Teachers’ views on the use of robots and cloud services in education for sustainable development

Abstract

Various studies have shown the educational use of robots to be effective in science and mathematics education. However, such studies have not considered the psychological factors affecting users of the new technology, only external factors, such as the range of affordable robotic platforms and ready-for-lesson materials for a robot-assisted learning environment. It is necessary to extend the use of robots and cloud platforms to support education for sustainable development. To that end, this study first assessed the possibility of using robots in education for sustainable development by providing them to children from low-income families, since they often show abnormal behaviors and have few opportunities to access robots in education. The long-term changes in their behavior resulting from this outreach program were examined. Qualitative as well as quantitative methods were used to evaluate and discuss the changes in self-efficacy and learning attitudes of students during the year. Second, we proposed a technology acceptance model, termed RSAM, for teachers in robot-assisted learning environments with a cloud service platform. Acceptance factors were estimated using a weighted average method based on teacher focus group interviews. The challenges associated with robot-assisted learning considering cloud services are discussed.