrating them into the teaching process, either because of lack of adequate training in handling these tools or because of the infrastructure needed for this purpose. The use of robotic toys in kindergarten activities is a matter of teachers' perceptions, so they decide on the use of robotic toys in the teaching process and the types of activities that would allow their use for teaching purposes. In our study, we aimed to measure teachers' perceptions of children's use of robotic toys and their incidence of using them appropriately, in the teaching process, integrated into Experiential Domain Activities. In this way, we will be able to make correlations between the use of these tools and teachers' perceptions, highlighting the benefits they bring to the teaching process and consequently to the development of children in early education.