Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides a helpful set of orientative notions, examples and future readings, methodological indications, and concrete suggestions to effectively apply autonomous technologies in classrooms so as to facilitate, support, and augment the work of current and future teachers and instructors. It presents the main theories of learning and education, the educational settings that best illustrate them, and how robots fit in them. The book considers the basis of human cognition, introducing the mechanisms and processes that are relevant to learning and to optimizing teaching practices, including those that involve robots. It offers an overview of the technological systems that support robotics. The book focuses on robots as tools, instrumental to facilitate and augment the learning process. It also focuses on robots as social agents, serving the learning process in humanoid roles such as teaching assistants or mentors.