Robótica educativa como estrategia didáctica para favorecer el desarrollo cognitivo en los estudiantes de educación inicial II

Abstract

Technological tools today have been of great help to teach a class, but in many cases not knowing how to use or manage them has caused the teacher to continue in the traditional-routine circle resulting in a demotivating environment for the student. On the other hand, educational robotics has emerged as a new learning method that is being used in many schools and universities around the world to such an extent that it has come to be considered a teaching strategy that allows the student to learn through play producing a pleasant and friendly environment. In view of this, the importance of using educational robotics for the development of students in all stages of their school life was born. The purpose of this research was to show the progress of an experience with the use of educational robotics, it was aimed at the students of the "B" parallel II of the Sulima Garcia Valarezo school in the Machala canton with the purpose of favoring the cognitive development of attention, memory, conceptual development, receptive-expressive communication, reasoning and school skills of the infant. For the fulfillment of the purpose, a series of activities were carried out using the educational robot called Danisma as a playful and didactic tool that allowed achieving the established purpose. This study focused on a quantitative (survey and observation sheet) and qualitative (interviews) research, using the Design-Based methodology, which proposes to innovate the educational action by introducing a tool to transform learning. In many cases it is difficult to create a work environment that satisfies all expectations; therefore, planning and putting into action playful activities with educational robots allows the student to reach that strength of motivation to carry out school activities. In this study it became evident that Robotics is a fundamental element that should be exploited by education since it favors cognitive development using it from an early age in children from 3-5 years old, it consists of 4 stages developing their skills, competencies and talent. For this reason it is essential that the teacher formulates, adapts and applies innovative didactic strategies that serve as didactic tools, taking into consideration that each student acquires learning in a different way. For the development of the prototype, the five phases of the ADDIE model were applied. In the design stage, the educational robot was captured in the Autodesk Tinkercad tool, thus allowing to have a clear idea of the development of Danisma. Once Danisma was physically created, the authors began to plan the activities to be carried out in the first experience with the beneficiaries, in this case the teacher in charge of the Initial II students intervened. It should be noted that the educational robot underwent some necessary changes to improve its operation (position of the boxes, colors and sound) suggested by the experts in educational technology and the teacher of the institution. In experience II, once the adjustments were made, the educational robot was experimented by 5 students of 4 years old. Arduino was used as programming software. In the development of the experience, positive results have been observed, both in the experts, students and teachers who interacted with the educational robot. This research aimed to inform the importance of using educational robotics as a didactic strategy, oriented to the learning process of primary and secondary colors; in turn favored cognitive development in students. To conclude, through this research it was proved that educational robotics in the initial school level, favors cognitive skills allowing students to learn concepts of new words, identify and pronounce correctly the primary and secondary colors.