SBIR Phase I: KinderBots: robotics and programming in early childhood education

This SBIR Phase I project proposes to develop a developmentally appropriate robotic construction kit specifically designed for early childhood education (PreK-2) for teaching the components of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics), especially the "T" of technology and the "E" of engineering, which have been the most neglected for this age segment. Recent research on educational robotics has not focused on the foundational years. However, both from an economic and a developmental standpoint, educational interventions that begin in early childhood are associated with lower costs and more durable effects. The proposed work is consistent with the increasing Federal efforts to focus on early childhood education. It is organized around several technical and business questions: 1. What design principles inform creation of a developmentally appropriate robotic kit to be manufactured at low-cost? 2. What are the most feasible technical mechanisms for the robotic kit to be programmed by young children through the use of tangible blocks without a computer screen? 3. What manufacturing processes are needed for scaling from single prototypes to large-scale volume? 4. What are the outcomes of user testing with children, teachers and parents in school and home settings? 5. What is a sustainable commercialization plan? The broader/commercial impact of this proposal is that it will contribute to the emerging field of robotics in education by addressing the needs of an educational segment, early childhood, that today lacks the necessary tools for teaching technology and engineering in a developmentally appropriate way. This work comes at a time of re-envisioning early childhood education at the Federal level, and an accepted need to develop innovative new technologies and approaches for STEM. This interdisciplinary proposal makes contributions to the fields of learning technologies, computer science education, early childhood education and human-computer interaction. At the same time it provides an opportunity to address the needs of a target audience that, according to the latest US Census, consists of approximately 13.3 million children. Given the size of the industry devoted to early childhood education, the potential commercial impact is significant.