ABSTRACT
KIBO is a tangible robotics kit developed by Bers’ DevTech research group that is widely used by children around the world. With KIBO, children can code a robot to perform a dance, recreate part of a story, bring to life a dream pet, and more. KIBO is made of a robot body with easily connected parts like wheels, motors, and sensors, and is coded using a language of tangible interlocking wooden blocks that code for simple movements as well as complex repeat and conditional statements. This chapter begins with an illustrative vignette about how children can use KIBO, and then describes the history of how researchers developed and launched the robot kit. Following this, the chapter offers an in-depth description of the various features in the KIBO programming language, with an emphasis on the design elements that make it a technological “playground,” a technological tool that supports children’s engagement with behaviors from the Positive Technological Development framework.
