The project’s main scope was establishing the FERTILE design methodology for Artful Educational Robotics (ER) projects. An innovative methodology exploiting interdisciplinary learning between ER and Arts, leveraging ER simulators and cultivating Computational Thinking (CT) in blended learning contexts. Our explicit target group included educators of all educational levels, academic tutors, and pre-and in-service teachers involved in ER and Arts education. The FERTILE design methodology was expected to stimulate innovative teaching practices by designing and implementing Artful ER projects. An implicit target group were the students of those educators who were expected to creatively develop digital skills and computational thinking (CT) while implementing Artful ER projects. The FERTILE project's key objectives were: - Develop the FERTILE design methodology for Artful ER projects - Develop the FERTILE community platform for remote collaboration, design and implement Artful ER projects. - Produce training materials for the methodology and the community platform as OERs - Train educators to implement the FERTILE methodology in their courses - Support students in developing digital skills and CT by implementing Artful ER projects.
Integrating Educational Robotics (ER) in Informatics/ICT courses is essential for developing digital skills and Computational Thinking (CT), positively impacting student development. The disruption imposed on robotics implementation across all educational levels during the pandemic inspired the FERTILE initiative. The FERTILE project’s initiative addressed digital transformation in education by stimulating innovative learning and teaching practices for ER and Arts. Innovative practices involved promoting interdisciplinary learning while leveraging robotic simulators in a blended learning context. In this line, we developed the FERTILE design methodology guiding ER and Arts educators in co-designing Artful ER projects, i.e., interdisciplinary projects combining ER with Arts in a blended learning context aiming to cultivate CT skills. To facilitate the methodology’s adoption, we supported interdisciplinary collaboration by developing the FERTILE community platform as an online space for educators to co-design Artful ER projects and enact them with their students. Also, catering to educators’ needs for adequate training on the new teaching practices, we organised the FERTILE training, leveraging the FERTILE training material.