Case Studies Using Technology-Integrated Learning in Context

#### **Chapter 5**

## Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots Increase Early Literacy Rates

*Jessica Redcay*

#### **Abstract**

The research study aimed to examine the influence of a new model for reading instruction combining Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots on first-grade students' phonics skills and attitudes toward reading. Ludus Reading phonics instruction involves explicit and systematic lessons with underpinnings in play-based, technology, and multisensory techniques. RoboKind™ Robots are facially expressive, assistive humanoid robots that can be coded to talk, move, and display images on their chest screen. The RoboKind™ Robots were programmed to act as teaching assistants and help the teacher during the Ludus Reading phonic lesson. A quasi-experimental pre-post design was used to examine three research questions comparing the differences between pre-and post-scores when using Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots in terms of the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELSⓇ) Correct Letter Sound (CLS), DIBELSⓇ Whole Words Read (WWR), and Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (ERAS) scores between the group receiving Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots instruction and the control group. The null hypotheses for Research Questions 1–3 were rejected. The results supported the use of Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots to teach phonics because the experimental group demonstrated a statistically significant increase in their ability to decode and a positive attitude toward reading.

**Keywords:** early literacy, humanoid robots, science of reading, phonics, decoding, multisensory learning, early intervention, play-based learning

#### **1. Introduction**

Visualize this … a first-grade teacher brings five first-graders with the lowest reading scores in her class to the cafeteria to receive a new kind of reading tutoring. Each student is greeted by a pre-service teacher with a table set up with hands-on learning materials and a humanoid robot as a teaching assistant throughout the lesson. The student receives explicit, systematic, and one-on-one phonics instruction for the next half-hour. At one table, a student, Sophie, is looking at the image of a mouth on the chest screen of the robot and listening to the robot state, "The letter a is a vowel, and the short sound is /ă/. Look at my mouth. Now you try it." At another table, a student, Davin, is writing closed-syllable words with an invisible ink pen and shining the light

on the letters to decode the different phonemes. As the half-hour unfolds, students practice their phonics skills using various multisensory strategies across the various learning modalities, also known as I-VAKT (Interactive Technology, Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, and Tactile) strategies. Students are eager to participate in the lesson as they self-select materials from a choice menu to practice the targeted skill for the lesson. Students giggle as they receive rewards and praise from the robots throughout the lesson. Students activate the four literacy domains (speaking, listening, writing, and reading) as they complete various interactive activities. After practicing sound and word recognition in isolation, students apply it as they write their own dictated sentences and decode a passage. Instead of appealing to the teacher, as they read the passage, students attend to the words and tap out the sounds in them until they figure it out on their own. After reading a passage, a student smiles confidently and states, "Wait? I didn't know that I could read." Then the teacher returns to take the students back to class, and the students sigh and ask if they can stay longer because they are enjoying learning to read.

The previous scenario occurred 11 times at an elementary school in Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States. Pre-service teachers at Methodist University enrolled in a reading foundation course and helped facilitate the tutoring. The pre-service teachers learned to bridge the Science of Reading (body of research about how students learn to read) and practice. The students learned how Ludus Reading is aligned with the Science of Reading and how to use RoboKind™ Robots as teaching assistants. Ludus Reading was developed by the instructor of the course, Dr. Jessica D. Redcay. Ludus is a Latin word that means play; subsequently, students learn phonics through explicit and systematic lessons using technology, play-based, and multisensory strategies. Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ partnered to create an app used by the pre-service teacher that prompts the robots to deliver content and rewards 10 times throughout the half-hour lessons.

#### **2. Literature review**

#### **2.1 Illiteracy and alliteracy issues**

In 1955, Rudolph Flesch explained the crisis of illiterate Americans stemmed from a lack of phonics instruction in schools [1]. Thirty years later, Jonathan Kozol continued recognizing the problem by publishing "Illiterate America" [2]. Seventeen years later, The Reading First Initiative provided \$1 billion to schools to teach phonics, and 5 years later, a research study demonstrated that regardless of funding, students did not improve in learning to read [3]. Sixty-seven years after Flesch identified an illiteracy crisis in America, 65 percent of U.S. fourth graders scored below grade level in reading [4], and more than 43 million adults in the United States cannot read or write above a third-grade level [5].

Further, of the 43 million adults in the U.S. who are literate, only 23% read a book or a part of a book over the last year [6]. In addition to having a culture of illiteracy (an illiterate person is unable to read), the U.S. has an issue with aliteracy (an aliterate person can read but does not select to read). Illiteracy rates span beyond the United States. In the world, 781 million people are illiterate (cannot read a single word) or functionally illiterate (with a basic or below basic ability to read) [7].

The high illiteracy rates in adults still need to reflect the impact COVID-19 in 2020 will have on future adult literacy rates. A Stanford study found that second and

#### *Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots Increase Early Literacy Rates DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110603*

third graders in the United States are 30 percent behind the expected typical year of learning due to the pandemic. The researchers explained that teachers need to find practices that will accelerate learning for the students who have fallen behind [8].

A new approach to teaching phonics is needed to accelerate students' learning. The effectiveness of new reading programs needs to be examined. The research study explored the effectiveness of the new reading approach that combined Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots in terms of the students' phonics scores before and after the intervention between an experimental and control group. In addition to creating literate students, students need to develop positive attitudes toward reading, so the students' attitudes were also considered.

#### *2.1.1 Early intervention*

Early Interventions need to be implemented because research has demonstrated that 75% of third graders who struggled with reading continued to struggle in the subsequent years in schools [9]. Research has shown that children need intervention (systematic, structured, and explicit teaching focusing on a targeted area of need) early (first 2 years of school). Essentially, students need explicit, systematic phonics instruction before age six because 95% of students will learn to read by the end of first grade with proper instruction. The remaining 5% of students will need additional reading support in the future [10]. Out of the students identified with learning disabilities, 80% have reading disabilities [11]. With effective Early Intervention, most reading problems could have been prevented [12]. The research study focused on supporting first-grade students identified by the teacher as having the greatest reading need. If students are provided with targeted, Early Intervention before the end of first grade, it is possible to offset future reading problems for the student.

#### *2.1.2 Neuroplasticity and improving reading performance*

The risk of future reading struggles decreases when students receive effective instruction in kindergarten and first grade. The good news exists for struggling readers, regardless of age, because the brain is pliable. Neuroplasticity is the idea that explains that students' brains can change for the better or worse. The brain can be re-wired when an effective teacher can create new neuropathways that help change students' attitudes and knowledge about reading [13].

Reading research demonstrates that reading performance increases for students when students are provided with an increase in books and opportunities to read. In addition, reading performance increases when students receive quality reading instruction from a well-trained teacher and a quality program [14]. According to the National Reading Panel Report reading instruction needs to include the five pillars of reading: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, Fluency, and Comprehension. Further, research has demonstrated that programs are effective when the phonics instruction is taught in a systematic (sequential) and explicit (direct) manner [15]. The findings are consistent with the recommendations by the International Dyslexia Association that students need to participate in programs based on Structured Literacy. Structured Literacy involves teaching students to decode words explicitly and systematically. Students learn systematically, so the content follows a logical order that builds from the easiest and most basic concepts and builds based on the previous concepts learned. Explicit instruction involves directly teaching concepts between the student-teacher instead of naturally learning concepts [16].

#### *Technology in Learning*

School leaders sometimes equate explicit, systematic phonics instruction with the need to adopt a scripted reading program. However, research has demonstrated that scripted reading programs have a negative impact on teachers because it often undermines their ability to teach. Further, studies have shown that students who received instruction from scripted programs lagged behind their peers who did not use a scripted program [17]. A need exists for a program to provide teachers with guidelines and prompts systematically and explicitly without telling teachers what to say and without taking away differentiated learning opportunities for students. Further, the program needs to provide clear directions to be implemented with fidelity. Ludus Reading is crafted to provide teachers with clear guidelines to ensure that the instruction is delivered explicitly, and the program is sequential or systematic. The lesson plans are structured using a Gradual Release of Responsibility Model for teachers because scaffolds (supports) are provided if the teacher needs the information. Still, the teachers are not told what to say. Even though the program is not scripted, there are a couple of embedded scripts for the robot or teacher to ensure the instruction is taught with fidelity and accuracy. When Ludus Reading was used in combination with RoboKind™ Robots, then explicit instruction was provided by the teacher and robot. Whereas the robot was programmed with a script, the teachers were treated as professionals who were provided with targets and guidance but not told what to say.

#### **2.2 Science of reading and Ludus reading**

Ludus Reading has underpinnings in the Science of Reading. The Science of Reading (SoR) refers to the body of research about students learning to read. The research consists of thousands of studies, billions of dollars, and at least five decades of research. The research helps informs teachers about the best practices for helping students learn to read. The researchers have developed similar ideas about how students learn and do not learn to read. Even though thousands of studies can inform teaching practices, students are still not learning to read. Therefore, the goal of Ludus Reading is to use existing research and implement it in better ways to help students learn to read and enjoy learning to read.

#### *2.2.1 Reading theory and research*

Various Functional MRIs of the brain have demonstrated how students are learning to read. People naturally learn to speak but reading has to be taught. Reading occurs within the Four-Part Processor on the left hemisphere of the brain. The Phonological Processor and Orthographic Processor work together for students to decode words. The phonological Processor uses sounds (phonemes) to process words. Orthography refers to the writing system. Orthographic Processors involve recognizing the letters and combinations of letters within the written language. After decoding the word, the word moves to the meaning and context processors [18]. Tolman's Hourglass further explains the two processors (phonology and orthography from the Four-Part Processor. The top of Tolman's Hourglass is referred to as phonological awareness. The levels range from early (syllable, alliteration, onset-rime), basic (segmenting, blending), and advanced (deleting, substituting, and reversing). Phonological Awareness directly connects to phonics and transitions learning into orthographic processing (the ability to understand the spelling system) [19].

In 1986, Gough and Tunmer introduced The Simple View of Reading (SVR) formula. The formula is used to explain the two basic components of reading. The SVR

#### *Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots Increase Early Literacy Rates DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110603*

is word reading (decoding) x language comprehension = reading comprehension. If one part of the equation is zero when you multiply, you will not successfully have a student comprehend the text [20]. Scarborough's Reading Rope is a visual representation that expands upon The Simple View of Reading. Scarborough's Reading Rope states that reading consists of language comprehension (background knowledge, vocabulary, language structure, verbal reasoning, literacy knowledge) and word recognition (phonological awareness, decoding, and sight recognition). The two parts come together to help develop skilled readers [21].

In 1995, Linnea Ehri introduced the concept that students' progress through four phases of language development. The Pre-Alphabetic Phase involves students understanding the general concepts of print and incidental visual cues. The Partial-Alphabetic Phase involves students developing phonological and phonemic awareness skills. Students recognize syllables, onsets-rimes, initial phoneme matching, letter names, and some letters. The Full-Alphabetic Phase involves students segmenting and blending 3–4 phonemes. Students understand an initial set of phonemegrapheme correspondences and start to recognize words automatically. During the Consolidated-Alphabetic Phase, students develop advanced phonemic awareness skills. In addition, students focus on orthographic mapping of words, phonemegrapheme links, phonograms (word families), syllable patterns, and morphemes, and increase automatic word recognition [18]. Ludus Reading has a systematic approach, and the lessons help students progress through Ehri's Phases.

#### *2.2.2 Phonics*

Orthography means writing system. English uses a deep morphophonemic (opaque) orthographic system. English includes morphemes (meaningful parts) and speech sounds (phonemes). The English writing system has evolved over time. It started with the earliest form of writing (pictograms) from the Egyptians (5000 BCE). It developed with the Phoenician Alphabet in 2000 BCE; 19 of our 26 letters are from it. Over time the language evolved with the Greek (800 BCE), Ancient Roman (600 BCE), and Modern Roman (1840 CE) [22]. Since English uses a deep morphophonemic orthographic system, it takes readers time to develop skills to read sentences like: "It can be understood through tough thorough thought though."

There are 26 letters in the English language alphabet and 44 different phonemes (sounds). A grapheme is the smallest writing unit to represent phonemes [23]. Phonics instruction involves matching phonemes and graphemes. Approximately 84% of English language words follow phonetic patterns [24]. There are two types of letters: Vowels and Consonants. Vowels are open, unobstructed speech sounds. There are 18 vowel phonemes. The vowels are a, e, i, o, and u. Sometimes y and w. The schwa is a lazy, unstressed sound commonly occurring in unstressed syllables. Examples of a schwa include a, the, of, and away. Students learn the vowels best when they are organized within the Vowel Valley. The Vowel Valley refers to the arrangement of vowels to match the formation of the mouth and jawline [25]. Vowels are short or long based on the type of syllable. Short vowel sounds are denoted with a curve above them. This symbol is called a breve. The long line above the vowel is referred to as a macron and represents a long vowel sound. A consonant is an obstructed sound with teeth, tongues, or lips. When two consonants keep their sound but blend together, we refer to this as a consonant blend (ex., bl, cr). When two consonants come together to make a new sound, called a consonant digraph, and three letters together are called a trigraph. Ludus Reading involves explicitly teaching the students the different phonemes and

graphemes. Students focus on their mouth and jaw positioning when pronouncing the sounds. Further, Ludus Reading includes the Vowel Valley technique to help students pronounce the sounds. The RoboKind™ Robots were used throughout the lesson to display images of how the mouth looks connected to the different sounds.

Students learn best when the six syllable types are introduced. Closed Syllables end in a Consonant (C), and the Vowel (V) is short (CVC, VC). Open syllable words end in a vowel, which is long (CV). The silent e makes the vowel long (CVCe). A vowel team makes the long vowel sound in the word (CVVC). R-Controlled vowels do not allow the vowel sound to be heard in the word. The [le] comes after a consonant for the final syllable type. Teachers start with closed syllable types and short vowel sounds before moving on to long ones [26]. Students learn the concept best when a closed door represents the consonant at the end of a word. The consonant closes the door, and the vowel is short in the word. The vowel makes a long sound when the door opens (no consonant). Ludus Reading involves teaching the different syllable types, and the students learn the closed and open-door techniques. The RoboKind™ Robots displayed different syllable types on the chest screen and explained them further to the students.

#### *2.2.3 Play-based learning*

The idea for "Ludus" emerged from Huizinga's Homo Ludens: A Study of Play Element in Culture. Huizinga described play (Ludus is Latin for play) as essential to human life [27]. Research has demonstrated that guided play yields superior learning retention and academic achievement in young children [28]. Meaningful play opportunities are spontaneous and not scripted, and students find that play is enjoyable [29]. Ludus Reading includes a focus for the lesson, and students use play-based activities to practice the content. Play-based activities should help students retain information.

#### *2.2.4 Gradual release of responsibility model*

In 2008, Fisher and Frey developed the Gradual Release of Responsibility (GRR) Instructional Framework that involves shifting the responsibility from the teacher to the student throughout a lesson. The GRR model was developed further from the work of Pearson and Gallagher in 1983. There are four components of the GRR model. This first component is often called "I do." Explicit skills are taught during the first component of the lesson. Guided Instruction includes the teacher and student's responsibility, and the component is referred to as "We do." The next component involves Collaborative Work, and the final component involves Independent Work or "You do it alone." The lesson transitions from the teacher's responsibility to the student's responsibility [30]. Students benefit from using the GRR model because they develop control and ownership over their work, and scaffolds are provided to help students transition into independent learners [31]. The lesson plans for Ludus Reading use the GRR Instructional Framework. The lessons start with the teacher and RoboKind™ Robots explicitly teaching the targeted phonics skill. The teacher interacts with and guides the students through activities to practice the lesson's focus. The students transition into practicing the skill independently using different self-selected, play-based activities.

#### *2.2.5 Student choice*

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework to create a classroom environment that accommodates the needs and abilities of all learners. Teachers present

#### *Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots Increase Early Literacy Rates DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110603*

information in multiple ways, and students are provided with numerous ways to demonstrate their learning [32]. A Choice Menu is an approach that aligns with the UDL framework. Teachers organize learning activities in rows and columns. The students are given choices about which activities they want to complete to practice the targeted skill or demonstrate their learning in different ways. A Choice Menu gives students more ownership over their work, and students are more intrinsically motivated [33]. Ludus Reading is centered upon the UDL framework, and a choice menu is used for students when self-selecting play-based activities during independent practice. The RoboKind™ Robots displayed the targeted words on the chest screen and described the different options on the choice menu to the students during the lesson.

#### *2.2.6 Repetition of practice*

Repetition is needed to strengthen neuropathways. Synaptic connections occur when a person learns something. Practice needs to happen to transfer learning from short-term to long-term memory. Everyone needs a different number of opportunities to practice something before retaining new knowledge. Gifted students can learn a new letter or sound after 1–4 repetitions. Typical students can learn a new letter or sound after 4–14 repetitions. Students struggling can learn a new letter or sound after 14–40 repetitions. Students with dyslexia or learning disabilities can learn a new letter or sound after 40–200 repetitions [34]. Ludus Reading considers the importance of repetition in learning new letters and sounds. Each phonics lesson includes 40 opportunities for students to practice different letters and sounds. Additional practice is provided to students if needed as well. In addition, when Ludus Reading was combined with the RoboKind™ Robots, students could practice the letters, sounds, and syllable types more often because the robot could continue to repeat the instruction.

#### *2.2.7 Multisensory input*

As previously stated, Various Functional MRIs of the brain have demonstrated how students learn to read using Four-Part Processor within the brain's left hemisphere [18]. Students need to strengthen various brain areas to activate the left hemisphere for reading. Students benefit from active participation [35] and the use of VAKT (Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, and Tactile) strategies [36]. In 2014, Dr. Jessica Redcay coined the term I-VAKT and expanded further upon the VAKT strategies. The letter I placed in front of VAKT represents Interactive Technology. Students do not use technology in passive ways; instead, students interact within the lesson [37]. The I-VAKT strategies are integrated throughout the lessons. Throughout the lesson, students interact with embedded features in the slides, and they interact with the RoboKind™ Robots. During each lesson, the students practice across the various modalities as they: 1. See It 2. Hear It 3. Do It 4. Touch It. Specifically, during the independent practice, the students self-select from a choice menu one of the play-based I-VAKT strategies to practice the target skills. For example, the students might select a Kinesthetic Activity that involves bouncing a ball to the different words. Another student might choose a Tactile Activity of making the syllable type out of Play Dough.

#### *2.2.8 Assessment and effective feedback*

Research has demonstrated that students benefit when feedback is provided to a learner throughout a lesson. The student should use the feedback to improve performance [38]. In the Ludus Reading lesson plans, instructional coaching notes are provided to offer suggestions to teachers on what to say when students demonstrate different common articulation errors. The comments were added as pre-service teachers asked questions when working with students. For example, if a student makes the /f/ sound instead /th/, then you prompt the students to look in the mirror to see that their tongue pushes slightly through your teeth when you make the /th/ sound. We call the /th/ sound naughty because you stick out your tongue a little. These instructional coaching notes help teachers provide specific and clear feedback throughout the lessons.

Research has demonstrated that clear learning targets aligned with the assessments help determine if students have shown mastery before moving on to the following target skills [38]. Assessment is included after each lesson within Ludus Reading. If students still need to demonstrate mastery, additional lessons are provided so the student can continue to practice the targeted skill. However, only 11 sessions were included in the research study, so remediation was unavailable. However, feedback throughout the lessons was used.

#### *2.2.9 Previous research supporting Ludus reading*

In 2014, a research study with 75 kindergarten students demonstrated that students in the experimental group scored higher on the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELSⓇ), Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF), Correct Letter Sounds (CLS) with a mean of 53 compared to the control with a mean of 32. Essentially, the students in the control group could identify 32 letter sounds per minute, and the students in the experimental group could identify 53 letter sounds per minute. In addition, the students in the experimental group increased their overall reading level score to a mean of nine compared to the control group, with a mean of five on the Developmental Reading Assessment, Second Edition (DRA-2Ⓡ). Further, the students in the experimental group retained the reading scores at the beginning of first grade. The embedded qualitative analysis of the study demonstrated that students in the experimental group showed higher levels of enjoyment in reading compared to the control group [37]. In the subsequent years, two additional teachers used the program to provide feedback about enhancing and improving it.

#### **2.3 Ludus reading and RoboKind™ robots**

In 2022, Ludus Reading partnered with RoboKind™ to create an app allowing teachers to prompt the robots to act as teaching assistants with 11 existing Ludus Reading lessons. Richard Margolin created the RoboKind™ Robots. RoboKind™ is an educational technology company that creates assistive, facially expressive humanoid robots used as teaching assistants to engage students in new ways while delivering research-based and quality lessons. The RoboKind™ Robots include four facially expressive humanoids (Milo, Veda, Carver, and Jemi), and the assistive robots help students learn. The humanoids can smile, laugh, walk, speak, and display images on a chest screen [39].

RoboKind™ has a CASEⓇ-Endorsed Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Curriculum that addresses four key areas (Emotional, Conversational, Situational, and Calm Down). Refer to **Figure 1** for a picture of the RoboKind™ Robots. The curriculum helps students (1) tune in on emotions; (2) express empathy; (3) act more appropriately in social situations; (4) self-motivate; (5) generalize in the population. Research

#### **Figure 1.**

*RoboKind™ robots. The image is published with permission from Methodist University and Christian Naranjo (photographer).*

has demonstrated that students using the program achieve mastery of the concepts and generalize those skills to human interactions at a 90% rate [40]. One research study demonstrated that children on the Autism Spectrum engaged with Milo 87.5% of the time compared to 2–3% of the time with a human therapist alone [39]. In addition, to the research studies demonstrating increased outcomes for students and higher levels of student engagement, RoboKind™ has received various awards, including the Super Choice SEL Program of the Year by the Institute for Education Innovation [40].

Since previous research supported the effectiveness of using Ludus Reading [37] and RoboKind™ Robots [39, 40], the two programs collaborated to determine if the combination of both would help improve early literacy scores for students and influence students' perceptions of reading. Eleven lessons from Ludus Reading were combined with 10 prompts from the RoboKind™ Robots. Five of the prompts related to the instructional content. The robot would display an image on the chest screen and talk—five of the prompts related to rewards. Different images of rewards were displayed on the chest screen, and the robot would provide specific praise to the student. A total of 55 RoboKind™ Robots prompts were developed within an app to be used in combination with 11 Ludus Reading lessons.

#### **2.4 Measures of reading**

After receiving signed permission from the school, parents of the students, and approval from the IRB, the researcher for the current study obtained the achieved Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy (DIBELSⓇ) and The Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (ERAS) data from the fall of 2022. Five pre-service teachers implemented Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots tutoring sessions. The pre-service

teachers completed assessments for the students receiving tutoring and five students who were staying in the classroom who were randomly selected by the classroom teacher. The archived data were not analyzed to determine the effectiveness of tutoring. Archived quantitative data were available and necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of a new way to teach phonics. The researcher used pre-existing, archived data. The researcher did not want to interfere with what had already naturally occurred within the classroom setting. Further, the assumption is made that the pre-service teachers used the correct techniques to administer and score the archived data.

#### *2.4.1 DIBELSⓇ*

Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS*Ⓡ*) is a standardized assessment tool to monitor kindergarten through third-grade students' progression in becoming a reader. The tests are timed and last about 1 minute each [41]. The DIBELSⓇ used standardized administration and scoring procedures. The pre-service teachers read directions from scripted directions and used the directions in the manual to score the results. The research study used DIBELS*Ⓡ* NEXT, which has been renamed to Acadience*Ⓡ*. However, for the research study, the test will be referred to as DIBELS*Ⓡ*.

The raw scores fell within a corresponding score range that reflected a recommendation category: intensive, strategic, or benchmark. Students were considered at risk if they scored within the lowest 20th percentile of the norm across the country; these students were categorized as intensive. Students were considered at some risk if they performed between the 20th percentile and 40th percentile of the norm across the country; these students were categorized as strategic. Students were considered at low risk if they performed above the 40th percentile of the norm across the country; these students were categorized as benchmark or core [41].

The DIBELS*Ⓡ* Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF) Correct Letter Sound (CLS) measures student ability to recognize letter sounds within 1 minute [41]. The students were allotted 1 minute to read as many letters sounds as possible. The raw score consisted of the total number of sounds correctly produced within 1 minute. The researcher for the current study used DIBELS*Ⓡ* NWF CLS scores recommended benchmarks for the beginning of Grade 1. Students scoring 0–17 were considered below the norm; students scoring 18–26 were considered equivalent to the norm, and students scoring 27+ were considered above the norm [41]. The pre-post data on DIBELS*Ⓡ* NWF CLS between the experimental and control group provides information about students' ability to sound out individual phonemes (sounds) automatically and accurately within 1 minute.

The DIBELS*Ⓡ* Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF) Whole Words Read (WWR) measures student ability to read an entire Vowel-Consonant (VC) and CVC nonsense words, make-believe words within 1 minute [41]. Nonsense words were used instead of real words because it measures students' ability to decode an unknown word [42]. The students were presented with a paper with Vowel-Consonant (VC) and CVC nonsense words. The students were allotted 1 minute to read as many whole words as possible. The raw score consisted of the total number of whole words read correctly within 1 minute. The researcher for the current study used DIBELS*Ⓡ* NWF WWR scores recommended benchmarks for the beginning of Grade 1. Students scoring 0 were considered below the norm; students scoring 0 were deemed equivalent to the norm, and students scoring 1+ were considered above the norm [41]. The pre-post data on DIBELS*Ⓡ* NWF WWR between the experimental and control group provides information about students' ability to decode and read whole words with closed syllable (VC and CVC) patterns automatically and accurately within 1 minute.

#### *2.4.2 ERAS*

Dennis J. Kear developed the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (ERAS) in 1989. In 1990, McKenna and Kear completed a research study of 18,000 students across the United States to establish percentile ranks at each grade level to be converted from the raw data. The ERAS is a reading attitude survey that includes pictures for students to self-report their feelings toward recreational and academic reading. Twenty questions are included on the survey that starts with "How do you feel …" Jim Davis and Paws IncorporatedⓇ approved the use of Garfield*Ⓡ* within the survey. The students select a very upset through a very happy Garfield*Ⓡ* in response to the question. Very happy is scored with four points, each with a consecutive declining number. The highest raw score a student can earn is a total of 80 points [43]. When the pre-service teachers administered the test, they read aloud the questions to the students, and the students selected the different pictures. The pre-service teachers reported the raw data scores.

According to McKenna and Kear, the developers of percentile scores, when analyzing the data, the raw scores should be used and converted into percentiles later. Further, for any pre-post score difference to be considered a real change for students, the change must be at least seven points when data is in the raw form [43]. After analyzing the raw data, convert the scores to percentiles. Percentile ranks range from 1 to 99, and 50 is considered average. The results can be interpreted from a normreferenced test that the percentile demonstrates that the student performed better than the total percental of their peers. For example, a student who scores in the 85 percentile performed better than 87% of their peers [44]. Research has demonstrated that attitudes toward reading influence the reading performance of students [44]. The pre-post data on the ERAS between the experimental and control group provides information about students' attitudes toward reading.

#### **3. Research questions and hypotheses**

**RQ1:** What, if any, is the difference in the pre-and post-DIBELS*Ⓡ* (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) CLS (Correct Letter Sound) scores between the group who used Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots and the control group?

**H10:** There is no difference in the Pre-and post-DIBELS*Ⓡ* CLS scores between the group who used Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots and the control group.

**H1a:** There is a difference in the Pre-and post-DIBELS*Ⓡ* CLS scores between the group who used Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots and the control group.

**RQ2:** What, if any, is the difference in the pre-and post-DIBELS*Ⓡ* (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) WWR (Whole Words Read) scores between the group who used Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots and the control group?

**H20:** There is no difference in the Pre-and post-DIBELS*Ⓡ* WWR scores between the group who used Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots and the control group.

**H2a:** There is a difference in the Pre-and post-DIBELS*Ⓡ* WWR scores between the group who used Ludus Reading and RoboKind Robots™ and the control group.

**RQ3**: What, if any, is the difference in the pre-and post-Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (ERAS) scores between the group who used Ludus Reading and RoboKind Robots™ and the control group?

**H30:** There is no difference in the pre-and post-ERAS scores between the group who used Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots and the control group.

**H3a:** There is a difference in the pre-and post-ERAS scores between the group who used Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots and the control group.

#### **4. Research design and procedures**

The research study used a convenience sample of 10 first-grade students. It is assumed that the sample can be generalized to all other first-grade students within the United States, with certain limitations. The researcher for the current study did not use anything specific to North Carolina; instead, the research study involved using nationally-normed DIBLES*Ⓡ* and ERAS tests. A sample size of 10 participants was used. The test would demonstrate statistically significant results with an alpha score of .05. In social science research, an alpha of .05 is a common standard score, meaning that the risk of being wrong is five times out of 100 [45]. The researcher only had access to four robots during the study; two students shared a robot. Further, only five pre-service teachers were in the class to participate in the assessment and tutoring sessions during the fall of 2022. The 11 tutoring sessions were administered one-on-one for a half-hour 11 different times. The tutoring sessions occurred during the same time that the teacher was teaching phonics in the classroom to the whole class.

The quasi-experimental pre-post retrospective design used archived data from 10 first-grade students in the fall of 2022. The research design is depicted in **Figure 2**. The research study contained one independent variable with two levels (control and experimental group) across three dependent variables (PostDIBELS*Ⓡ* NWF-CLS, PostDIBELS*Ⓡ* NWF-WWR, and ERAS). The covariates (PreDIBELS*Ⓡ* NWF-CLS, PreDIBELS*Ⓡ* NWF-WWR, and Pre ERAS Score) controlled for the natural differences between the control and experimental groups. A quasi-experimental pre-post design is the most appropriate design to use in an educational setting to test the


**Figure 2.** *Quasi-experimental pre-post design.*

#### *Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots Increase Early Literacy Rates DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110603*

effectiveness of a new program [45]. The best way to compensate for a convenience sample is to include a pre-post assessment, control, and experiential group [46].

Five pre-service teachers were enrolled in a reading foundations course at Methodist University. The pre-service teachers went to a local elementary school to tutor five first graders identified by the teacher as having the greatest need in reading. The five pre-service teachers completed pre-post assessments for five students who the teacher randomly selected who remained in the classroom for reading instruction; these students represented the control group in the study.

The five pre-service teachers completed pre-post assessments for five students in the experimental group. In addition, the students in the experimental group completed 11 tutoring sessions with the pre-service teachers using Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots. The 11 lessons focused on short vowel sounds and closed syllable words (2 Lessons-Short A, 2 Lessons-Short E, 2 Lessons-Short I, 2 Lessons-Short O, 2 Lessons Short U, and 1 Review). Every student was absent from at least one of the 11 lessons. The assumption is that every student in the experimental group received at least 10 full lessons. When a student was absent, the pre-service teacher did a quick review before starting the new lesson.

The research study included three quantitative research questions. Each research question had a supporting null and alternative hypothesis. After analyzing the data, the research accepted or rejected the null hypothesis. If the null hypotheses were rejected, then the Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots improved the reading performance of the experimental group. If the null hypotheses were accepted, then the Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots program did not improve the reading performance of the experimental group.

#### **5. Data analysis**

The quantitative data were analyzed using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) to examine three dependent variables (DIBELS*Ⓡ* NWF-CLS, DIBELS*Ⓡ* NWF-WWR, ERAS Scores) between the independent variables (control and experimental groups). The ANCOVA tests were used to examine Hypotheses 1–3. The ANCOVA was analyzed through a computer statistical software program called Statistical Package for the Social Sciences Version 28 (SPSS).

Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used for the control and treatment participants on their post-test scores after adjusting their pretest achievement level. Adjusted means with 95% confidence intervals were reported and interpreted for each ANCOVA analysis. The assumptions of normality, homogeneity of variance, linearity, and homogeneity of regression slopes were assessed before model interpretation. Partial eta-squared was reported as a measure of effect size, and post hoc statistical power was also reported for each test.

#### **6. Data results**

There was a statistically significant difference between the treatment groups in terms of the adjusted means and 95% confidence intervals for DIBELS*Ⓡ* CLS, *F*(1,7) = 6.93, *p* = 0.034, partial eta-squared = 0.50, power = 0.62. For DIBELS*Ⓡ* WWR, another significant difference was detected between the groups on their adjusted values, *F*(1,7) = 78.97, *p* < 0.001, partial eta-squared = 0.92, power = 1.00. Finally, for the


#### **Table 1.**

*Adjusted values for each comparison.*

ERAS, a significant difference was found between the control and treatment arms on the adjusted values, *F*(1,7) = 45.64, *p* < 0.001, partial eta-squared = 0.87, power = 1.00. The adjusted values for each comparison can be found in **Table 1**.

#### **6.1 Hypothesis 1 results using ANCOVA**

**H10:** There is no difference in the Pre-and post-DIBELS*Ⓡ* CLS scores between the group who used Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots and the control group.

**H1a:** There is a difference in the Pre-and post-DIBELS*Ⓡ* CLS scores between the group who used Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots and the control group.

The ANCOVA yielded a main effect for the control and experimental group, *F*(1,7) = 6.93, *p* = 0.0341, such that the average mean was significantly higher post-DIBELS*Ⓡ* CLS mean score for the experimental group (M = 46) than the control group (M = 31), after controlling for pretest scores (partial eta-squared = .17, power = 0.62). After analysis, the raw data can be compared to the national norms. The students in the control group had an average of 31, and the cutoff score was 27, so the students were considered low risk for reading struggles. The students in the experimental group had a mean of 45, and the cutoff score was considered 27, so the students were regarded as having a low risk for reading struggles. The results for Hypothesis 1 are reflected in **Tables 2** and **3**. Accordingly, the null hypothesis for Research Question 1 was rejected.

#### **6.2 Hypothesis 2 results using ANCOVA**

**H20:** There is no difference in the Pre-and post-DIBELS*Ⓡ* WWR scores between the group who used Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots and the control group.


#### **Table 2.**

*Hypothesis 1: DIBELSⓇ CLS posttest.*


#### **Table 3.**

*Hypothesis 1: Tests of between-subjects effects DIBELSⓇ CLS posttest.*

**H2a:** There is a difference in the Pre-and post-DIBELS*Ⓡ* WWR scores between the group who used Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots and the control group.

The ANCOVA yielded a main effect for the control and experimental group, *F*(1,7) = 78.97, *p* < 0.001, such that the average mean was significantly higher post-DIBELS*Ⓡ* WWR mean score for the experimental group (M = 15) than the control group (M = 2), after controlling for pretest scores (partial eta-squared = .92, power = 1.00). After analyzing the raw data, the scores were compared to the normreferenced criteria. The norm-referenced criteria are for students to benchmark if they can read one whole word, so both groups benchmarked. The results for Hypothesis 2 are reflected in **Tables 4** and **5**. Accordingly, the null hypothesis for Research Question 2 was rejected.

#### **6.3 Hypothesis 3 results using ANCOVA**

**H30:** There is no difference in the pre-and post-ERAS scores between the group who used Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots and the control group.

**H3a:** There is a difference in the pre-and post-ERAS scores between the group who used Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots and the control group.


#### **Table 4.**

*Hypothesis 2: DIBELSⓇ WWR posttest.*


#### **Table 5.**

*Hypothesis 2: Tests of between-subjects effects DIBELSⓇ WWR posttest.*

#### **Estimates**


#### **Table 6.**

*Hypothesis 3: ERAS posttest.*


#### **Table 7.**

*Hypothesis 3: Tests of between-subjects effects ERAS.*

#### *Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots Increase Early Literacy Rates DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110603*

The ANCOVA yielded a main effect for the control and experimental group, *F*(1,7) = 45.64, *p* < 0.001, such that the average mean was significantly higher post-ERAS mean score for the experimental group (M = 73) than the control group (M = 58), after controlling for pretest scores (partial eta-squared = .87, power = 1.00). After analyzing the raw data, it was converted to percentiles. The experimental group mean was 73, increasing by 16 points. A change is notable when the increase is at least seven points [43]. The raw score of 73 is converted to the 84th percentile. The treatment group mean was 58, increasing by two points. The change is not notable because a notable difference is at least seven points [43]. The raw score of 58 is converted to the 40th percentile. The results for Hypothesis 2 are reflected in **Tables 6** and **7**. Accordingly, the null hypothesis for Research Question 3 was rejected.

#### **7. Discussion**

The research study results added to the existing body of knowledge in the area of reading, phonics instruction, assistive humanoids, and the Science of Reading. Previous research demonstrated that Ludus Reading increased kindergarten students' reading scores and perceptions of reading [37]. Previous research studies have shown that RoboKind™ Robots increase students' engagement and transferability of academic skills [39, 40]. However, previous research did not exist on the impact of using assistive humanoids as teaching assistants to help students learn essential phonics skills. The effectiveness of combining Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots needed to be examined. The three null hypotheses for the research study were rejected, demonstrating that when Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots were combined, first-grade students could identify more letters and decode words better in 1 minute. Further, the students in the experimental group demonstrated higher levels of enjoyment with reading. Both of these aspects attempt to address issues in America with illiteracy and aliteracy. Further, early intervention provided before the end of first grade can help offset further reading difficulties for students.

Several key aspects of Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots appeared to be helpful for students in the research study, and the aspects and findings are consistent with previous research studies. Students benefit from programs that use the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model [30, 31]. Students benefit from explicit and systematic instruction [15. 16] with embedded play-based centers [28, 29], multisensory strategies [35, 36], and student choice [32, 33]. Repetition helps students retain information [34], and Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots provided students with at least 40 opportunities to practice the target letter sounds or syllable type. Throughout the lessons, teacher tips are provided to help teachers provide improved and immediate feedback to students [38].

#### **7.1 Discussion of Hypothesis 1**

The null hypothesis for Research Question 1 for DIBELS*Ⓡ* NWF-CLS was rejected. The DIBELS*Ⓡ* NWF-CLS is a sub-test of reading used to measure students' ability to recognize letter sounds within 1 minute [41]. The students in the experimental group scored an average (M = 46) that was higher than the average (M = 31) of the students in the control group. The results indicated that the students in the experimental group were better able to recognize letter sounds than the students in the control

group. Both groups were above the cutoff score of 27, so both groups are considered low-risk and performed above the 40th percentile of the norm across the country [41]. Notably, the experimental scores met the goal for the beginning of first grade and surpassed the goal for the middle of first grade with a goal of 43. In addition, the mean pre-test score was 21, so the experimental more than doubled their score with a post-test mean score of 45.

#### **7.2 Discussion of Hypothesis 2**

The null hypothesis for Research Question 2 for DIBELS*Ⓡ* NWF-WWR was rejected. The DIBELS*Ⓡ* NWF-WWR is a sub-test of reading used to measure students' ability to read an entire Vowel-Consonant (VC) and CVC nonsense words, makebelieve words within 1 minute [41]. The students in the experimental group scored an average (M = 15) that was higher than the average (M = 2) of the students in the control group. The results indicated that the students in the experimental group were better able to decode words than the students in the control group. Both groups were above the cutoff score of one, so both groups are considered low-risk and performed above the 40th percentile of the norm across the country [41]. Notably, the experimental scores surpassed the goal for the beginning of first grade with a goal of 13. So, the students in the experimental had scores that jumped to the next grade level. In addition, the mean pre-test score was 1, so the experimental group progressed to being able to read 15 words, whereas the control group only increased by one word.

#### **7.3 Discussion of Hypothesis 3**

The null hypothesis for Research Question 3 for ERAS was rejected. The Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (ERAS) is a reading attitude survey that includes pictures for students to self-report their feelings toward recreational and academic reading [43]. The students in the experimental group scored an average (M = 73 and 40th percentile) that was higher than the average (M = 58 and 84th percentile) of the students in the control group. The results indicated that the students in the experimental group developed better attitudes toward reading than the control group. Notably, the original researchers of norm-referenced criteria explained that a minimum of seven points differences in the raw score between the pre-post data signify a change in perception of reading [43]. Accordingly, the control group showed a change with two points, which is not considered notable. However, the experimental group increased by 16 points, signifying the students in the experimental group shifted their attitudes and perceptions of reading. Further, the students in the control group scored within the 40th percentile or below the average. The experimental group scored above 84% of their peers across the nation. The students in the experimental group demonstrated better attitudes toward reading.

#### **8. Future research**

The results were significant, but the study was limited because it only included 10 students and 11 lessons. The students in the experimental group demonstrated a lot of growth in a short amount of time. Future studies are needed that include more students from various schools. In addition, additional lessons (beyond 11) should be explored to develop a complete picture of the effectiveness of combing Ludus Reading and Reading and RoboKindⓇ. Other reading assessments or Various Functional MRIs of the brain are different aspects to explore in future studies. In addition, a qualitative researcher might look for emerging themes to describe students' experiences learning to read. Additional studies might expand beyond kindergarten and first grade to see if the program is effective for students in older grades with dyslexia or learning disabilities.

#### **9. Conclusion**

The quasi-experimental pre-post research study added to the existing body of reading and humanoid research because it tested the effectiveness of combining Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots. Ludus Reading phonics instruction involves explicit and systematic lessons that include play-based, technology, and multisensory techniques. RoboKind™ Robots are facially expressive, assistive humanoid robots, and the robots were programmed to act as teaching assistants and help the teacher during the Ludus Reading phonic lesson. Previous research demonstrated that Ludus Reading increased kindergarten students' reading scores and perceptions of reading [37]. Previous research studies have shown that RoboKind™ Robots increase students' engagement and transferability of academic skills [39, 40]. However, previous research did not exist on the impact of using assistive humanoids as teaching assistants to help students learn critical phonics skills. Three research questions were explored, and the null hypotheses were rejected, demonstrating that students in the experimental were able to identify sounds and decode words better than the control group. Further, the students in the experimental showed higher levels of enjoyment toward reading.

Null Hypothesis 1 was rejected: **H10:** There is no difference in the Pre-and post-DIBELS*Ⓡ* CLS scores between the group who used Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots and the control group. The ANCOVA yielded a main effect for the control and experimental group, *F*(1,7) = 6.93, *p* = 0.0341, such that the average mean was significantly higher post-DIBELS*Ⓡ* CLS mean score for the experimental group (M = 46) than the control group (M = 31), after controlling for pretest scores (partial eta-squared = .17, power = 0.62). The students in the experimental group more than doubled their score with a post score of 45 and a pretest score of 21. Further, the experimental scores met the goal for the beginning of first grade and surpassed the goal for the middle of first grade with a goal of 43.

Null Hypothesis 2 was rejected: **H20:** There is no difference in the Pre-and post-DIBELS*Ⓡ* WWR scores between the group who used Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots and the control group. The ANCOVA yielded a main effect for the control and experimental group, *F*(1,7) = 78.97, *p* < 0.001, such that the average mean was significantly higher post-DIBELS*Ⓡ* WWR mean score for the experimental group (M = 15) than the control group (M = 2), after controlling for pretest scores (partial eta-squared = .92, power = 1.00). The mean pre-test score was 1, so the experimental group progressed to being able to read 15 words, whereas the control group only increased by one word. The experimental scores surpassed the goal for the beginning of first grade with a goal of 13. So, the students in the experimental had scores that jumped to the next grade level.

Null Hypothesis 3 was rejected: **H30:** There is no difference in the pre-and post-ERAS scores between the group who used Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots and the control group. The ANCOVA yielded a main effect for the control and

experimental group, *F*(1,7) = 45.64, *p* < 0.001, such that the average mean was significantly higher post-ERAS mean score for the experimental group (M = 73 and 40th percentile) than the control group (M = 58 and 84th percentile), after controlling for pretest scores (partial eta-squared = .87, power = 1.00). The students in the control group scored within the 40th percentile or below the average. The experimental group scored above 84% of their peers across the nation. The students in the experimental group demonstrated better attitudes toward reading.

#### **Acknowledgements**

I acknowledge using the following resources for the tutoring sessions: Ludus Reading and RoboKind™. I acknowledge using the following assessments: Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (ERAS), DIBELS*Ⓡ* NEXT Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF) Correct Letter Sound (CLS), and DIBELS*Ⓡ* NEXT Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF) Whole Words Read (WWR). The pre-service teachers for the studies were from Methodist University, and the first-grade students were from Cumberland County Schools in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

#### **Notes/thanks/other declarations**

I would like to thank my supportive family: My mom, dad, brother, sister-in-law, Uncle Jim, Aunt Anna, and children (Sophie and Davin). Sophie and Davin-I hope you never give up and pursue your passions. Live your life fully and fill the chapters with a fantastic story. I would like to thank Alexis Baxter, Mrs. Conrad, and Mrs. Poore, who encouraged me to live my best life. I would like to thank the school staff and teachers who helped us implement the tutoring sessions. I would like to thank Maryanne Hickson and the ROTC for helping transport materials between the university and the school setting. The pre-service students who implemented the tutoring session, and I hope they continue to impact their students positively. I would like to thank the amazing RoboKind™ team who collaborated and supported the research, especially Richard Margolin, Joshua Jach, Jimmy Delaney, Jack Morrison, and Dwayne Koonce. Further, it was incredible collaborating with the talented engineer from RoboKind™, Joshua Jach, who helped translate my vision into a reality, helped troubleshoot, set up platforms, and provided on-site support. Jimmy Delaney helped create the app to connect the robots and lessons. Jimmy Delaney and Jack Morrison helped with the speech articulation of the robots and troubleshooting throughout the process. Dwayne Koonce helped organize the images to be displayed on the robot's chest. In addition, Richard Margolin took countless hours to meet with me to help me create a plan for my research study and reading program. In addition, I appreciated the motivation and support from Brian Baggs, Marissa Moyer, Souphia Leng, Rocky Barajas, and all of the RoboKinders. RoboKind™ is filled with passionate and outstanding people, and I am grateful that I had the opportunity to collaborate with everyone. I appreciate the support from KTI Family, especially Scott Snyder, Ann Noonen, Tom Tancin, Laura Fragassi, Sue Allen, Hollie Woodard, and so many more. In addition, I would like to dedicate this study in memory of Rosie Parmigiani, who said, "This is the work you are meant to do. No one is doing this yet, and you need to go for it. The kids and teachers need this." Most importantly, I hope this research helps teachers teach reading in better ways and helps students learn to read and love reading!

*Ludus Reading and RoboKind™ Robots Increase Early Literacy Rates DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110603*

#### **Author details**

Jessica Redcay Methodist University, Fayetteville, North Carolina

\*Address all correspondence to: redcaysresources@gmail.com

© 2023 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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#### **Chapter 6**

## Using Information and Communication Technology and Developing the Creative Abilities of Social Work Students

*Emad Saleh and Magdy Mostafa*

#### **Abstract**

The research problem is to identify the impact of using information and communication technology (ICT) on developing the creative abilities of social work students. The research employed a descriptive-analytical approach in which a sample of social work students was surveyed. Field data was collected using a scale developed by the researchers to measure the impact of students' use of ICT on developing their creative abilities. After establishing the validity and reliability of the scale, data collection began in December 2022 when an electronic link was sent to all social work students *via* the official university mail. After processing the data using SPSS, the results were extracted, and a final research report was written. The results confirmed the students' high readiness to use ICT, while their reliance on ICT improved their academic and personal performance. In addition, the research results confirmed that students' use of ICT effectively influenced the development of their creative abilities. As a result, the study recommends that universities should focus on adequately training students and faculty members in the use of various types of ICT and encourage them to use them.

**Keywords:** social work, students, information communication technology (ICT), readiness, creative abilities

#### **1. Introduction**

The current era has witnessed an enormous knowledge and information revolution in all fields of science that significantly contributed to stimulating many essential developments in all aspects of life. Technological advancement, among other key aspects, has developed at an astonishing pace, from which societal institutions, especially in the educational field, should benefit. As a result, universities have rushed to capitalize on this tangible technological advancement by setting up establishing computer laboratories and connecting them to the Internet, making use of various programs, applications, and e-learning systems. Specialized laboratories have also been set up to provide training opportunities for students studying psychology,

geography, languages, or social work. Technological advances have also been used in equipping and preparing classrooms for the educational process by providing computers, data display devices, and audio and video systems that enable students in all disciplines to make the most of the educational opportunities available. Advanced technology is no longer limited to developing hardware and technical and electronic equipment, nonetheless; it has been achieved in the field of software and applications. Consequently, most universities are rapidly incorporating computer-related courses into the study plans of students in all disciplines so that they can benefit from this significant progress. Furthermore, one cannot ignore the unprecedented growth of the Internet in the 1980s, as its rate of spread had the greatest impact across all scientific fields at the daily and institutional levels. It also influenced the rate of technological progress across all sectors, including education [1].

In addition to scientific knowledge, higher education institutions seek to impart students with specialized and life skills, as well as creative abilities. Hence, the current research seeks to identify the benefit of students majoring in social work to information and communication technologies, as one of the methods of obtaining professional and life knowledge and skills, and employing them in developing their creative abilities. This raises a number of questions related to students' readiness to use information and communication technologies and the extent to which they benefit from them.

#### **2. Research problem**

Social work, as a profession, is relatively new. Despite its modernity, it has established a professional and value framework, allowing it to continue and flourish while delivering professional services at all levels of professional activity (micro, medium, and macro) with high efficiency and adequacy. Consequently, it gained societal recognition as an essential profession among professions operating in human societies, which enabled it to expand at the levels of social work education institutions and professional practice organizations in all areas of life and work, while the emergence of professional federations and unions have represented and enabled them to coexist with program planning and design at local, national, and international levels [2]. As a result, many institutions focused on social work education and aimed to monitor and support developments, topped by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) calls for the integration of computer technology into social work education, but there are no explicit standards for integration or student learning [3].

ICT and the Internet have advanced rapidly, to be not only more efficient, faster, and of higher quality but also easily accessible at any time and from any location for a low cost. As a result, education programs and applications in general, and e-learning in particular, have advanced rapidly. Programs and applications have made it easier for teachers and students to complete many educational tasks and assignments without difficulty or stress, providing them with excellent opportunities for excitement and attraction. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are electronic tools used to transmit, process, and store information [4]. Not long ago, academic research, including social work research, turned its interest to discuss the relationship between new technologies and their use in the education of social work students. According to a study by Faux and Black-Hughes (2000), social

#### *Using Information and Communication Technology and Developing the Creative Abilities… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110604*

work students prefer traditional teaching methods, as their performance improved when they were taught face-to-face rather than using Internet-based technologies [5]. With the spread of ICT, positive attitudes toward its use in social work education have increased. The findings of some recent studies differ from those of earlier studies. For example, in a study conducted in Trinidad and Tobago, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight social work educators from four tertiary institutions in Trinidad and Tobago that offer degrees in social work. Results indicate that previous experience with Internet-based technologies influenced the perspectives of social work educators and ultimately the range and mode of technologies used. Although the debate on the role of such technologies in social work education in Trinidad and Tobago has not been resolved, the aforementioned research found that there is a movement toward consensus about the utility of Internet-based technologies [6]. Although ICTs and the growth of the Internet are not without problems, the fact remains that both will continue to shape the global community. Other disciplines have recognized the importance of ICT and consider it a key part of professional development [4].

ICT and the Internet are two of the most significant products of human creativity that have a significant positive impact on all social sciences, academic fields, and professions. The creative abilities of students in all disciplines are expected to develop and improve as technology becomes more prevalent in education. As a result, the social work profession has prioritized the development of the creative abilities of its students. Social work is concerned with the gifted creators and innovators, an interest that frequently extends to the work of social workers in educational institutions, particularly basic education institutions. Social work aims at discovering creators and innovators, identifying their needs, assisting them in achieving psychological compatibility and social adjustment, enabling them to face difficulties and problems, and implementing enrichment programs that develop their capabilities. Furthermore, the interest in creators is not limited to the social work profession, as this category is of great interest and care in both developing and underdeveloped societies. This could be due to the high-quality achievements of this category in a variety of social, economic, technical, artistic, literary, and political fields.

A society loses the most valuable resources of its renaissance if it does not find exceptional creators and innovators and provide them with the tools they need to grow and use their energies in a variety of spheres of existence. Consequently, professional development programs must foster social work's interest in innovation. These programs shall be based on multidimensional education that emphasizes memorability, comprehension, analysis, application, evaluation, and creativity. In professional practice, the social worker's approach to various problems and situations of individuals, families, institutions, and societies depends on professional processes. These processes include understanding the situation, analyzing and evaluating its various dimensions, and evaluating available alternatives, all of which must be creative because the cases and situations the social worker deals with are not typical but unique.

Finally, to adequately prepare future social workers, social work education needs to place greater emphasis on developing students' creative abilities. ICT is one of the main factors that can help students develop their creative abilities. Based on the above, the researchers define the research problem as determining the impact of social work students' use of ICT on the development of their creative abilities.

### **3. Research goals**

The main objective of the research is to determine the impact of social work students' use of ICT on their creative abilities. This objective is divided into the following sub-objectives:


#### **4. Research questions**

The research aims to answer the following main question: What impact does social work students' use of ICT have on developing their creative abilities? This question is divided into the following sub-questions:


#### **5. Main research concepts**

#### **5.1 Creativity**

Although creativity, as a term, is commonly used in our lives today, it is still one of the problematic terms. In its simplest definition, creativity is the individual's transferable and developable ability to think freely, to examine complex problems and situations, and to reformulate the elements of experience into new patterns by presenting the greatest possible number of alternatives for reformulating this experience, using a variety of appropriate methods for the situation that the individual faces, so that these new patterns are characterized by modernity in relation to the individual and the society in which he/ she lives. Creativity can also be described as the capacity to reason to achieve a diverse and new item that can be implemented, whether in science, arts, literature, or other fields [7].

On the other hand, Barker defined creativity as the mental processes and skills that result in an original product of value or quality, which includes thinking that goes beyond what is already known and results in original ideas and novel solutions to

#### *Using Information and Communication Technology and Developing the Creative Abilities… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110604*

existing problems [8]. Tierney and Lanford pointed out that creativity and innovation are two terms that are closely related, and carry multiple and overlapping meanings. Creativity is the ability to develop a new idea, while innovation is the application of the new idea or solution to the problem; innovation relates to the material part associated with the implementation or transformation from idea to product. They also emphasized that innovation, like creativity, is one of the key components of HEIs, achieved against the background of a creative environment that stimulates the creation of innovative works. They added that the axes for the development of education in the twenty-first century must include the development of innovation across three main axes: innovation in scientific research, innovative educational methods in the educational process, and innovative administrative structures in academic institutions [9].

Higher education development experts refer to creativity as the key to effective learning at undergraduate and postgraduate levels (Nissim, Weissblueth, Scott-Webber, & Amar, 2016), (Jahnke, Haertel, & Wildt, 2017), and (Rampersad & Patel, 2014) [10–12]. Livingston confirmed the above argument and considered creativity as a key skill that benefits a person throughout his or her life and is also relevant for students in higher education. He added that creativity is directly related to the development of students' ability to acquire knowledge and skills in a global cultural reality rich in new levels of study, research and investigation, cooperation, interdependence, and integration of knowledge and skills, and incorporation of information into new creative systems [13]. Jackson & Show emphasize that creativity is one of the daily educational requirements in universities, as the educational process aims to: "generate ideas and alternatives, find ways to investigate complex problems, institutions, systems and patterns, think innovatively, integrate ideas and objects in new ways, and find innovative solutions that result from using creative ways of thinking and acting" ([14], p. 105). Hence, Sheridan-Rabideau, an education expert for academic institutions, describes creativity as "the cultural wealth of the twenty-first century" ([15], p. 54).

#### **5.2 Information and communication technology**

ICT has become an integral part of our daily lives as most people use it, including researchers and experts, professionals, politicians and economists, pupils and students, and even the general public. They are also used for various purposes, for example, scientific, social, economic, political, and recreational. However, there is no universal valid definition of ICT. Various definitions define ICT as the sum of all devices, networking components, applications and systems that combined allow people and organizations (i.e., businesses, nonprofit organizations, governments, and criminal enterprises) to interact in the digital world [16].

ICT can be defined as the convergence of electronics, computing, and telecommunications. It has unleashed a tidal wave of technological innovation in the collecting, storing, processing, transmission, and presentation of information that has not only transformed the information technology sector itself into a highly dynamic and expanding field of activity-creating new markets and generating new investment, income, and jobs but also provided other sectors with more rapid and efficient mechanisms for responding to shifts in demand patterns and changes in international comparative advantage, through more efficient production processes and new and improved products and services.

UNISCO defines ICT as a set of technological tools and resources used to transmit, store, create, share, or exchange information. These technological tools and resources include computers, the Internet (website, blogs, and emails), live broadcasting

technologies (radio, television, and webcasting), recorded broadcasting technologies (podcasting, audio, and video players), and storage devices and technology (fixed or mobile, satellite, Visio/video-conferencing, etc) [17].

The term information and communication technology (ICT) is generally accepted to mean all technologies that, in combination, allow people and organizations to interact in the digital world. The importance of ICT for economic development and business growth has been so monumental, in fact, that it is seen as a precursor to what many call the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). ICT also underpins broad shifts in society, as individuals en masse are moving from personal, face-to-face interactions to ones in the digital space. This new era is frequently termed the digital age. Therefore, the ICT system includes the following components: hardware, software, data, the Internet, transactions, communication technologies, and cloud computing.

ICT is employed in many different areas, the most important of which are commerce, business, space, the government sector, daily life, and education. According to numerous studies, the use of ICT in education has contributed to providing a reasonable level of education for many students in developing societies. ICT-related tools and facilities include radio, television, computers, the Internet in classrooms and computer labs, external computer centers, smartphones, and tablets [18].

In the light of the above definitions, creative abilities of students can be summarized as follows:

1.Free and open thinking skills.


7.Better use of abilities to improve academic performance.


#### **6. Research importance**

The importance of the research is demonstrated by emphasizing the critical role of ICT in teaching and learning processes at the university level. Moreover, the results are expected to draw faculty members' attention to the positive impact of using ICT in developing students' creative abilities and their interest in encouraging students to use it. Finally, because of the positive impact of ICT on the educational process, the results will encourage faculty members to use ICT in teaching and research.

*Using Information and Communication Technology and Developing the Creative Abilities… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110604*

#### **7. Research methodology**

The research used a descriptive-analytic approach, applied in a comprehensive social survey method to all social work students (approximately 200 students) classified as pure social work, major social work, or minor social work. The researchers developed a scale to assess how ICT affects students' creative abilities. The scale was evaluated by presenting it to eight sociology and social work professors. From 13 December 2022 to 23 December 2022, all social work students received an electronic link to the scale *via* university mail. However, this number only represents the research sample because the researchers only received responses from 90 students. Students were reminded to fill out the scale three times during the ten days. After data processing, Cronbach's alpha internal consistency parameters were measured to ensure the reliability of the scale. The result was 0.95, indicating a high level of reliability. The researchers then proceeded to complete the analysis and draw conclusions.

#### **8. Field data analysis**

The researchers will attempt to answer the research's main questions through the analysis that follows. But first, in the following sections, an accurate description of the research sample will be given, as well as a demographic description in terms of gender distribution, distribution over the academic years, and distribution based on the nature of their social work specialization, and the average study rates of the research sample. The field data is then analyzed to answer the main questions, leading to the extraction of the relationship and nature of the impact of students' use of ICT on developing their creative abilities.

#### **8.1 Description of the research sample**

The research sample consisted of 58.9% females and 41.1% males, with an average age of 21.43 years and a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.89. The sample included students from all years of study. Fourth-year students had the highest percentage of participants (34.4%), followed by fifth-year students (32.2%), thirdyear students (17.8%), second-year students (10.0%), and finally, first-year students (10.0%). 5.6% only. The **Table 1** below shows the gender distribution of students by academic year.

The distribution of the research sample by area of study in social work is shown in the **Figure 1** below. It is evident that pure social work students formed up the largest percentage of the sample 44.4%, followed by minor social work students at 28.9%, and finally major social work students at 26.7%.

#### **8.2 Students' readiness to use ICT**

The first research question, that is, "what is the level of readiness of social work students to use ICT?" is answered in the following sections. It can be inferred from the results that the students mastered computer skills to a very high degree, as their skills scored an average of 4.43 out of 5, which confirms the high level of computer literacy as one of the most important techniques of ICT. The following **Table 2** also reflects the variation in the level of the students' proficiency in these skills.


#### **Table 1.**

*Gender distribution of students by academic year.*

**Figure 1.** *Distribution of students by social work specialization.*

The approximate estimate of the average daily number of hours spent using ICT tools to conduct academic tasks was 3.59 hours per day, while the highest number of hours of use reached 10 hours, and the lowest number of hours of use was only one hour per day.

Students were asked whether they had taken university courses to develop abilities and skills in using ICT. The majority of students (86.7%) confirmed that they had taken such courses, while 13.3% stated that they had not. The average number of courses taken by a student to develop their ability to use ICT was 1.73 courses. From our point of view, this average reflects the inadequacy of these courses. Hence, we recommend that the university provide more opportunities for students to take courses related to developing skills and abilities to use ICT. For the extent to which the university provides suitable laboratories for training students to use ICT, the majority of students (90.0%)

*Using Information and Communication Technology and Developing the Creative Abilities… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110604*


#### **Table 2.**

 *Student computer proficiency.* 

reported that these types of laboratories are available at the university, while 10.0% believed that these laboratories are insufficient to fulfill their mandate role.

 The research team also enquired about the students' use of ICT programs and applications. The following **Figure 2** shows that the majority of students (96.7%) use these technologies, while a significantly low percentage of 3.3% indicated that they had never used them before. The remaining part of the analysis of the results, thus, will focus on those who have already used ICT during their courses, while those who have not used them are excluded, namely, the sample consists of only 87 respondents (N = 87).

 The questionnaire also queried whether students had participated in training courses to develop their ICT-related skills; a percentage of 81.6% confirmed that they had not participated in any such courses, while 18.4% reported that they had previously participated to develop their ICT-related skills. In terms of the type of courses students most benefit from in relation to ICT, the majority (82.8%) asserted that they benefit from all types of courses, while 10.3% stated that they only benefit from courses related to college requirements, and 4.6% confirmed that they benefit from courses related to university requirements. The rest of the results are included in the following **Table 3** .

 **Figure 2.**  *ICT usage.* 


**Table 3.**

*Types of courses that students have benefited from ICT.*


**Table 4.**

*Level of development of the students' performance as a result of using ICT.*

The results of the field data analysis showed a positive effect of the students' collaboration with their colleagues on preparing assignments (presentations – research – reports) (N = 87), based on 88.5% of the students, a percentage that may be attributed to the students' realization of a significant growth in their ICT-related abilities and skills, and their impact on their performance in terms of the assignments in academic courses. The following **Table 4** also illustrates the level of improvement that has occurred in terms of the students' performance as a result of using ICT, as approximately half of the students (51.7%) emphasized that the effect of using ICT was strong, while 41.4% confirmed that there was a moderate effect, and a minority of 6.9% believed that the effect was limited.

#### **8.3 Level of development as a result of reliance on ICT**

Concerning aspects of the development of the students' performance in academic courses as a result of reliance on ICT, the results included in the following **Figure 3** reflect the quality and level of development, as the use of ICT led to the development of multiple skills among students, for the average of development reached 22.47, while the relative strength of development reached 94%. Therefore, development in terms of the students' skills is considered very strong. We can draw from the previous **Figure 2** that the highest level of development lies in research skills as it climbed to 83%, then thinking skills which scored 76%, while the lowest level was in the development of personal skills at 70%.

#### **8.4 ICT systems, programs, and applications**

In relation to the third question related to the nature of actual practices of ICT among social work students, the analysis showed the students' dependence on many ICT systems, programs, and applications for complete learning processes (presentations, implementation of reports, assignments, statistical analyses, etc.). *Using Information and Communication Technology and Developing the Creative Abilities… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110604*

#### **Figure 3.**

*Level of development as a result of reliance on ICT.*


#### **Table 5.**

*ICT systems, programs, and applications.*

The following **Table 5** shows these systems and applications and the degree1 of their use by students.

**Table 6** shows that the use of ICT systems, applications, and programs varies among the students. For example, programs such as Word, PowerPoint, Moodle, and PDF were "heavily" used, with a relatively average usage of more than 80%. Moreover,

<sup>1</sup> To determine the levels of relative strength or relative averages that will result from the analysis of field data for the current research, the researchers will use the following criterion: weak (less than 50%), acceptable (from 50% to less than 65%), strong (from 65% to less than 80%), and very strong (more than 80%) [19].


#### **Table 6.**

*Students' use of ICT devices in educational processes.*

some programs and applications, such as Zoom, Excel, SPSS, and Prezi, were moderately used, where the relative average of use was less than 65%. For more details, see **Table 6**. The researchers believe that the type of specialization has a significant impact on students' preference for certain applications and programs over others.

#### **8.5 Students' use of ICT devices in educational processes**

**Table 7** provides an overview of the ICT devices students use to undertake academic assignments, where the levels of use of technologies varied. For example, students relied on certain devices very strongly, such as multimedia laptops, notebooks, computers, smartphones, and the Internet, where the relative average of use was over 80%. The relative average of use for some devices of limited use was less than 65%. Examples of these devices are video conferences, digital/video cameras, diskettes, CDs, DVDs, and interactive TV and radio. The researchers explain that the low level of use of these devices may be attributed to several reasons, the most important of which is that ICT technology requires a high level of training and skills to benefit from its technological capabilities, in addition to the fact that the nature of specialization of social work may not require high levels of technological devices.

#### **8.6 The impact of ICT on developing creativity abilities**

Regarding the answer to the main question of the research concerned with identifying the impact of the students' use of ICT on developing their creative abilities.

*Using Information and Communication Technology and Developing the Creative Abilities… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110604*


#### **Table 7.**

*The impact of ICT on increasing creativity of social work students.*

The following **Table 7** reflects an effective positive effect of the students' use of ICT on developing their creative abilities, as the results confirm that the level of influence was very strong (as per the standard used in the aforementioned measurement), according to the degree of relative strength of this dimension, which amounted to 87%. The overall average of the mean was 95.24, bearing in mind that the maximum degree that can be reached is only 120 degrees (N = 87).

Despite the very strong effect of using ICT on increasing the creative abilities of students, statistical analysis of this dimension shows that this effect is variable among students, as shown in the following **Figure 4**, which shows the extent of the differences in developing their creative abilities.

**Figure 4** shows the difference in the level of impact of using ICT on the development of the students' creative abilities. The results show that 39% of the students scored 100

#### **Figure 4.**

*Various levels of impact of ICT use on the development of the students' creative abilities.*

#### **Figure 5.** *Different levels of impact of ICT use on the development of students' creative abilities.*

*Using Information and Communication Technology and Developing the Creative Abilities… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110604*

or more out of a total of 120 degrees, which is the maximum score for this dimension. Further analysis indicated that 90% of the students developed their creative abilities at a very strong level (scores: ≥ 80), while 8% had a medium level of development (scores: 65 ≥ 80), and only 2% had a very limited level of development (scores: < 65). The researchers presented the result of this effect graphically in **Figure 5**.

The final result that can be drawn is that the students' use of ICT had a very strong impact on the development of their creative abilities, taking into account that the extent of influence varies from one student to another according to many variables, including training, motivation, and individual differences among students.

#### **9. General results and conclusion**

The current research sought to answer several pivotal questions in order to accurately determine the extent of the impact of the use of ICT on the development of creative abilities among social work students. From the analysis of the field data of the answer to the first question, that is, "What is the level of readiness of social work students to use ICT?", it was inferred that the students show a high level of readiness, as they have high skills in using one of the most essential ICT tools used in the educational process in all academic disciplines—the computer. The results show several reasons that contributed to the students' proficiency in using ICT technologies, including the high average of daily use hours of ICT technologies, which was 3.59 hours per day on average. In addition, the majority of students placed importance on taking academic courses (average = 1.7 Course) aimed at developing their abilities to use ICT.

The analysis of the results also revealed, in terms of the actual use of ICT, that the majority of students used a considerable number of ICT programs and applications. However, a minority of students indicated that they had never used them when completing academic tasks and assignments, so, they were excluded from the analysis in the remaining part of the research (the research sample became 87 not 90). The analysis also showed that a significant percentage of students participated in training courses to develop their ICT-related skills. They have employed these skills in various courses, whether related to specialization or university and college requirements. Thus, the impact of this use is expected to develop their creative abilities in the future.

The results of the study also showed a positive relationship between cooperative education and the development of creative abilities among ICT students; the majority of the students confirmed that cooperation with their colleagues led to the exchange of many experiences and ideas, and thus the development of their abilities and skills in terms of the application and use of ICT when performing the assignments in courses, and access to a greater amount of knowledge and information.

For the answer to the second question related to the aspects and level of development in performance as a result of reliance on the use of ICT, the analysis showed that reliance on the use of ICT led to the development of performance, where the highest level of development was the development of research skills, then thinking skills, and the lowest level was of personal skills.

Concerning the third question related to the nature of the actual practices of using ICT among students of social work, the research tried to identify systems and programs of ICT that students use when performing academic assignments and tasks, where some of them were highly used, while others were moderately or little

used. Examples of the most frequently used programs and applications were Word, PowerPoint, Moodle, and PDF, while the least used applications were Zoom, Excel, SPSS, and Prezi. In order to use these programs and applications, students rely on the use of several ICT devices used in the educational process. Computers, laptops, notebooks, and smartphones are deemed the most frequently used devices by students, while interactive TV and radio were the least used. The researchers explain that the low level of use of these devices may be attributed to several reasons, the most important of which is that ICT technology requires a high-level training and skills to benefit from its technological capabilities, in addition to the fact that the nature of specialization of social work may not require high levels of technological devices.

For the answer to the main question of the research related to determining the impact of the students' use of ICT on developing their creative abilities, the results showed a strong positive effect of using ICT social work students on developing their creative abilities. The final conclusion that can be drawn is that the students' use of ICT when fulfilling the requirements related to the educational process has a very strong impact on the development of their creative abilities, taking into account that the extent of influence varies from one student to another according to many variables, including training, motivation, and individual differences among students.

### **10. Implications**

The results of the current research proved that there is an effective impact of the use of ICT by students on the development of their creative abilities. Hence, the recommendations of the current research are as follows:


*Using Information and Communication Technology and Developing the Creative Abilities… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110604*

#### **Author details**

Emad Saleh1,2\* and Magdy Mostafa2

1 Fayoum University, Egypt

2 Sultan Qaboos University, Oman Sultanate

\*Address all correspondence to: dremadfarouk14@gmail.com

© 2023 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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[16] Pratt MK. ICT (Information and Communications Technology, or Technologies). TechTarget Network. 2019. [Online]. Available from: https:// www.techtarget.com/searchcio/ definition/ICT-information-andcommunications-technology-ortechnologies. [Accessed: November 25, 2022]

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### **Chapter 7**

## The Influence of Social Media Networking Platforms on Promoting EFL Learners' Lexical Competence Repertoire: An Exploratory Study

*Husam Mohammed Kareem Al-Khazaali*

#### **Abstract**

Language learning is significantly influenced by social media. The growth of social media has become an international phenomenon. People now spend the majority of their time on online services like social networking. These social media platforms give students access to effective learning tools including automated learning and visualisation techniques. Using social media to learn English is engaging and inspiring. This study focuses on how social media enables people to automatically or unintentionally learn English fluently. All second-year students at the AL-Maymona secondary schools for boys in Missan, Iraq, for the academic year 2017–2018 make up the population of this study. There are two courses at the college: A and B, each having 51 and 52 pupils, respectively. The experimental group, Class A, was selected at random. Facebook was the social media platform used to teach students at the EG. With regard to the CG, students were instructed utilising the methods suggested by the required textbook, English Grammar in Use. The researcher taught both the EG and the CG. The study results include that the EG has more achievement and better performance in English vocabulary than those who took the traditional method. It can be concluded that using social media platforms serves the educational and instructional settings for both teacher and learners. Those social media support and increase the performance of the study sample based on the current procedures. The researcher recommends using and adopting social media networking platforms in educational environments because they support and enhance the teaching and learning results and they are fruitful as teaching strategies in the educational process.

**Keywords:** language learning, social media, self-independence, Facebook, lexical competence repertoire

#### **1. Introduction**

For the most majority of people, it is fairly typical that the revolutionary advancements in technology, and the Internet in particular, make it feasible and easier to

receive things in a better method than it was previously. Technology is crucial for first language teaching and learning, and it is used in all educational situations to help facilities and governments accomplish their key objectives. Social media opened the door to discovering efficient and successful strategies for improving student learning. Students have unrestricted control over and settings for their learning environments because to social media, for example Facebook and Twitter supply learners with many sources in writing or learning to communicate well. Social media Facebook creates a platform through which teacher and students can form pages, as it will be discussed in details later. EFL students can benefit from the rich information such websites provide for their customers or students. Besides, they provide authentic and reliable manners of learning a language vocabulary. Many applications of learning vocabulary have been proven to be very effective and influential.

It is now widely acknowledged that using technology makes teaching and learning easier in linguistics classes. According to Nur and Syarifuddin [1], the instructor should when selecting any resource take into account certain factors to enhance the learning experience. The learning content should be able to effectively and intellectually engage the students to attain communication goals and expertise in language experience. Using the Social media has also developed with the advancement of technology. Social media has been very popular, popular among users of all ages, but especially young people, ever since their creation. Additionally, they are designed to be inspiring and demonstrate to students the real-world use of the target language.

Using social media fantastic qualities that English teachers and students may find to be very helpful would make the process of teaching and learning English easier, more colourful, endlessly fascinating. Social media usage and its advantages could be helpful. They should remain energetic, competent, effective, and prolific so that teaching English would be never monotonous.

#### **2. The statement of the problem**

Students' language skills are severely hindered by their inadequate vocabulary learning capacity. Therefore, a lot of work needs to go into discovering novel and efficient methods through which students can acquire knowledge and express themselves with ease. The researcher examines the effects of Facebook on students' vocabulary growth generally in terms of social media (because there are many applications in social media, the focus remains on Facebook).

#### **3. The aim of the study**

The purpose of this research is to determine if and how social media influences the vocabulary acquisition and retention of English language majors in their second year of college.

#### **4. Hypothesis of the study**

The null hypothesis proposed here is that there is no statistically significant difference between the mean score of students using the traditional teaching of vocabulary and that of the teaching adopted by the researcher or using social media Facebook.

*The Influence of Social Media Networking Platforms on Promoting EFL Learners' Lexical… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109543*

#### **5. The question of the study**

The following question has been adopted in this study: "Does social media have any significant on Iraqi EFL learners' vocabulary repertoire?"

#### **6. Definitions of social media**

Due to the rapid development and growth of social media, it is impossible to provide an accurate definition of the term. The application of social media in real-world settings alters how individuals think and act due to its significance and control over a significant amount of our everyday routine difficulties.

Social media is defined as "online media enabling users to interact with one another online through various web applications allowing users to create, distribute, share and manipulate a variety of contents including texts, pictures, video, songs, etc. to other net-users, and these contents can be accessible publicly. Social media investigated in this study include blogs, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram etc." ([2], p. 1).

Social media can provide students with several chances and activities that enable them to establish peer- or group-work activities through which vocabulary can be acquired naturally. Today, the world has shrunk to the size of a village, and students are able to communicate their ideas and opinions with their peers and friends without expending as much work or time as in the past. The platforms and services provided by social media make students more motivated and enthusiastic about acquiring vocabulary.

#### **7. Literature review**

#### **7.1 Definitions of vocabulary**

Vocabulary occupies a strong permanent position in language learning. There is no language without acquiring enough vocabulary, since any languages consist of words. Siriwan ([3], p. 19) suggests that "Vocabulary learning is referred to as learning a collection or the total stock of words in a language that are used in particular contexts." Additionally, vocabulary can be defined as "a set of lexemes, including single words, compound words and idioms" ([4], p. 629). Vocabulary knowledge is very essential for students to acquire because it enable them to interact naturally; hence, Nation ([5], p. 22) states that "vocabulary knowledge implies knowing a word in the spoken form of the word and the spoken form can be recognized and understood it in and out of context rather than guessed."

#### **7.2 The position of vocabulary in language learning**

The social media can provide students with several chances and activities that enable them to build peer- or group-work activities through which language can be learned naturally. Today, the globe has shrunk to the size of a village, and kids are able to communicate their ideas and opinions with their peers and friends in a short amount of time and with minimal effort. Social media platforms and the services they provide engage and excite students in their pursuit of language vocabulary acquisition.

It is quite difficult to communicate with our group without a wide vocabulary. People can express their interests, wants, and thoughts freely and autonomously through words. They can talk and write, comprehend the spoken language, and discriminate between the meanings of different sorts of writings. There are two principal types of language acquisition: direct and indirect or incidental. Chacon et al. [6] contend that incidental vocabulary learning is necessary for language development; however, this does not imply that deliberate instruction of vocabulary plays no function.

When speaking on the importance of vocabulary, Adrian and Mirabela ([7], p. 123) comment that "Vocabulary, the core of any language, is probably the most challenging and time consuming part of learning a foreign language. It takes time and flows like a continuous process, once you have settled the fundamentals of a language (pronunciation, orthography and basic grammar). Throughout this process, learners become familiarized with the words they come across."

#### **7.3 Social media forms**

As social media is well known, there are numerous social media websites or formats. This study will focus on Facebook because it is widely used, accessible, and user-friendly for students. Facebook's platforms provide students with several options and possibilities for language study and improvement. According to Dewing ([8], p. 5), "social media websites like YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook" have grown increasingly popular among Internet users who seek to share their ideas, films, and other online activities. Social media encompasses numerous digital tools, including Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and MySpace. Email and SMS are also social media tools. This current technology employs a variety of efficient tools and solutions that help students to learn in depth in a variety of ways. **Figure 1** depicts the present application as assumed by Solis in 2012 [9].

**Figure 1.** *"Introducing the Conversation Prism," Adapted from Solis ([9], p. 24).* *The Influence of Social Media Networking Platforms on Promoting EFL Learners' Lexical… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109543*

#### **7.4 Facebook networking site**

Facebook is a big online programme that is regarded as one of the most renowned sites on the worldwide web, which was founded in 2004 by "Mark Zuckerberg". Rosen ([10], p. 17) explains that the name Facebook suggests from "the small photo albums that colleges once gave to incoming freshmen and faculty to help them cope with meeting so many new people." Facebook enables the students that registered to make profiles, upload photos and videos, send texts, or share ideas with groups, international groups or school group that should be scheduled by their teacher. Awl [11] states that "in a paper Facebook, you see photos and biographies of your classmates. On Facebook, you see your friend's latest photos and videos with, at times, an extensive biography." Hence, Facebook has become one of the most successful social media sites because of its feature platforms that set itself apart from other social media and that made the word "social media" become well known. This application provides an appropriate instructional environment through which students can learn English vocabulary naturally through chatting, sharing information with others, and creating Facebook pages, furthermore through skimming and scanning for the pages and posts available on Facebook; therefore, this application can develop and improve students' vocabulary knowledge. Adriana and Mirabelle ([7], p. 128) demonstrate that incorporating Facebook into classroom activities improves students' performance and vocabulary confidence.

#### **7.5 Learners and social media platforms**

Students can now use social media with relative ease and accessibility. Students should be equipped with computers, smart phones, or tablets for enhanced classroom learning because these technical gadgets give the best learning platforms necessary for their studies and enable access to social media websites. Despite what many claim, presenting social media in the classroom is not a simple undertaking.

However, Jones and Shao ([12], p. 87) find that "students positively respond to the incorporation of new technologies into the teaching and learning process provided that the technology usage is well-conceived, purposeful, and properly integrated into the learning process. Students spend as much (or more) time online in an informal learning environment--interacting with peers and receiving feedback--than they do with their teachers in the traditional classroom."

#### **7.6 The performance of social media in EFL classrooms**

Technologically speaking, current social media have superseded our previous way of thinking, since technology has become an integral part of our daily lives. In the previous year, people became accustomed to reading magazines and newspapers, but today, the majority of them are compelled to read the newest news *via* social media because it is a demand of modern life, technology being an integral component. The official demand for mandating the use of social media in educational EFL settings has developed significantly in recent years due to its utility and accessibility. According to Chen and Bryer ([13], p. 89), "social media have rapidly expanded for academic use and permeated the education sector."

Consequently, when technology is utilised efficiently in the classroom, the real world can be viewed and no limitations can be imposed on the teacher and pupils, such as distance, time, or problems. Accordingly, numerous researchers have adopted social media and class in their studies, such as the study presented by Gumport and

Chun, whose findings indicate that through the use of social media applications in the classroom, a strong relationship develops between the teacher and his students, and secondly, quality instruction emerges, which leads to effective outcomes ([14], p. 64).

Lewis and Candito ([15], p. 16) assert that "students use three top- used social media tools: Facebook, Wikipedia and YouTube, for social engagement, direct communication, speed of feedback, and relationship building." Aikten ([16], p. 93) argues that using social media improves teaching and makes communication among students better. Consequently, the students will learn vocabulary in an unplanned manner or indirectly by the use of these applications to communicate fluently with their peers.

#### **7.7 Social media and vocabulary promotion**

As previously noted, social media provides registered students and users with educational platforms that offer a variety of options and possibilities. When a student profile is shared with a number of Facebook pages, he or she is able to communicate with overseas students informally and benefit from their experiences and information. Formal teaching and learning are established and administered by the teacher, who also provides his students with broad instructions. Teachers provide students with usernames and passwords. They can see their grade on a Facebook page made by the teacher, as well as any additional drills or exercises they must do in addition to their assigned duties. In addition, further programmes and explanations are presented on the students' formal page.

As previously indicated, the researcher chooses Facebook due to its popularity, utility, and accessibility. It fills the kids with motivation and self-assurance, and they may freely express their thoughts. Such sharing is impractical and time consuming to implement in the classroom. From the following websites or connections, students can share or learn vocabulary:


*The Influence of Social Media Networking Platforms on Promoting EFL Learners' Lexical… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109543*


#### **7.8 Benefits of social media platforms in EFL classes**

Despite a few downsides, the vast majority of education specialists, practitioners, and theorists concur that current social media networks can have enormously positive effects on the performance and growth of language learners when

#### *Technology in Learning*

they are exploited and used correctly. Students can collaborate with classmates or peers on projects. They can also collaborate with other foreign groups and exchange ideas. Numerous and diverse links and websites have been developed and utilised by enrolled students in order to expand their vocabularies, as demonstrated above when students utilise the YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook platforms and pages.

These links and websites are essential and countless. Since global networking is free access, students should be incentivised to utilise, implement, and teach with new technologies. Students will also get knowledge of cultural diversity, other social traditions, and customs. This will aid in better comprehending the external world.

#### **8. Data collection and procedures**

#### **8.1 Design of the Study**

The study research design was then customised utilising a pre-test–post-test experiment and group framework to determine the impact of the Facebook educational programme on students' vocabulary achievements. The exam is made up of multiple-choice questions. Before the study began, the students' prior knowledge was tested *via* a pre-test given to both groups (control and experimental). The pre-test was designed to examine the pupils' prior knowledge of terms. The same pre-test was utilised as a post-test at the end of the study to assess the students' achievement on the issue, namely the acquisition of new vocabulary items. The post-test was designed to measure the impact of both instructional approaches (Facebook and traditional) on learners' achievement.

#### **8.2 Sampling of the study**

The population of this study consists of all second-year students at AL-Maymona secondary schools for boys in Missan, Iraq, during the 2021–2022 academic year. The college offers two courses, A and B, with 61 and 62 students in A and B, respectively. Class A was selected at random to serve as the experimental group (henceforth EG) and class B served as the control group (henceforth CG). All random decisions were determined by drawing lots. One student in Section A and two students in Section B were removed from the experiment because they were repeating the grade. During the duration of the trial, the repeaters were kept in their classes, but their performance on the post-tests was disregarded. Thus, the final number of sample subjects was 120 students, with 60 students in each group.

The experiment began on December 16, 2017 and concluded on March 15, 2018. The experiment lasted approximately 10 weeks. In this study, pupils had comparable educational possibilities. In other words, the two sets of students had identical conditions with the exception of the use of social media on EG. The researcher instructed both study groups.

Facebook, a social networking programme, was used to instruct EG students. Regarding the CG, students were instructed using the methods specified in the required textbook, English Grammar in Use. The researcher instructed the EG as well as the CG. A portion of the presentation focused on the applications of social media, in which students participated. In each lecture, one or more social media, such as Facebook, YouTube, and e-mail, were highlighted.

*The Influence of Social Media Networking Platforms on Promoting EFL Learners' Lexical… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109543*

#### **8.3 Ethics of the study**

The study includes all of its data and information that are related to the research own properties. No violation can be seen through this investigative study.

#### **8.4 The instructional design**

This study employs an online project design methodology. The researcher develops a Facebook application that facilitates student-to-student and student-to-teacher communication at home. A twelve-week programme was designed with two primary foci: vocabulary and grammar. Each week, a variety of teaching methods, including discussions, exams, further exercises, and information searching/sharing, were utilised to educate students about a self-governing topic. For the EG, Facebook was chosen due to its accessibility and usefulness to the students, because it provides the students with a vocabulary-learning platform for chatting, debating, working together, and cooperating to complete home projects, as well as involving each member's personal experience. The CG employs conventional practise, debates, and group projects as a mode of instruction. In the CG's head, there is no internet connection; this is the primary distinction between the treatments. **Table 1**, adapted from Wang and Chen ([17], p. 137), illustrates the researcher's various methods.

#### **8.5 Validity and reliability of the instrument**

Face validity of the test has been assured by presenting the instrument to a jury of members who have lots of experiences in the field of teaching English language. For reliability of the test, it is estimated as having more than 90%; henceforth, the rest is reliable and yields the same results after some trials by the students.

#### **8.6 Results**

After delivering the post-test for achievement, the collected data were evaluated to see whether there are statistically significant differences between the mean scores of EG and CG on the first and second post-tests. Consequently, the study's objectives to validate the hypotheses indicated in the current investigation will be met. This study also includes a discussion of the outcomes and implications drawn from the study's findings. A series of recommendations and proposals for pedagogical purposes and potential future research expansions are provided.


#### **Table 1.**

*Vocabulary learning activities through Facebook.*

#### *8.6.1 Comparison between the vocabulary performance of EG and CG on the achievement of post-test*

The t-test formula for two independent samples is used to compare the mean achievement post-test scores of the EG and CG. The average EG score is 54.36, whereas the average CG score is 42.24. The estimated t-value is 4618, but the tabulated value is 1987 at a significance level of 0.05 and 98 degrees of freedom. This suggests that there is a statistically significant difference between the two groups; specifically, the EG is superior to the CG in terms of vocabulary achievement. This, in turn, indicates that the researcher's Facebook-based vocabulary education method is more effective and fruitful than traditional methods (see **Table 2**).

#### *8.6.2 Comparison of the pre-test and the achievement of post-test of the EG performance*

The typical pre-test score for the EG is 38.55, whereas the post-test score for achievement is 49.73. The paired sample t-test method is used to determine whether there is a statistically significant difference between the mean scores. The estimated t-value is −13.674, whereas the tabulated value is 2.012 at a significance level of 0.05 and 49 degrees of freedom. This shows that there is a statistically significant difference between the two groups, with the EG performing better than the CG. Therefore, the originally given null hypothesis is rejected (see **Table 3**).

#### **8.7 Interpretation of the results**

The results indicate that the adopted application, i.e. Facebook, is an excellent method for teaching and acquiring vocabulary, which may be attributable to the following:

Returning to **Tables 2** and **3**, it is evident that the performance of the EG *via* Facebook is superior to that of the CG. Due to the efficiency of the implemented programme, this is a natural conclusion. Facebook has proven to be incredibly useful for language learners at various stages. Studies examining the use of this application indicate a large increase in pupils' vocabulary.


#### **Table 2.**

*Comparison between the vocabulary performance of EG and CG on the achievement of post-test.*


#### **Table 3.**

*Comparison of the pre-test and the achievement of post-test performance of the EG.*

*The Influence of Social Media Networking Platforms on Promoting EFL Learners' Lexical… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109543*

Students' vocabulary improves more on Facebook than on the accomplishment pretest, indicating that their language repertoire, which enables them to communicate effectively and organically, will be larger. If students are taught language using social media, they will recall it well. Teacher feedback and assessment are required while teaching vocabulary because social media play a significant role in the development of students' vocabularies, which in turn enables students to speak and communicate successfully due to their word repertoire. Such chosen applications make pupils more self-assured, independent, and motivated, which reflects their improved academic performance.

#### **8.8 Educational recommendations**

Based on the findings and conclusions of this study, the researcher suggests the following:


#### **9. Conclusions**

Based on the obtained results, the following conclusions can be drawn:

#### *Technology in Learning*

As seen by their performance on the pre-test, the vocabulary knowledge of college students in Iraq can be characterised as rather weak. The teaching and learning of vocabulary through social media, using Facebook as an example, is more effective than the traditional methods specified by the textbook.

The traditional strategies used to teach vocabulary in Iraqi college classrooms are effective, as demonstrated by the pre- and post-test results of the CG (the achievement of post-tests). However, the researcher's applications have been shown to be more fruitful and effective in promoting the pupils' vocabulary.

The accepted application provides pupils with more options than the textbook for storing and readily remembering what they have been taught or learnt. When taught to vocabulary approaches such as the Facebook learning strategy, the EG appeared to be more engaged because such techniques increased their autonomy. Students that are motivated perform better in vocabulary. Therefore, teachers must pay close and precise attention to motivation. Vocabulary forgetting can be reduced to a minimum by focusing on social media services that improve vocabulary retention.

It has been found that using social media platforms in the field of teaching and learning foreign language will serve the educational and instructional process largely based on the current findings of this study. Besides, the researcher recommends adopting such social media applications in the educational settings after getting agreements from the policy and government of the state, since these social media are available to high extent by almost all people and all students.

#### **Author details**

Husam Mohammed Kareem Al-Khazaali Imam Al-Kadhum College (IKC), Misan City, Iraq

\*Address all correspondence to: husammohammed@alkadhum-col.edu.iq

© 2023 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

*The Influence of Social Media Networking Platforms on Promoting EFL Learners' Lexical… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109543*

#### **References**

[1] Nur Rafi'ah, Rezkiyanti Syarifuddin. Designing an Instructional Model of Youtube-Based Materials of Listening Comprehension at Umpar Indonesia. 2008. Available from: https://www.asianefl-journal.com/wp-content/uploads/ AEFLJ-Volume-20-Issue-7-July-2018.pdf

[2] Alassiri AA, Muda MB, Ghazali RB. Usage of social networking sites and technological impact on the interactionenabling features. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science. 2014;**4**(4):1-16

[3] Siriwan M. English Vocabulary Learning Strategies Employed [Thesis]. Malaysia: The University of Suranaree; 2007

[4] Richards JC, Schmidt R. Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics. 4th ed. London: Pearson Education Limited; 2010

[5] Nation ISP. Learning Vocabulary in another Language. Oxford University Press; 2001

[6] Chacon R, Abello-Contesse C, Torreblance-Lopez MD, editors. Insights into Non-Native Vocabulary Teaching and Learning. London: MPG Books Group Ltd.; 2010

[7] Adriana SM, Mirabela PA. The Impact of Social Media on Vocabualry Learning Case Study: Facebook. Oradea: University of Oradea; 2016

[8] Dewing M. Social Media: Social Affairs Division. Library of Parlement; 2010

[9] Solis B. Social Media Use: A Critical Analysis of Facebook's Impact on Collegiate EFL Students' English Writing in Thailand [Thesis]. USA: Seton Hall University; 2002

[10] Rosen C. Facebook's Effect on Subtle Emotion Decoding, Academic Performance, and Identity Protection. USA: The Faculty of the Communication Department, Southern Utah University; 2007

[11] Awl D. Facebook me! A Guide to Having Fun with your Friends and Promoting your Projects on Facebook. Berkeley: Pearson Education Ltd.; 2009

[12] Jones C, Shao B. The Net Generation and Digital Natives. Implications for Higher Education. London: Pearson Publishing; 2011

[13] Chen B, Bryer T. Investigating instructional strategies for using social media informal and informal learning. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning. 2012;**13**:87-104

[14] Gumport PJ, Chun M. Technology and higher education: Opportunities and challenges for the new era. In: Altbach P, Berdahl R, Gumport PJ, editors. American Higher Education in the 21st Century: Social, Political, and Economic Challenges. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press; 1999. pp. 370-395

[15] Lewis P, Candito L. Rising Social Media Marketing for Colleges and Universities. Cambridge: CUP; 2016

[16] Aikten JE. Cases on Communication Technology for Second Language Acquisition and Cultural Learning. New York: IGI Global Publishing; 2014

[17] Wang C, Chen C. Effects of Facebook tutoring on learning English as a second language. In: IADIS International Conference e-Learning. Taipei, Taiwan; 2013

#### **Chapter 8**

## Perspective Chapter: The Relationship of Technology and Creativity in Childhood Period

*Neriman Aral and Gül Kadan*

#### **Abstract**

Thanks to technology, which has the potential to go to the most remote places and which concerns individuals of all ages and from all walks of life, many actions that were previously impossible can be done. Especially children constitute the important human resources of technology. However, the conscious use of technology is considered important. Creativity is a phenomenon that can be utilized in the conscious use of technology. Creativity is defined as the ability to create original products, to think and feel differently. The innate creativity ability may decrease over time. The decrease in creativity can pave the way for the emergence of individuals who think and act in a uniform way. Such a situation can undoubtedly be an important obstacle to social progress. For this reason, it is necessary to support the creativity abilities of children. In supporting creativity, the use of technology, in which children spend most of their time, will ensure the realization of two-way purposes. Based on these considerations, it is aimed to explain how the technology-creativity relationship can be combined in childhood.

**Keywords:** technology, creativity, childhood, electronic book, robotic coding, virtual trip

#### **1. Introduction**

One of the important skills of the 21st century is to be ahead in the technological field and to gain creativity skills at the same time [1]. As a matter of fact, the most important feature expected from the people of the 21st century is to be able to express themselves in different ways and to use the important opportunities brought by technology while expressing themselves in different ways [2–7]. The importance of the childhood period is obvious in realizing the stated situations and making them a lifelong attitude. All kinds of behaviors and habits that will be taught to children from a very early age will be one of the important strengths that they will have for a lifetime [8, 9]. In this context, it can be considered as an important necessity to deal with the relationship between technology and creativity in childhood. In particular, not combining technology and creativity or combining them incorrectly can harm children due to the immaturity of their developmental areas [2, 10–21]. At this point, it is thought that it is important to deal with the definitions of technology and creativity and to explain their connection with childhood.

Technology is defined as combining technical and theoretical knowledge [22]. With the emergence of the industrial revolution, technology and technological developments continued to turn heads at full speed [23]. Especially today, technology makes significant contributions to people by bringing the distances closer, helping their free time become quality, and providing information [22, 24]. However, considering this contribution in a one-way manner, in other words, individuals with whom technology interacts only receive what is imposed on them, can bring many negative consequences. The most important of these negative consequences is the destruction of creativity [25]. Creativity can be expressed as the ability to come up with original products, to think uniquely and to make different inventions by separating from the general [26, 27]. In this context, combining technology with creativity is among the 21st century skills [1].

21st century skills can be expressed as fulfilling the requirements of the current age. Individuals with 21st century skills are expected to be in a good position in technology and to be able to express themselves through technological means. At the same time, these individuals should be able to think and act new and original while expressing themselves. It is obvious that all these will be gained by combining the technology and creativity skills that will be provided to children from infancy [28]. In the following, how technology and creativity take place in children from infancy and what can be done to support children in this process will be discussed in the light of current studies conducted in the country and abroad. Thus, it will be possible to apply the studies conducted in future studies on different samples. In addition, parents will not only offer these tools to their children in order to keep their children entertained or conduct behavior management, but also support their children's innate creativity abilities in the technological tools they will offer to their children. They will play an important role in supporting creativity with technological tools while performing educational activities for teachers and other people interested in the field, just like parents. Thus, the upbringing of children who have 21st century skills and who will adopt these characteristics will be discussed in a broad perspective and investments will be made in the future. For these purposes, the following questions will be answered throughout the research.


### **2. Technology-creativity relationship in infancy**

Infancy period can be expressed as one of the important periods in human life. The most important factor underlying this importance is that the baby does not recognize the environment in which he was born and needs caregivers to make sense of this world. Moreover, this need is of vital importance not only in terms of getting

#### *Perspective Chapter: The Relationship of Technology and Creativity in Childhood Period DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110276*

to know the world, but also in terms of supporting all development areas. Synapse myelination in the brain during infancy requires mutual communication and interaction [29]. The caregiver's response to the baby's sounds and a warm interest become important in supporting the baby's developing creativity. However, technological tools that will be presented to the baby in this period and not respond to the baby's communication efforts as expressed, harm the baby's development and do not have any positive effect on the creativity ability [30]. In other words, non-interactive publications presented to infants during infancy in the literature increase the probability of infants to experience reactive attachment disorder, cause delays in language development, and do not bring significant gains in cognitive development [31, 32], children and adults who think uniformly, do not criticize, do not question, and take what is given to them as they are [18, 33]. In other words, the ability to be creative has disappeared. However, on the contrary, it has been found that the technological tools offered interactively for children have significant benefits on the creative thinking ability of babies both at the moment and in the future.

Şirin [34] worked with babies older than 18 months in the research he conducted on babies. These babies were presented with thematic television or computer programs and the babies were watched for a certain period of time. As a result of the research, it was determined that there was a difference in the information processing speed of the babies in the following processes. Şirin [34] explains this situation by prioritizing the educational feature of the programs offered to babies. He states that the images given to the baby through television, computer programs, DVD and MP3 are useful, and he argues that the repetitions in the stimuli received by the baby from these tools have the feature of supporting the development in the information processing process, thus contributing to the completion of the parts of the whole. Similar to the opinion expressed by Şirin [34], it is emphasized that the innate creativity ability of the baby is supported by educational programs, the brain is active in this process and therefore creative solutions can be found [35, 36]. In addition to these studies, electronic books and music are also used to combine technology and creativity in infancy.

Audiobooks have the ability to appeal to imaginative and emotional intelligence and talents. The creativity ability of the baby can also be supported with an appropriate tone of voice or background music studies that are specific to the developmental period of the baby [25]. Çer [37] examined how the baby's creativity ability and concept development were in the electronic books he presented for 0–24 months old babies. In the research, books were read with the caregivers of the babies and one-year observations of the babies were made. At the end of the research, it was concluded that babies made significant gains in both language development and creativity after one year. Thanks to the system developed by Costa-Giomi and Benetti [38], which helps to make music and sing at home during infancy, it has been concluded that babies can sing songs and produce their own music.

In the light of the studies expressed and reached in the literature, while technological tools are offered to babies in infancy, they should have an interactive feature and support all developmental areas of the baby. Thus, the baby will be protected from the harms of technological tools and his creativity abilities will be supported.

#### **3. Technology-creativity relationship in early childhood**

As a result of the achievements of the child in all areas of development during infancy and the breakthroughs he has made in his development, he enters the early childhood period. In this period, the progress in the developmental areas of the child still continues and all the gains gained in this period follow him for a lifetime. In this sense, the child in early childhood researches, watches, wants to see and evaluate everything that happens around him, and asks questions. There is a perspective towards the world [30]. Under this point of view, he can produce creative products to the extent that his cognitive development allows. Although the child in early childhood is an individual who tries to discover and learn about the world, his caregivers and teachers after starting school become an important role model for him. He appropriates all the behaviors of these role models and adds them to his attitudes. Here, the use of technology can also come to the fore [39, 40]. However, as in the previous period, children's being together with non-interactive technological tools and technological tools that are not suitable for their development can harm them, undesirable problems can arise in all areas of development, they can become content with what is given to them, and their creativity blunts [41–45]. For this reason, it is an important necessity to present programs that will support creativity while providing technological tools to children in this period.

The relationship between technology and creativity in early childhood has been collected in different dimensions in the literature. The first of these was electronic books, as in the previous period. Bozkurt Yükçü et al. [46] stated in their compilation research that e-books offer children a world rich in stimuli and that their creativity and language development develop through this world. In their research, Naranjo Bock [47] wanted to examine the impact of the development of electronic books for children in early childhood on the developmental areas and creativity of children. As a result of the research, they have reached conclusions that children's learning becomes enjoyable, they can think critically, and positive results are obtained on their creativity abilities through e-books prepared for children's development levels. In her compilation study, Odabaş [48] offers suggestions that e-books increase children's learning motivation and improve their ability to think differently. Tanrıverdi [49], on the other hand, worked with 12 children attending pre-school education institutions in his research. In the research, children were read books with augmented reality application. At the end of a period, he has reached conclusions that children can think differently, as well as achieve significant gains in their language and cognitive development. Reich et al. [50] conducted a study to determine the effect of e-book applications on creativity and other developmental areas of children in early childhood. They worked with 54 children under the age of five for 11 weeks in the study. As a result of the study, they reached conclusions that e-books prepared for children have significant effects on the developmental areas of children and that they can think differently and ask different questions. Behnamnia et al. [51] conducted a study to determine whether digital game-based learning has an effect on the creativity of three- to six-year-old children. In the research, the programs loved by the children were installed on tablets and smart mobile phones. As a result of children's use of these applications, their creativity abilities were determined by the Torrance creativity scale. As a result of the research, it has been concluded that the programs used by children on digital game platforms have important consequences on their creativity skills. Another area used to combine technology and creativity in children in early childhood is robotic applications.

Sullivan et al. [52] developed robotic applications in a preschool education institution and conducted a study to investigate the effect of these developed robotic applications on children's thinking skills. In the study, robotic applications were presented to children for a week. As a result of the research, as a result of the post-test applied to the children, they concluded that the children were able to think differently

#### *Perspective Chapter: The Relationship of Technology and Creativity in Childhood Period DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110276*

and produce unusual answers. Another study was carried out by Bers et al. [53]. Researchers developed a construction-based robotics application for four-year-olds, looking at whether children could learn computational and math skills, and also wanted to examine their thinking styles. Teachers also took part in the research, which was carried out with 57 children for one year. As a result of the research, they concluded that children learned robotic coding, used mathematical problems and calculations, and were able to produce original thoughts at the same time. Mioduser and Levy [54] developed a robotic application that shows spatial-temporal situations in children and carried out their research in order to determine the effects of the developed application on children. In the study, six children were studied during five sessions. As a result of the research, it has been concluded that very complex results can be achieved as a result of supporting children and that it is necessary to focus on practices in this direction. Canbeldek [55] conducted a research to determine the effect of the robotic coding program he developed on the developmental areas and creativity of children. He worked with 80 children for a period of time in the study. As a result of the research, it was determined that there was a significant difference in the creativity dimension from the post-test scores of the children. Another area that we frequently encounter in robotic applications has been STEM and coding education.

Atabay and Albayrak [56] conducted a research to teach children algorithm training and technique in coding. It was studied with 12 preschool children for one semester. As a result of the research, they have reached conclusions that children can learn the concept of order in their algorithm abilities, divide what they have learned into parts, and think differently. In the compilation study of Sayginer and Tüzün [57], in which they compared coding trainings in Turkey and abroad, it was concluded that these trainings were started later in Turkey and they made suggestions on the necessity of making it systematized. Şimşek [58] conducted a research to determine the effect of STEM activities on children's creativity skills. In the study, 31 children at the age of five were studied for 8 weeks. As a result of the research, it was concluded that there was a significant increase in children's creativity skills. Another similar study was carried out by Güldemir and Çınar [59]. The researchers worked with 60 children from the age group of five-six for 8 weeks, accompanied by six STEM activities. As a result of the research, a significant increase was found in the creativity abilities of children. Üret and Ceylan [60], on the other hand, investigated whether STEM activities have an effect on the creative thinking skills of five-year-old children. It was studied for 8 weeks with 30 children. As a result of the research, significant differences were found in the level of creativity skills of children who were applied STEM activities. Stylianidou et al. [61] aimed to determine the effect of STEM activities applied to children in early childhood on the creative thinking skills of children in their 30-month study, which they called junior scientists. As a result of the research, they concluded that STEM activities applied to children had a positive effect on children's creative thinking skills.

When the above-mentioned studies on the use of technology and creativity of children in early childhood are evaluated in general, it is seen that technological programs suitable for the development of children support their creativity and also have positive outputs on other developmental areas.

#### **4. Technology-creativity relationship in childhood**

In childhood, the child has officially started a school. During this period, the child has desires to be successful and to be appreciated. For this reason, children sometimes seek the interest and closeness they cannot find from their peers or teachers in virtual environments. In this case, risks that are not suitable for their age and development may be encountered [30]. However, childhood can be considered as an area where children need to structure their future professionally correctly. In studies on children being together with technological tools, it has been concluded that academic failure, emotional and behavioral problems can be seen as a result of these children's exposure to inappropriate programs or technological tools [62, 63]. At the same time, in the period when the child starts school, the child may stay away from creativity from time to time in an effort to be successful academically. As a result of not supporting this innate ability or lack of the necessary environment to support it, the creativity ability of the child may also atrophy [64–67]. In order to prevent all these negative situations, it is very important to support technology and creativity together in childhood, as in other periods.

Educational technological games were the first application encountered in the literature to support technology-creativity in childhood. Sayan [68] wanted to determine the effect on children's academic achievement and creativity skills by using educational games for primary school children. As a result of the research he conducted with 76 students over a period of time, he reached the conclusion that children gained significant gains in their academic achievement and creativity. Sayan and Hamurcu [69] conducted a research to determine whether the educational games they developed in the primary school science and technology lesson have an effect on children's creativity. In the study, 76 students were studied during a course period. As a result of the research, it was concluded that educational games have significant effects on children's creative thinking skills. Aljraiwi [70] developed a web-based educational game setup for primary school students and wanted to determine whether this setup is meaningful on children's creativity. As a result of the research, significant differences were obtained on the creative abilities of children. Bulut et al., [71] carried out a research to determine how the educational games developed by the students in the fifth and sixth grade of primary education affect their creativity. The study was conducted with 23 children and over a period of time. Children were asked to design and develop their own educational games. At the end of the study carried out in the technological environment, it was determined that the children enjoyed learning and that there were significant changes in their creativity. Yücelyiğit and Aral [72] conducted a study to determine the creativity abilities of children playing educational games in digital technology. In the study, 61 children aged between seven and fifteen years were studied. The games that children played in the digital environment were determined and they concluded that the creativity skills of the children playing these games were at a higher level. In addition to educational games, robotic coding for children in childhood is also very important.

Göksoy and Yılmaz [73] conducted a study to determine the creativity abilities of children receiving robotic coding training. Interview questions about different problem situations were asked to the children and the answers given were analyzed. As a result of the research, it was determined that the creativity skills of the children were at a high level. Haymana and Özalp [74] conducted a study to determine the effect of robotic coding education on children's creativity. Robotic coding training was applied for ten weeks with 30 children. As a result of the research, it was concluded that robotic coding education had a significant effect on children's creative thinking skills. Jiang and Li [75] conducted a study to determine whether Scratch language education has an effect on creativity on children studying in primary education in China. A five-week training was conducted with 336 Chinese children. As a result of

#### *Perspective Chapter: The Relationship of Technology and Creativity in Childhood Period DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110276*

the research, it was determined that significant gains were obtained on the creativity abilities of children. Akçay et al. [76] conducted a study to determine whether the robotic coding activities they developed for children in the primary school period have a significant effect on children's creativity abilities. In the study, they worked with 30 students studying in the third and fourth grades of primary education for a period of four weeks in the after-school period. After four weeks, it was determined that there was a significant increase in the creativity abilities of the children. Aytekin et al. [77] in their compilation-type study in which they examined robotic coding programs, it was determined that such programs made significant gains on children's creative abilities, and therefore they presented their views on supporting all children in this area. Another study was carried out by Oluk et al. [78]. Researchers wanted to determine whether the Scratch robotic coding program has an effect on the creativity levels of primary school fifth grade students. As a result of the research they conducted with 62 children, it was determined that there were significant differences in the creativity abilities of the children as well as their computational thinking skills. In this context, there are studies that show that STEM activities have significant effects on the creativity of children in childhood.

Jawad and Majeed [79] developed activities using STEM activities with 32 primary school children. As a result of the activities applied to the children, the creative abilities of the children were measured. As a result of the research, it was determined that there were significant differences in the creative abilities of children. Kang [80] worked with children in primary schools in South Korea. As a result of the longitudinal research, it was found that the children who participated in STEM activities in the primary education period were quite advanced in their creative thinking abilities both at the moment and in the future. Today, in addition to STEM activities, augmented reality application is an application used in every education period.

Buluş Kırıkkaya and Şentürk [81] carried out a research to determine how children's academic achievement and creativity abilities are supported in the science lesson held with the augmented reality application. Information about the solar system was presented to the children with augmented reality technology for three weeks with 24 children. In the post-test application performed three weeks later, they concluded that the academic achievement of the children increased considerably compared to the control group, and the creativity abilities of the children were supported. Yousef [82] conducted a study to determine whether augmented reality applications affect the creativity abilities of sixty-two students in Egypt. In the research, the subjects were presented to the children with augmented reality applications during a learning period. As a result of the research, it was determined that both academic success and creativity skills of children increased significantly. Yılmaz and Göktaş [83] conducted a research to determine whether story activities prepared with augmented reality applications have an effect on children's creativity. In the study, 100 children were studied over a period of time. The story activities were presented to the children with the augmented reality application. As a result of the research, it was determined that there was a significant difference in the creativity of children. Chen, Chen, and Wang [84] tried astronomy learning in primary school with augmented reality application. As a result of the research, it has been concluded that children's learning is supported, learning becomes enjoyable and their creativity skills develop.

It is also seen in the researches that the use of technology and creativity together in childhood causes important results in both academic success and creativity of children, as in other periods.

#### **5. Technology-creativity relationship in adolescence**

Combining technology with creativity is also very important for adolescents. It can be stated that there are basically two reasons underlying this importance. The first of these is that children in this period use technology intensively and sometimes inappropriately. Another reason is the war that children in this period fight to build their future [85]. The efforts of children to shape their futures may prevent them from using their creativity [85, 86]. For this purpose, it is necessary for adolescents to feed their interest in technology with creativity.

The first application made with adolescent children is a program developed by Prensky [87] and called "Developing Children's Worlds", in which technology is used intensively. Prensky brought adolescents together with the problems they may encounter in the real world in a simulative environment, asked them to find solutions to these problems, and stated that their creativity skills were supported by the solutions they found. In connection with this project, children in adolescence produced original projects for themselves and shared their original projects on social media platforms. One of the other applications for adolescents was on programming and coding education. İrkin and Akbulut [88] wanted to adolescents to produce original products and embody their thoughts in the Technology and Design course. In this context, children were presented with programs coded in accordance with their age and developmental characteristics, different problem situations were produced in these programs and children were asked to find different solutions to these problem situations. As a result of the evaluation, it was determined that the children found different solutions to new problems and applied them.

STEM activities make positive contributions to the academic achievement of children in adolescence, as in every period. Based on the developmental characteristics of children, STEM activities focus on different areas. One of them is the "ALGODOO" program. This program can be expressed as a program developed based on Archimedes' physical theory. The first of the studies reached by the program is the research conducted by Çelik et al. [89]. The aim of the researchers is to teach physics to 10th grade high school children through the program and to determine what the children's achievements are. After the program they applied for a period, it was determined that the academic success of the children in the adolescence period increased in the physics course and they offered original solutions to the problems. Çayvaz and Akçay [90] is another of the researchers who implemented the "Algodoo" program and tried to determine its effects. Researchers applied the program to 6th grade students and determined the achievements as a result of the program. As a result of the research, it was concluded that there were positive changes in the attitudes of the students towards the lesson and that they were able to think critically at the same time. Turan Güntepe and Dönmez Usta [91] applied the program to 23 sixth grade students. As a result of the study, other research findings were supported and it was determined that children showed critical and creative thinking abilities. Karakuzu and Bektaş [92] conducted a study using the program with seventh grade students with low academic achievement. As a result of the research, it was concluded that children participate in learning with pleasure, their academic achievements increase and their scientific creativity is supported. Another example of the technology-creativity relationship in adolescence is found in the research conducted by Wang.

Wang [93] conducted a study to determine how the creativity abilities of adolescents change while producing music. He worked with 25 adolescents in the study. He wanted to determine the creativity abilities of adolescents while composing, singing

#### *Perspective Chapter: The Relationship of Technology and Creativity in Childhood Period DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110276*

and vocalizing music in a music room. As a result of the research, he found a directly proportional relationship between creating music and creativity.

When the researches are examined, it has been concluded that when technological tools are applied in adolescence, taking into account the developmental characteristics of adolescents, they can cause significant effects on creativity abilities.

#### **6. Method**

In the research, which was carried out to determine and support the relationship between technology and creativity in childhood, a literature review was carried out. In this context, the "Google Scholar" database was used as the database. While searching in the research, basically two assumptions were emphasized. The first of these is how children use technology from infancy to adolescence and what is the effect of the technology used on children. The other assumption is how the technology-creativity relationship is handled in research on children from infancy to adolescence. While scanning the literature, the views of parents and teachers were excluded for the first assumption. In this sense identified, five studies were for infancy; eight studies were for early childhood; seven studies were for childhood and two studies were for adolescence. Experimental studies were also taken into account in the relationship between technology and creativity, which is the second postulate of the research. In this context, it was determined that six studies were for the relationship between technology and creativity in infancy, fifteen studies were for the relationship between technology and creativity in early childhood, seventeen studies were for the relationship between technology and creativity in childhood, and seven studies were for the relationship between technology and creativity in adolescence. Studies whose full text can be accessed were included in the study. Articles that are not open access are excluded. At the same time, the opinions of teachers and teacher candidates were also excluded from the scope of the study. Only three studies included compilation studies in order to see the situation in Turkey and in the world. In addition, while the studies were included in the study, special attention was paid to the studies of the last 10 years (2012–2022).

For the studies reached, it was first determined how technology was used from infancy to adolescence. In this context, it has been determined that technology is frequently used by children in every period. However, at the same time, research results were found that these tools, which are found in the literature, have the potential to cause harm when they are not used in accordance with their purpose, and the researches are explained by considering the scope of the subject. In the research, it was investigated which studies on the technology-creativity relationship from infancy to adolescence. In the studies reached, the sample group, with whom and how the study was conducted, and the results were explained within the scope of the subject.

#### **7. Discussion**

In the research conducted to examine the technology-creativity relationship in childhood, it was concluded that technology supports children's creativity as a result of using different activities and in accordance with the developmental levels of children [94–96]. However, on the contrary, it is seen that as a result of the inappropriate use of technology by children, it can damage their developmental areas and bring many negative consequences. It is possible to deal with this situation with the immaturity of the developmental areas of children [19, 22, 63, 97]. While the baby is trying to discover a world that he does not know in infancy, it is obvious that the important point for him will be possible with individuals or technological tools that have a pattern of mutual communication and interaction. As a matter of fact, the baby's synaptic connections will only be possible by responding to the sounds it makes and by offering different activities to the baby by the people who are interested in it. The environment to be arranged for the sounds babies make will support their cognitive development, primarily language development. Moreover, it is a necessity for the baby to have stimuli that he can pick up and touch for his developing motor activities. All these will make it easier for the baby to use his innate creativity and transfer it to other environments [30]. Thematic broadcasts on television or computer programs to be organized for babies, electronic books will support all developmental areas of babies, and as a result, the stimuli in the technological tools that the baby sees, hears, feels and touches will make it easier for him to make different discoveries, in other words, will pave the way for the nurturing of his creativity ability [25, 35, 36]. As a matter of fact, studies have also supported this finding [34, 37, 38]. The child's interest in technology and technological tools should be combined with creativity in the early childhood period, which results in babies starting to walk and exploring the environment.

Early childhood is a period in which the child can act more independently, manage his environment and contribute positively to his developmental areas. The child can behave more individually with the developing areas of development. However, although the situation is in this direction, the child's need for support continues. As a result of the child's establishing his relationship with the world on solid foundations, he will develop in a healthy way and in this case, he will be able to affect his whole life [8, 98, 99]. In this context, the technological tools that will be presented to children have more importance than is thought. In addition to the thematic publications for children in the previous period, electronic books that will feed early language and literacy skills will emerge as important. Again, it is clear that one of the developmental characteristics of children in this period is their sense of curiosity. In a way that satisfies this sense of curiosity, robotic applications, coding and STEM activities for children will both enable children to explore their surroundings and support their active structure [52, 54, 100, 101]. In the researches, it has been concluded that electronic books, STEM activities, augmented reality applications, robotic coding and applications applied for children in early childhood have a significant contribution to the development of creativity skills in children [46–61].

Another finding reached in the research was the gains obtained as a result of supporting the technology-creativity relationship in children in childhood. As it is known, during childhood, children officially start school, academic achievements come to the fore, and continue each year by building on the previous one [30, 66]. However, considering that children have individual learning differences, it turns out that not every child can learn in the same way [102]. In this context, electronic environments, robotic coding, robotic applications and STEM activities to be presented to children are more important than it is thought. Thus, through the programs to be developed for each child, the child will be able to learn, enjoy learning, and do more research with pleasure. This situation will increase academic success, especially social-emotional development. Increasing the academic success of children will also help increase the rate of school attendance. In addition to all these, as a result of children's development areas becoming more mature than in previous periods, the desired human profile of the 21st century will be revealed by combining technology

#### *Perspective Chapter: The Relationship of Technology and Creativity in Childhood Period DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110276*

with creativity [10, 72, 103–105]. In the researches, it was concluded that web-based educational games, technological educational games, robotic coding, augmented reality applications and STEM activities in childhood increase the interest in learning, help each child learn according to their potential, and ensure the continuity of their creativity skills [68–84].

The last finding obtained in the study was the relationship between technology and creativity in adolescence. The fact that children are required to use technology in adolescence, which has a special importance in childhood, can bring them to an important position both in preparing them for the future and in supporting their creativity [85]. One of the important developmental characteristics of the child in adolescence is the feeling of being liked and appreciated. Realizing this feeling on the social media platforms that he has established and managed can become an important gain for him. At this point, the child's production of original products and sharing these products will provide a double benefit to children in adolescence. Not only will the child have the feeling of being admired, which is an important need of the developmental area, but also other peers like him will take initiatives for these initiatives [10, 106, 107]. Such a situation will also support them to use their creative potential. In the researches, it was concluded that web-designed models, STEM activities, and programming of different web applications to be used in adolescence increase the academic success of children and have important outputs on their creativity [87–93].

#### **8. Conclusion and recommendations**

In the research, which was carried out to examine the technology-creativity relationship in childhood, it was concluded that the creativity abilities of babies and children increased as a result of the use of technological tools and programs. However, although this situation has been revealed by studies, it is seen that the number of studies is not sufficient, and it is noteworthy that it concentrates especially in early childhood and childhood. In this context, it is thought that it is necessary to make some suggestions considering the use of technology in infancy and adolescence. In addition to all these, it has been revealed by research that the use of technology from a very early age and the use of programs that are not suitable for its purpose can harm children. If the statements are considered as a whole, it is possible to make the following suggestions.


### **Conflict of interest**

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

### **Author details**

Neriman Aral1 and Gül Kadan2 \*

1 Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Child Development, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey

2 Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Child Development, Çankırı Karatekin University, Çankırı, Turkey

\*Address all correspondence to: gulkadan@gmail.com

© 2023 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

*Perspective Chapter: The Relationship of Technology and Creativity in Childhood Period DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110276*

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#### **Chapter 9**

## Developing Creativity via LEGO and AI Robotics

*Um Albaneen Jamali*

#### **Abstract**

The chapter reports on a longitudinal study, which investigated the impacts of robotics programs on developing creativity among elementary school students. A mixed method of pre-post CAP test and observations was used for the purpose of this study, which was carried out over 2 years. A sample of 60, 10–12 year-old female students from middle socio-economic status participated in the study. They were randomly assigned into two treatment and control groups. In the first year of the study a LEGO robotics program was administered to the treatment group while 30 participants in the control group did not receive any robotics program. In the second year, an Arduino robotics program using AI was administered to the students in the treatment group while the students in the control group did not receive any robotics intervention. The results from pre-post tests indicated that the LEGO robotics intervention was significantly effective in developing creative thinking skills of fluency, flexibility and elaboration while had no significant impact upon developing originality. However, robotics programs using AI had significant impact upon developing all creativity thinking skills of fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration. The chapter suggests implications for policymakers and educators while provides recommendations for future researchers in the field.

**Keywords:** creativity, robotics, LEGO, artificial intelligence AI, education, fluency, flexibility, elaboration

#### **1. Introduction**

Achieving long-term sustainability, has stimulated many countries to reach for solutions to address limitations to resources. This will require innovations and creativity in all fields. Sustainability and creativity are, hence, closely interconnected. Creativity is at the heart of sustainable development, rooted in sustainable economic, educational, social and environmental practices. In this respect, creativity includes imagination and ingenuity, while goes beyond to include new technologies, and new approaches of using existing technology. The Industrial Revolution 4.0 has opened up new avenues for creativity and innovation, which requires various fields, particularly, education to re-design its programs to meet new and changing demands. The current paper first defines creativity and its skills, and then attends to educational programs

fostering creativity, including robotics and artificial intelligence, AI. The paper, then, explores the present longitudinal study, which examined the effect of LEGO robotics and AI on developing creative thinking skills among female, primary-school students, and suggests implications for future.

#### **2. Creativity**

Creativity means generating or producing something useful, original and novel [1]. Different meanings, definitions and models were linked to creativity. These variations, however, do not indicate contradiction nor confusion, but denote how creativity was discussed and elaborated in detail in various settings [1].

#### **2.1 Creative thinking**

Creative thinking has been linked with a variety of thinking patters and thinking skills. Some researchers highlighted the importance of three patterns of divergent, convergent and emergent thinking in creativity [2, 3]. According to this perspective, creativity requires divergent thinking where original and novel ideas will be produces; convergent thinking where the novel ideas will be assessed for its usefulness; and finally emergent thinking, which translate the novel and useful ideas into creative products.

Furthermore, these patterns of creative thinking require adopting a number of creative thinking skills. Fluency refers to generating a number of ideas, flexibility denotes producing different thought, and originality refers to generating unusual and novel ideas, while elaboration denotes adding details or features to the final product [4].

#### **3. Fostering creativity in education**

A proliferation of educational programs has intended to develop creative thinking skills among students. These programs foster creativity through two major approaches. In direct approach, the creative thinking skills are being introduced independent from the curriculum and then relative activities being practiced. Indirect approach refers to when creative thinking skills are being integrated in curriculum and presented in subject-related activities, without necessarily introducing the specific thinking skill. The later approach is widely used in designing educational programs.

However, these programs are either outdated in the sense that the specified and detailed instructions are either too lengthy and de motiving or lacking innovation and creativity; while demonstrating little or no connection to 21 century's major improvement, technology. The current paper is an attempt to avoid these limitations, presenting the use of technologies in terms of LEGO robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Providing such programs may well serve teachers and parents in their attempts to develop creativity. The chapter shed lights on LEGO robotics and AI robotics and related research in the field. It, then, emphasize on a research conducted in this regard, providing implications for educators and parents.

#### **3.1 LEGO educational robotics**

The educational robotics kit used in the current study is The LEGO® Education WeDo™ The kit sold by LEGO Group online and was contributed to schools by the Bahraini Ministry of Education. On the other hand, other LEGO robotics kits available in market are usually pre-built robots or are remote-control machines. Such robots are not technically considered as robots (i.e. they do not function on the basis of collecting input from the external contexts and environment). The LEGO® Education WeDo™ kit included 280 colorful bricks, a smart hub, a motor and two sensors. The sensors collect inputs and data from the outer settings, whereas the smart hub represents the robot's brain, therefore, organizing the sensors and motors to perform through coding. The WeDo 2.0 software uses Bluetooth technology and can be run through a computer or a tablet. The LEGO® Education WeDo™ Software provides an icon-based programming setting, which is used to create coding by dragging and dropping coding Blocks into a sequence on Canvas or the computer screen. Creating LEGO robots can involve a great deal of complexity. Researchers indicated that, for example, six colorful LEGO bricks can be joint in one billion different ways [5].

#### **3.2 AI educational robotics**

Robots and artificial intelligence (AI) have enabled innovative solutions to the challenges faced by humans in all fields including education. Nowadays, AI robots are used to bring technology and humans closer together, solve problems, and transform ideas to meet changing demands. AI robots such as Arduino-assisted robots used in this study, are augmented with a variety of sensors (including vision devices, accelerometers, proximity sensors, and other environmental sensors,) that feed them with sensing data they can analyze and act upon in real-time. Arduino consists of both a physical programmable circuit board and a piece of software, that runs on computers, and is used to write and upload a simplified version of C++ code to the physical board. Arduino kit provides building block for robot builders to create connected, intelligent, and reliable robotics solutions. AI enables Arduino robots to:


AI-driven robots are more competent than the ones without this technology, saving human effort and time while ensuring accuracy, validity, and minor errors.

#### **3.3 AI robot and machine learning**

To better understand what AI robots are, it's significant to understand what makes them intelligent. Artificial intelligence refers to a broad class of systems that enable machines to mimic human capabilities. To make a robot truly intelligent Machine

Learning is required. Machine learning uses algorithms that enables the robots to use real-time data and contextual information acquired to make predictions and decisions [6].

#### **4. Research on LEGO robotics and AI robotics**

A growing body of research studies have examined the impact of LEGO and AI robotics in fostering creativity. Some of these research show now be highlighted.

#### **4.1 LEGO robotics & creativity**

Zviel-Girshin and Luria [7] investigated the addition of robotics education in kindergarten and elementary school as a tool for raising confidence, enhancing technological thinking, developing twenty-first century skills including creativity. A quantitative survey of 197 children of both genders and a qualitative analysis of interviews were presented. Results showed that kindergarten and elementary school children fostered creativity and felt confident in building new robots, and indicated positive attitudes towards technology, science and robotics. Male participants demonstrated more positive results compared to their female counterparts.

Coxon, Dohrman and Nadler [8] in their study of 60 students aged 6–12, examined the impact of integrating robotics in curriculum on children's math achievement. The unit included an engineering design loop to help children create and code robots using LEGO WeDo 2.0. The mixed method analysis included pre- and post-assessment of students' understanding of fractions and the Cognitive Abilities Test Screening Form 7 (CogAT 7). The robotics intervention program resulted in significant achievements in math (Cohen's d = 0.72) consistent for children at multiple ability levels and those traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields (i.e. race, gender, and socioeconomic background). Also, students successfully demonstrated creative thinking skills of fluency and flexibility.

Hendrik, Ali and Nayan [9] study examined the use of Robotic Technology as a learning tool to develop students' Figural Creativity (FC). Forty elementary school students aged 10–11 years, participated in this study. Students' creativity skills were assessed using the Figural Creativity Test (TKF). The findings from pre-post assessment indicated 23% creativity improvement among students in K-13 Curriculum with sig. 2-tailed = .000, p < .05. students indicated development of creative thinking skills of fluency, flexibility and elaboration. They recommended that robotic technology to be applied in the educational sectors.

The effect of robotics on creativity was further investigated by Kim and Coxon [2]. A sample of 50 students aged 6–15 participated in a controlled intervention study following a First LEGO League for a period of 20 hours in 4 days. The results demonstrated significant gains in creative thinking skills, particularly flexibility and elaboration, in favor of male participants. Flexibility gains, however, were most meaningful as the two-tailed p value of less than.001 was indicated.

#### **4.2 AI robotics & creativity**

AI robotics have been the subject of many research studies in the last decade. Guven et al. [10] aimed to determine the effects of Arduino-assisted robotics coding applications on children's robotics attitude, scientific creativity and motivation. The

#### *Developing Creativity via LEGO and AI Robotics DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110277*

mixed research method was conducted with 11 (6 females and 5 males), 6th grade students in a STEM in 2018–2019 academic year. Quantitative data collection tools included scientific creativity scale, motivation scale and robotics attitude scale, while qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interviews. The results suggested that the levels of children's creativity, attitude and motivation increased with the robotics coding activities integrated into science curriculum. In addition, students demonstrated creative thinking skills of fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration while showed solving many daily-life problems. The researchers called for implementing Arduino-assisted robotics coding applications in the teaching of 6th grade science curricula.

Kim and Lee [11] examined the impact of integrating Arduino in educational program on fostering creativity. The developed educational program was applied to 20 high school students for a period of 36 hours. The results, however, demonstrated no statistically significant change in participants' creative problem-solving ability. Upon exploring their views on Arduino-based education, the students noted that the Arduino-based program was interesting with some accomplishment. However, they felt overwhelmed by difficulties in designing and debugging. Researchers called for reconsideration of teaching materials, teaching-learning methods, and activities before integrating AI in education.

Chou [12] investigated students' learning performances in an Arduino-based educational robotics program. A learning setting was designed at a public elementary school in Taiwan. 30 grade five students participated in an after-school program for 16-week. They were randomly divided into two controlled and experimental groups. Children in the experimental group participated in a weekly educational AI robotics program, whereas those in the controlled group engaged in other activities like homework practice. A mixed method of observation and pre-posttest design of controlled and experimental groups was employed to assess the students' problem-solving skills, computer programming and electrical engineering. The quantitative findings indicated that AI robotics programs significantly developed their problem-solving skills, besides fostering the electrical engineering and computer programming content knowledge. The qualitative findings from observation indicated children's applying varieties of alternatives (flexibility), novel and original ideas (originality) in creating AI robots to solve real-life problems. In interpretation of the results, the researcher emphasized on ease of applying Arduino solutions in everyday life. She also noted the importance of providing students with support on software and hardware debugging.

On the other hand, the above studies had some limitations, which should be considered. Some studies were performed in controlled environments while students participated in an intense robotics curriculum over an abbreviated period. Furthermore, most of the mentioned studies used quantitative methods, while the selected sample were very small, and were not representative of female gender. Moreover, the mentioned studies did not examine four major creative thinking skills of fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration and in some studies the skills development was determined during observation. Employing creativity standardized tests would provide a better opportunity to compare and contrast the results from previous, current and future research studies. In an attempt to avoid these limitations, the present study investigated changes in students' creativity prior to and after conducting robotics interventions in a classroom setting and over a course of 12 weeks and among a sample of 60 female students. The study hypothesis denoted that LEGO and AI robotics intervention positively affect developing creativity thinking skills of flexibility, fluency, elaboration and originality among students.

#### **5. Methods**

#### **5.1 Research design & sample**

A mixed method was used for the purpose of the current study. Qualitative approach included observation and interview. The researcher observed students' designing and coding robots and conducted 30 minutes of semi-structured interviews asking students to elaborate on their robots. The quantitative method consisted of a control treatment and pre-posttest design.

The study's random sample included 60 female students, who ranged in age from 9 to 12 (n = 60). They attended a local primary girls school in Bani Jamra and came from middle socio-economic backgrounds. The student participants were randomly allocated into controlled and treatment group. Were, mostly, from middle socio- economic status and attended a primary girls school in an inner area of Bani Jamra. They were randomly assigned into two groups of treatment and controlled group.

Furthermore, the homogeneity of variances were assessed by Levene's test and Independent Samples t-test. The participants' creativity was measured according to CAP [13] before performing the study. The results demonstrated that there was homogeneity of variances, as assessed by the Levene's test for equality of variances, for creative thinking skills, *p* > .05. The results indicated following *p* values regarding over all creativity, and skills of fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration respectively (.347, .380, .105, .584, .872), which were not significant. Similarly, the results from independent samples t-test yielded no significant gains at over all creativity, fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration respectively (.680, .486, .840, .559, .779). It further indicated the equality and homogeneity of variances in terms of creative thinking skills (**Table 1**).

#### **5.2 Procedures**


The current longitudinal study was performed during two years. In the first year LEGO robotics intervention was executed for students in the treatment group, while

#### **Table 1.**

*The results of the Levene's test and independent samples t-test.*

#### *Developing Creativity via LEGO and AI Robotics DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110277*

their counterparts in the controlled group received no robotics intervention. The program was delivered on weekly session of two hours for a duration of 12 weeks. In year two of the study, the intervention included Arduino robotics program, using artificial intelligence AI technique. Similar to the year one of the study, the program was delivered to the treatment group on weekly session of two hours for a duration of 10 weeks. Students in the controlled group received no intervention. Students' creativity was measured using Frank Williams [13] Creativity Assessment Package (CAP) prior and after the LEGO robotics and AI interventions. Furthermore, the researcher observed participants" performance during the class activities of building and coding robots. The observations followed semi-structured interviews of 30 minutes long where students elaborated on their robots.. The quantitative data aimed at presenting an overall picture of the effects of robotics programs on participants' creativity thinking skills, whereas the qualitative data sought to provide further insight into such possible effect.

#### **5.3 Data analysis**

Mixed methods were used to ensure triangulation. The study design of study included a pre and posttest design. Quantitative data were collected from students' performance on CAP tests prior and after the robotics programs, CAP test included 12 square frames with a simple line inside each frame, which served as a stimulus. Students were required to complete as many as 12 drawings using these lines. Creative thinking skills of flexibility, fluency, elaboration and originality were measured via these drawings. The resulted data were analyzed using the t-test with repeated measure.

The qualitative data included observation of how participants' design and cod robots through adopting creativity thinking skills of flexibility, fluency, originality and elaboration. Students' interview transcripts were also used to inform the observation.

#### **6. Results**

The findings from both quantitative and qualitative data in two years of study yielded interesting results. The student participants achieved higher scores on creative thinking skills following the robotics interventions in the treatment group, when compared to their counterparts'scores in the controlled group, and these changes were significantly different. The results from each intervention shall now be discussed in more details.

#### **6.1 LEGO robotics intervention**

In regard to LEGO robotics intervention (**Table 2**), the results from t-test with repeated measures indicated significant gains at students' over all creativity scores in posttests compared to their scores in pretest, t(29) = 2.963, and *p* = .006 (*p* < .05). The findings were in favor of students' performance in the treatment group. Participants' over all creativity scores in the treatment group (M = 41.000, SD = 6.000) demonstrated a rise of an average 2.8 compared to students' in the controlled group (M = 38.200, SD = 6.758) as presented in **Table 3**. This suggested that LEGO robotics


#### **Table 2.**

*The results of the t-test with repeated measures comparing students' posttest scores after LEGO robotics intervention on subscales of creativity in the treatment & controlled group.*

programs resulted in developing overall students' creativity. The results provided support for earlier mentioned studies [2, 7–9].

Furthermore, the t-test comparing fluency scores of students in both treatment and controlled group demonstrated significant increases at the posttest, t (29) = 2.536, and p = .017 (*p* < .05) favoring the participants'scores in the treatment group. Fluency increases were the most statistically significant compared to other creativity thinking skills as the *p* value of .017 was demonstrated, similar to the earlier mentioned study [2]. Similarly, students' performance on various activities and their interview subtracts supported the above findings. For instance, a group of students in the treatment group explained how their robotic fan performed numerous missions (i.e., fluency) of providing electricity to the building, water filtering, watering plants and so on and forth. In harmony with [2, 8, 9] studies, the results suggested that LEGO robotics programs resulted in developing fluency.

Moreover, in regard to flexibility subscale of creativity, students'scores on posttest in the treatment group demonstrated significant increases, (t (29) = 2.009, and *p* = .054 (p < .05)) compared to their counterparts'scores in the controlled group. Likewise, the t-test comparing elaboration posttest scores in both treatment and controlled group showed significant increase at the posttest, t (29) = 1.868, and *p* = .072 (*p* < .05) in favor of the students'scores in the treatment group. Students' performance on robotics tasks indicated the development of creative skills of elaboration and flexibility. For example, student participants were able to add details regarding a robotic butterfly in a polluted environment. The details included small bumps on the body, extra eye, colored spots on the wings and so on and so forth. The findings were in line with previously mentioned studies [2, 8, 9]. This suggested that LEGO robotics programs resulted in developing. Flexibility.

On the other hand, the results regarding the thinking skill of originality yielded no significant gain, t (29) = 0.744, *p* = .463. Nevertheless, student participants in the treatment group (M = 2.133, SD = 1.074) obtained higher scores than their peers in the controlled group (M = 1.933, SD =1.284). The findings from the conducted interviews indicated limited signs of fostering originality skill among some participants. For example, a group of students produced a smart mask, featured robotic sensors and

Oregano leaves from school garden. Such novel creative product, where nature met technology achieved the first prize in Bahrain's fair of future scientists. The findings suggested that LEGO robotics programs did not result in developing originality.

#### **6.2 AI robotics intervention**

Likewise and in regard to AI robotics intervention, the paired samples t-test comparing creativity posttest scores after the intervention in the treatment and controlled groups demonstrated significant gains at posttest, t(29) = 3.439, and p = .002 (*p* < .05) in favor of students'scores in the treatment group, as presented in **Table 3**. Student scores after AI robotics program (M = 45.233, SD = 8.426) showed an increase of on average 6.533 points compared to their counterparts in the controlled group (M = 37.866, SD = 9.933). This suggested that AI robotics programs resulted in developing overall students' creativity. It supported earlier research studies [10, 12].

Furthermore, the t-test comparing fluency posttest scores in both treatment and controlled group indicated significant gains at the posttest, t (29) = 3.193, and *p* = .003 (*p* < .05) in favor of the students'scores in the treatment group. In the same way, students' performance on various activities and their interview subtracts supported the above findings. For instance, a student explained how she build and programmed an Arduino robot to do numerous missions (i.e., fluency) of providing data regarding the soil ph, soil moisture, soil temperature, air temperature, humidity, and so on and so forth. This suggested that AI robotics programs resulted in developing fluency.

Similarly, the p values regarding other skills of creativity in terms of flexibility and elaboration indicated following gains of .028 and .001 respectively, which were statistically meaningful. The t-test comparing flexibility posttest scores in both treatment and controlled group indicated significant gains at the posttest, t(29) = 2.305, and p = .028 (*p* < .05) in favor of the students'scores in the treatment group. Likewise, the t-test comparing elaboration posttest scores in both treatment and controlled group showed significant increase at the posttest, t (29) = 3.706, and p = .001 (*p* < .05) in favor of the students'scores in the treatment group. Students' Arduino robots indicated the development of creative skills of flexibility and elaboration. For example,


#### **Table 3.**

*The results of the t-test with repeated measures comparing students' posttest scores after AI robotics intervention on subscales of creativity in the treatment & controlled group.*

#### **Figure 1.**

*A cap developed by students consisted of 18 components doing four activities demonstrating the creativity skill of elaboration and fluency during a session with a focus on cooperative meaningful learning.*

student participants were able to create a cap, which consisted of 18 components and performed four activities using artificial intelligence, as presented in **Figure 1**. The findings supported the study hypothesis as AI robotics interventions resulted in developing fluency and elaboration. The findings were in line with previously mentioned studies [10, 12]. This suggested that AI robotics programs resulted in developing flexibility and elaboration.

Moreover, in contrary with the results indicated in the LEGO robotics intervention, students demonstrated significant increase on the subscale of originality following the AI intervention, t (29) = 1.975, *p* = .058 (*p* < .05). The results from the qualitative method provided further support for the developed skill of originality. For instance, students in the treatment group created a smart garden where an Arduino robot was measuring ph soil, soil moisture and temperature and act accordingly to lower or higher ph soil by watering water and date or water and eggshells to prevent the growth of the unwanted cactus. Such unique and original idea at elementary levels was presented in the regional contest of challenging future science. This findings supported research studies that demonstrated the impact of AI robotics intervention on developing originality and unique ideas. A possible explanation of the developed skill, which was repeatedly mentioned by students in interviews, was their freedom to choose from variety of sensors and that developed originality. As a students stated "comparing to LEGO, Arduino robots are more real! Because of many sensors, they have. So it is much easier to think of unusual ideas." The findings suggested that AI robotics programs resulted in developing originality. The results provided support for earlier mentioned studies [10, 12] while contradicted [11] study.

#### **7. Discussion**

The findings from the current study provided insight into the impact of LEGO robotics and robotics applying artificial intelligence AI, on students' development of

#### *Developing Creativity via LEGO and AI Robotics DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110277*

creative thinking skills. The students' posttest scores in the treatment group who received robotics interventions (i.e. LEGO robotics or robotics programs using AI) indicated significant differences in creative thinking skills compared to students' posttest scores in the control group who received no robotics intervention. And this differences were in favor of students in treatment groups. The findings from qualitative data of task observation and students' interviews further supported the study's result, as students in the treatment groups repeatedly elaborated on their fostering fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration. The findings suggested that both robotics interventions had positive impact upon developing students' creativity.

The results were consistent to earlier research studies [2, 7–9], which indicated positive impacts of robotics intervention on developing creativity. Furthermore, the findings in the first year of the study when LEGO robotics program was executed indicated significant gains in creative thinking skills of fluency, flexibility and elaboration. However, the findings in the second year of the study when the intervention program included robotics using AI, indicated significant gains in all creative thinking skills of fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration. The results were consistent to earlier research studies [10, 12], which indicated positive impacts of AI robotics intervention on developing creativity. The reason behind this could be seen in terms of AI benefits. AI allows robots to perform activities faster and more accurately. The deep learning imbedded in AI enable robots to become smarter, enhancing their capabilities so they can perform more complex tasks. AI- powered robots are equipped with a variety of sensors (e.g. proximity, humidity and sound sensors, accelerometer and other environmental sensors), that enable them to sense data and, then analysis and act upon in real-time. These are what make them more "real" compared to LEGO robotics.

Moreover, the present longitudinal study was effective in developing a wider range of creative thinking skills in comparison with previous studies. I would like to take the view that the gains demonstrated in the current study could be due to the small sample, the length of robotics program, and the research context. The study was performed in participants' familiar surroundings of their classroom and the robotics program was delivered by their familiar teachers compared to some studies where stranger coach and researchers delivered robotics in an unfamiliar setting of an out-ofschool clubs. In view of the students' age, a familiar classroom settings and a familiar coach might be advantageous in fostering creativity.

In addition, the study lasted for a prolonged period of 12 weeks. The aim was to ensure students' mastering of programs without being pressurized with the amount of information and difficulties of AI coding. The lengthy time might be effective in fostering creativity.

However, the current study had some limitations. The sample consisted of female primary school students from predominantly middle socio-economic status. Performing the studies with more diverse sample including both genders, from primary and secondary levels and from diverse socio-economic status may provide better insights into the impact of LEGO and AI robotics in future research studies.

Furthermore, the classroom context of the present study did not provide a controlled laboratory setting. However, the setting was sought to be advantageous in encouraging teachers to consider incorporating LEGO and AI robotics in curricula in their classroom contexts. Moreover, the current study applied quantitative and qualitative approaches. Adopting other mixed methods of data collection, such as case study may provide further information regarding how LEGO and AI robotics enhances creativity in children.

#### **8. Conclusions**

In summary, the chapter highlighted the impact of LEGO robotics and robotics using AI in developing creative thinking skills. The current study provided useful insights into the impact of robotics on developing creative thinking skills among Bahraini students. Executing LEGO robotics interventions was effective in fostering fluency, flexibility and elaboration while AI robotics suggested developing a wider range of creative thinking skills including fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration. AI was considered advantageous in providing a realistic environment to develop creativity. As a result of the present study, policy makers and educators may consider various implications. Policy makers may consider providing training opportunities in LEGO and AI robotics as part of continual professional development programs; while fund large-scale and longitudinal studies in the field. School leaders and teachers may consider integrating LEGO and AI robotics in curricula. Worth noting that teaching AI robotics requires instructors who are well trained so the bugs in AI do not demotivate students. Likewise, manufactures may consider resolving the bugs with Arduino hardware and provide easy and applicable AI hardware for educational purposes. The present study demonstrated some attempts in enhancing sustainable development through fostering creativity. Further attempts are indeed, required to apply AI and robotics in education, and hence, foster creativity and enhance sustainable development in the near future.

### **Conflict of interest**

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **Thanks**

Special thanks to my students, princesses of creativity, who participated in my study.

### **Author details**

Um Albaneen Jamali WCGTC - World Council for Gifted and Children, The Kingdom of Bahrain

\*Address all correspondence to: 29jamali@gmail.com

© 2023 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

*Developing Creativity via LEGO and AI Robotics DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110277*

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[2] Kim KH, Coxon S. Fostering creativity using robotics among students in STEM fields to reverse the creativity crisis. In: Demetrikopoulos MK, Pecore JL, editors. Interplay of Creativity and Giftedness in Science. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers; 2016. pp. 351-365. DOI: 10.1007/978-94- 6300-163-2\_19

[3] Kozlowski JS, Chamberlin SA. Raising the bar for mathematically gifted students through creativity-based mathematics instruction. Gifted and Talented International. 2019;**34**(1–2):79-90. DOI: 10.1080/15332276.2019.1690954

[4] Paek SH, Sumners SE. The indirect effect of teachers' creative mindsets on teaching creativity. Journal of Creative Behavior. 2019;**53**:298-311. DOI: 10.1002/jocb.180

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[7] Zviel-Girshin R, Luria A, Shaham C. Robotics as a tool to enhance technological thinking in early childhood. Journal of Science Education and Technology. 2020;**29**(2):294-302. DOI: 10.1007/s10956-020-09815-x

[8] Coxon S, Dohrman RL, Nadler DR. Children using robotics for engineering, science, technology, and math (CREST-M): The development and evaluation of an engaging math curriculum. Roeper Review. 2018;**40**(2): 86-96. DOI: 10.1080/02783193.2018. 1434711

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[13] Williams FE. Creativity Assessment Packet Examiner's Manual. Austin, TX: PRO-ED; 1993

#### **Chapter 10**

## Digital Platforms in Teaching Arabic Dialects

*Asmaa Abdelbary, Livia Panascì and Cristina Solimando*

#### **Abstract**

The use of teaching platforms and accessible online materials is a response to the increasing demand for distance training courses and, consequently, the need for innovation in the methodological, technical and strategical approaches to language teaching. In Teaching Arabic Language as Foreign Language (TAFL) the linguistic variation represents nowadays a central issue in the teaching practice. The Arabic linguistic world is usually described as diglossic speech communities. In the last decades, this representation of linguistic reality has been reviewed. The reconceptualisation of the diglossic theory leads to a deep reconsideration of the didactic material to use in teaching Arabic besides dialects as foreign language. Our proposal deals with the use of MOODLE in teaching Arabic colloquial varieties besides Modern Standard Arabic.

**Keywords:** Arabic dialects, digital platforms, Moodle, integrated approach, second language acquisition

#### **1. Introduction**

#### **1.1 Teaching Arabic language in a post-pandemic academic context**

In recent years, the teaching of foreign languages has faced challenges posed by the need to find pedagogical solutions in line with an unprecedented growth in digital resources in the e-learning environment. The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the use of such resources and made online platforms indispensable in order to run language courses. Italy boasts a long tradition of in-class lectures and university-level instruction that is generally associated with face-to-face lessons [1–3]. Nevertheless, the need to find new methods of providing materials and online forms of interaction has, in fact, turned out to be an opportunity for rethinking methodologies and the renewal of content [4, 5]. The experience of Covid-19 provided the chance not only to discover new resources but also to use them in a more captivating format largely based on an interactive approach to learning [6, 7]. The use of online platforms and digital resources for teaching Arabic is very recent [8, 9]: the challenges of online language teaching coupled with Arabic teaching practice highlight a complex pre-existing situation. This complexity is due, firstly, to general backwardness in terms of methodology and practices and, secondly, to the objective difficulty of teaching a language characterised by such a sharp distinction between the oral and the written forms [10–12]. The coexistence of an official language—Modern Standard Arabic (MSA)—used in writing

and formal communication alongside different varieties of the colloquial language used in everyday speech creates difficulties in teaching the language. Indeed, language teaching practices and teacher education for Arabic have been questioned in recent decades spurred by ongoing processes such as the growing number of multicultural contexts and classrooms [13], the exposure of both learners and teachers to different varieties of Arabic through the media, as well as the shifting role of non-native teachers and teacher trainers in institutional contexts. These issues call for a rethinking of the directions that teaching practice should take, as well as a reconsideration of the curriculum and language policy regarding Arabic [14]. Moreover, one of the most hotly debated issues in recent years centres on how students should be exposed to language variation [15, 16], not only from a theoretical but also from a practical point of view. In this respect, research into the teaching of Arabic lags somewhat behind that of research into the teaching of many European languages. There are some practical and ideological reasons for this backwardness such as the delegitimisation of the teaching of dialects, the scarcity of materials and the dilemma of what variety of teachers should choose. Introducing students to the Arabic pluriglossia must tackle the major issue of the role of dialect in the curriculum. The introduction of spoken varieties allows students to have insights into the sociolinguistic reality of the language they intend to learn and to develop indispensable skills in order to communicate with native speakers in informal as well as formal contexts. Spoken Arabic is often stigmatised as a less prestigious variety of Arabic, even though it is the language of choice for day-to-day communication for native Arabic speakers. Knowledge of a spoken variety of Arabic is essential for students who hope to integrate with the Arabic-speaking world [17, 18].

Although a certain awareness of this need has arisen in recent years, the teaching practice still reflects a traditional method based only on the Standard variety with a focus on grammar.

The use of online resources, such as video and interactive activities, as well as a rethinking of traditional methodologies experimented during the Covid-19 pandemic, provided the chance to reconsider the role of Spoken Arabic in our curriculum and to set out new content and new approaches to teaching practices.

In this perspective, we adopted MOODLE (Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment) platform in order to show how online resources can be employed for 'non-conventional' content courses, such as the Arabic dialects. Both will have as a subject the construction of a Learning Unit (LU) of Colloquial Arabic (CA) about the same subject: 'the market'. One LU will exemplify lessons for an Egyptian Arabic (EA) course, the other one for a Tunisian Arabic (TA) course. The two case studies are designed to exemplify how the same topic, for a class of the same L2 proficiency level, can be treated differently and, above all, to show how MOODLE can be used to enhance different types of lessons. The two case studies illustrated in our contribution deal with Egyptian and Tunisian, but the methodology can be adopted for all other colloquial varieties.

#### **1.2 MOODLE as a didactic instrument and its functions**

The use of teaching platforms and accessible online materials is a response to the increasing demand for distance courses and, consequently, the need for innovation in the methodological, technical and strategic approaches to language teaching. Technologies can facilitate and transform the learning environment in three ways: adding flexibility and strengthening in-class teaching; organising and sharing resources and aiding the collaborative process in teacher-student relations [19].

#### *Digital Platforms in Teaching Arabic Dialects DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110672*

As pointed out by [20], an online course should thus be carefully planned in advance. Each section of the online contents must be decided in terms of prerequisites and learning objectives according to a pre-established syllabus, having clearly ordered the learning content and added suitable activities to each unit of learning content. Moreover, it is desirable to provide at least one quiz at the end of each section of the course to allow students to evaluate their learning achievements and provide discussion forums and chat rooms. Setting up an online course requires time and a clear design in terms of the overall structure and contents within the syllabus. Moreover, in distance language courses input can be easily provided, but the output is less straightforward. For this reason, a platform such as MOODLE, which is able to assess the students' progress, was indispensable. MOODLE is one of the most popular programmes for the creation and organisation of online courses [21]. Its pedagogical basis and adaptiveness to the academic environment contributed to its popularity among teachers of different languages [22–24]. Its attractiveness lies in several advantages such as the interaction between learners and tutors, collaboration among learners, feedback on tasks and automatic backup.

The 'distance' modality has already created a potential element of change and innovation and aided the collaborative process in teacher-student relations. New technologies in the teaching field can create a dimension that is unlimited spatially and time-wise, with repeatability being a central feature that is generally missing in face-to-face teaching. Roma Tre University uses the MOODLE platform, an LMS (Learning Management System) open-source learning environment that provides software suitable for distance training. The use of MOODLE has become increasingly popular in foreign language teaching, and teachers are discovering that it has increased potential compared to other online learning environments. It can help language teachers and students, providing not only a place to share information but also a social environment where they can interact in a variety of settings. From a functional perspective, it has easily configurable features: the Activities function allows for a varied typology of learning activities and tests, such as glossaries and quizzes. There are also other instruments like Forum, Chat and Wiki that exploit the potential for exchange and interaction in a virtual environment. Such activities allow teachers to be involved in the students' learning processes at different stages, enhancing active and participative online learning for individuals and groups. Activities begin with online socialising and becoming familiar with the technology, then move through the stages of information exchange to higher order thinking and engagement. Moreover, quizzes and forums give the teacher the chance to evaluate the students' progress in terms of monitoring individuals as they complete the activities as well as the group's progress in acquiring skills. In particular, the Forum is a useful communication tool: as long as there is an internet connection, teachers and students can communicate with their group at any time and from anywhere. Because forums are asynchronous, students can take their time formulating their messages or reading those of others and writing their replies. They can draft and rewrite until they are happy with the result, rather than feel under pressure to respond immediately. It is also possible to upload materials, such as texts and media resources, although, unlike Activities, these do not allow for interaction between participants. Moreover, teachers can use the resources of other platforms such as video website makers (like Animaker, described in 3.1.1). This flexibility, together with the potential extendibility of the MOODLE platform, make this platform extremely performant when planning a language course.

### **2. How to enhance colloquial Arabic teaching using MOODLE: two case studies**

This chapter aims to show the application of some MOODLE functions by presenting two case studies. Both focus on the construction of a Learning Unit (LU) of Colloquial Arabic (CA) for an undergraduate blended class (face-to-face and online) on the same subject: the marketplace. One LU will present lessons for a Tunisian Arabic (TA) course and the other for an Egyptian Arabic (EA) course. The two case studies demonstrate how the same topic, for students at the same L2 proficiency level, can be dealt with in different ways and, above all, how MOODLE can be used to enhance different types of lessons. First, we will provide the details common to the two case studies: the characteristics of the class and the course considered, the language proficiency level and the objectives of the LU, the prerequisites, the teaching materials and the type of interaction. We will then go into further detail when describing the two LUs.

#### **2.1 The context and the class**

Although in theory MOODLE can be used for teaching Arabic Language at any level and in any class or context, this chapter will refer to a specific class type. Our example of the LU is designed for an Italian university student, whose education level is the second year of an undergraduate degree course. The average proficiency level for Arabic is therefore approximately between A1 and A2 of the CEFR, both for Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and CA1 . The students are following a curriculum where the language is taught alongside Arabic culture, and where MSA is introduced alongside CA varieties, both from a practical point of view (learning to master a dialect and MSA) and a theoretical one (the main notions of Arabic dialectology having been introduced since the beginning of the course). Additionally, the course provides two teaching methods for the same educational program: face-to-face and e-learning. In fact, some students regularly attend face-to-face lessons, while others follow the course online using the MOODLE platform. The contents of each LU are summarised in shorter video lessons uploaded weekly to the online platform, so both students attending face-to-face lessons and those in e-learning can take advantage of the video lessons using their MOODLE login credentials.

#### **2.2 Prerequisites**

The two case studies regard students at an A2 (CEFR) level. At the lower A1 level2 , students are able to write and read a vocalised text and understand and use very simple everyday expressions and basic phrases aimed at satisfying concrete needs; they can introduce themselves and others and can ask and answer questions using personal details. They can, moreover, interact in a simple way provided their interlocutor talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help. The variety chosen in the first year (pre-A1/ A1) is MSA: any Arabic course planning also has to consider the objective difficulties related to very different alphabet, phonetic system and morphology. These difficulties take time to overcome, especially in the early learning phase: compared with European

<sup>1</sup> To establish the level of proficiency in Arabic, for which an official certification does not yet exist, reference is made to: [25–27].

<sup>2</sup> [25, pp.: 48, 49, 54, 62, 66].

#### *Digital Platforms in Teaching Arabic Dialects DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110672*

languages, students need extra time to assimilate certain notions and to pass to active learning with continual guidance on the part of the instructor. The A1 level requires, besides the basic grammatical notions, listening sessions and targeted work on vocabulary: everyday lexis is privileged and, in particular, vocabulary is chosen that is largely common to both CA and MSA3 . Besides these specific issues, learners need to be aware of the situation of diglossia present in any community of Arabic speakers, and they should build up their language skills by knowing such variants and registers. From this perspective, a phonological, morphological and syntactical shift model4 between CA and MSA is introduced at the beginning of the undergraduate course. This offers a comparison between the characteristics of CA and MSA that can guide students in the study of Arabic variants so they can switch smoothly between CA and MSA. Moreover, an integrated approach [27] is adopted: CA and MSA are presented together, throughout the various stages of the learning process with the socio-communicative task (SCT) providing the main focus of the space dedicated to CA and MSA at each CEFR level. With this integrated approach, the requirements of the SCT are considered as the starting point for gradually introducing grammar and vocabulary as well as the framework within which any LU must be planned. From this perspective, the learning process must not only take into consideration developing the learners' linguistic competencies but also provide them with the necessary tools to be able to manage variation 'in ways that emulate native speakers' linguistic behaviour in authentic contexts' ([27], p. 69). This aspect requires a gradual introduction to how CA and MSA diverge: an awareness of CA and MSA differences must pass through an initial theoretical approach in which the teacher illustrates the basic phonetic and morphological differences between MSA and the major dialects. This introductory information will allow students to perceive the more delicate sociolinguistic issues regarding contexts of use, the mechanisms of code-mixing and, occasionally, the ideological import of colloquial variants in the Arab world. This introduction will give students a basis for acquiring the communicative skills needed in grasping the specific dialects presented in later LUs.

#### **2.3 Aims**

Hereafter, we will first outline the main objectives of the Arabic course and then describe the specific aims of the LUs analysed in two case studies.

#### *2.3.1 General aims*

The main objective of the 2nd year Arabic language course is to bring students to approximately an A2 level according to the CEFR. At this level, the student is supposed to be able to understand frequently used sentences and expressions relating to areas of the most immediate relevance (e.g., personal and family information, shopping, local geography), communicate in routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters, and describe in simple terms their background, their environment and their immediate needs ([25], p. 48, 49, 54, 62, 66).

However, the Arabic language presents specific difficulties for the learner and precise correspondence with the CEFR levels is not always practicable. In addition,

<sup>3</sup> To give some examples, with *al-bari*ḥ*a* and *amsi* 'yesterday', ṭ*āwila* and *mā*ʾ*ida* 'table', *sana* and ʿ*ām* 'year', the first term is preferred in the LU dialect in order to facilitate understanding.

<sup>4</sup> The "modello di slittamento diglottico fonetico, morfologico e sintattico" [28].

as stated in 2.2, learners need to be aware of the situation of diglossia present in any community of Arabic speakers. Therefore, among the long-term learning objectives is the student's ability to recognise the different conversational situations, linguistic contexts and registers adopted by native speakers as well as being able to adapt their own speech to the situation.

Furthermore, the pluriglossic reality of Arab countries requires that students not only understand and produce at least one variety of colloquial Arabic orally but also that they are able to read and write it. In fact, even though written production and comprehension focus mainly on the study of MSA, it is not enough for students merely to focus on mastering the Arabic alphabet. They must be able to read and write both in scientific transcription (necessary for gaining access to academic materials on Arabic dialectology) and in Arabizi<sup>5</sup> , the spontaneous transcription system used by native speakers to communicate on social media and used for written communication on everyday and informal topics.

It is also important to remember that even though this is an Arabic language course, its objectives are not limited to the acquisition of strictly linguistic skills. Transversal competencies and skills such as multicultural competence, multilingualism, problem-solving and cultural awareness and expression6 are central to the training of individuals who, in addition to abstract linguistic knowledge, will use the language with real people from different cultural backgrounds.

#### *2.3.2 Specific learning objectives*

As previously stated, we are setting out to show the potential of MOODLE and how this tool can improve the teaching of CA by examining a specific LU, the main topic of which is the marketplace. In fact, considering the need to present learners with real-life tasks, we opted for a conversational situation that everyone has to face soon after they arrive in an Arab country. Shopping is a need that cannot be avoided, but it can pose considerable difficulties for beginners: previously unheard expressions of courtesy, shopkeepers reeling off prices (including complex numbers), a vast lexicon that changes from one country to another, etc. Therefore, short-term objectives have been established for this LU in the marketplace.

From the lexical point of view, by the end of the lessons, the students should have expanded their repertoire regarding the semantic field in question. In particular, we will focus on terminology relating to fruit and vegetables, the names of the different vendors and shops as well as the verbs used most frequently when shopping (buy, weigh, pay, etc.). It is important to note that marketplace vocabulary, which largely belongs to the basic lexicon of a language, is one of the semantic fields strongly affected by diglossia in Arabic. Words used to express meanings such as 'artichoke', 'courgette' or 'parsley' vary greatly from one Arab country to another (sometimes even within the same country) and their MSA names are rarely used by speakers7 .

Consequently, among the specific learning objectives of the LU, in addition to learning the vocabulary in the chosen dialect, we want to raise students' awareness that this semantic field is subject to diglossia. They will therefore have to learn to relate to speakers by choosing MSA or CA according to the communicative context: they will

<sup>5</sup> On Arabizi see: [29].

<sup>6</sup> These competences are among the "Key competences for life-long learning" [30].

<sup>7</sup> For an idea of the level of variation of words in these semantic fields, see [31].

#### *Digital Platforms in Teaching Arabic Dialects DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110672*

probably read information about a product sold in a supermarket in MSA, but they will also have to be able to order the same product from the shopkeeper using the CA.

Another goal will be learning specific grammar rules, which we have chosen to introduce using a deductive method. Through listening and reading exercises, therefore, students will be introduced to morphological elements that they have never come across before.

Regarding multicultural competence, the goal is to broaden the students' knowledge of the culture and habits relating to food and shopping in Arab countries. The marketplace is an important setting for interpersonal relations and a place where foreigners can test their linguistic and cultural skills from the very early stages of L2 acquisition. However, they must learn that going grocery shopping in an Arab country is not the same as in their home country. For example, bargaining is key and certain expressions of courtesy are necessary. Knowing how to express yourself in CA also circumvents being scorned by native speakers.

Finally, the most important objective is the fact that at the end of the LU the students have to demonstrate that they are able to go shopping in a real-life situation.

#### **2.4 Didactic materials**

As mentioned in Section 1, the in-class lecture is generally the preferred teaching methodology in Italy. It involves a teacher explaining a topic to a large classroom of students who listen, take notes and then study the notions autonomously at home. However, any language class should aim for a more communicative and interactive approach. Among other things, this implies that the materials chosen by the teacher are not limited to the textbook or mere teacher explanation.

By now, many younger students are used to studying foreign languages, at school, attending private courses or studying abroad. In classes offering the main European languages (English in particular), teachers generally opt for a communicative, collaborative and task-oriented approach, so students have become used to this kind of L2 learning.

Furthermore, digital natives are much inclined to use didactic tools that go beyond the textbook: video, chat rooms, online tandems, various apps and quizzes are just some of the alternatives to the printed page when learning a language. In addition to this, the pandemic and social isolation, during which people could only escape to virtual reality, increased the trend in making more use of such spaces: indeed, they are now perceived as real as actual physical spaces.

Given these assumptions, we decided to structure the LUs exploiting various materials and not just the traditional printed texts of the classroom-taught lesson. The LUs will clearly, and initially, require the use of a textbook; additionally, finding manuals of Arabic dialects is not always easy, and very often students find themselves studying a foreign language (the Arabic dialect) via a second foreign language (usually French, English or German). Regarding TA, for example, most teaching materials are in French8 , which not every Italian student knows. It is therefore useful if the teacher's explanations and the textbook are accompanied by additional materials that use only the source language (e.g., Italian) and the target language (in this case TA). In teaching EA, we find similar problems as it is not easy to find textbooks suitable for Italian students. Recently in Italy, however, we can note that some textbooks for EA are being published in order to respond to Italian students' needs.9

<sup>8</sup> To mention just a few manuals: [32–34].

<sup>9</sup> We suggest a textbook like [35].

Other didactic materials used in the LUs make use of video, including PowerPoint with the key concepts of the topic summarised and a recording of the teacher explaining significant concepts. These video lessons, uploaded weekly to the MOODLE platform and in a password-protected space, are available for all students, whether they attend face-to-face classes or follow online. Furthermore, students can discuss the topics covered using the MOODLE Forum.

In addition to the textbook and video lessons, students can take advantage of all the different types of quizzes offered by MOODLE. Depending on their educational needs, and trying to vary as much as possible, the teacher can ask students to practise with quizzes based on multiple-choice or true/false questions, 'spot the odd one out', gap-filling exercises and cloze tests. We believe that these kinds of tests, in addition to being excellent drills, provide positive reinforcement for the student since they are not evaluative (they do not affect the student's final mark) but are a useful self-evaluative tool. By practising constantly, the students will see their scores improve and they will undoubtedly acquire self-confidence and interest in the subject. MOODLE also allows users to set up questions not only in written form but also by proposing an audio track with a question or answer. This makes the exercises more realistic as, especially at the initial levels (A1-A2), the language studied is mainly oral ([27], p. 47–70).

One of the many advantages of MOODLE is the Assignment function, which gives the teacher the opportunity to set up homework and to specify the type of file that students have to upload in order to complete a task required. In addition, when using the Forum function, the teacher can create a discussion topic focusing, for instance, on a cultural aspect related to the LU, so that students can exchange opinions and observations about the topic in question.

MOODLE also offers interesting possibilities regarding vocabulary. First of all, since it is possible to insert links to Internet websites on the main class page, students can receive suggestions about where to look for words they do not know using both online and printed resources. Thus, for example, a student searching for a new word in the studied dialect will have access to both paper dictionaries suggested in class, and online resources, for which the teacher has uploaded links to the main page of the course on MOODLE. Furthermore, MOODLE allows for the creation of a cooperative glossary. This is a tool that each teacher can decide to set up according to his/her needs and preferences. Basically, it is a series of forms with a title and a description (where it is also possible to upload files, such as images or audio tracks) and the system automatically records the words inserted in alphabetical order. Both students and the teachers can insert the vocabulary learned in any particular LU. Above all, the tool is collaborative since it is produced by the joint efforts of the entire class, recording the lexis encountered up to that moment. The method for inserting the lexical material is decided at the beginning of the course. Solimando [7] has recently discussed how the glossary was used for an MSA class, and modifications of this can be made for a CA class. First of all, the headwords can be inserted in Arabic graphemes in transcription and accompanied by a recorded audio track.

It is possible to insert a translation and an example of the use of the word in context, always employing the two alphabetic systems and placing them side by side accompanied by the recorded audio track (see **Figure 1**). It is also possible to insert synonyms and antonyms by creating intertextual links.

Finally, with MOODLE students can access a multitude of specialised apps and websites for computer-mediated teaching. In fact, as they think fit, teachers can program which tool to use to make a lesson more dynamic and then upload the finished product or link to the MOODLE class page. In these LUs, for example, we use software


#### **Figure 1.**

*Example of a Moodle glossary entry: "Persil" (ma'dnūs).*

such as Animaker (that allows users to create animated videos using pre-given characters and templates), Quizlet (that provides tools for studying and learning, such as digital flashcards, matching games and live quizzes) and Lingt Editor (that specialises in creating speaking assignments and assessment for students).

#### **2.5 Interaction**

Interaction in these LUs should be as varied as possible: sometimes the teacher will speak alone to the class, sometimes he/she will address the whole class, sometimes an individual student will be asked to answer questions, while at other times the students will work in pairs or in groups. Furthermore, as the course is divided into students who attend face-to-face lessons and others who follow online, the interaction of some learners is only mediated by MOODLE, by watching and listening to video lessons and practising by completing various kinds of quizzes.

We believe that keeping interaction as varied as possible helps to maintain students' interest and focus. We also believe that moving away from the traditional inclass lecture can help to develop skills associated with active participation by students, especially oral comprehension and production skills.

Furthermore, in the traditional type of lesson, in which little time is given over to orality and where the focus is on writing (often adopting the grammar-translation method), many students feel extremely shy when speaking a language they have not yet mastered. In this scenario, students only compare themselves with their teacher, whether he/she is a native Arabic speaker or not, and this increases insecurity. Varying this interaction and allowing students to compare themselves with their peers can help them to overcome shyness and acquire self-confidence. It is for this reason that teacher-student interaction should occasionally change to student–student interaction (i.e., working in pairs or in groups).

Furthermore, the interaction between students takes place both in the physical space of the university classroom and in the virtual space of MOODLE. In fact, having the Forum and a large number of non-evaluative exercises available certainly helps students to build up confidence in the L2. It also helps to mechanise some linguistic processes, which, without this chance to practise, would be very difficult to apply in a real communicative situation.

### **3. Case study: a learning unit for Tunisian Arabic**

#### **3.1 Structure: the PPP**

The LU for TA will follow a Presentation, Practice, Production (PPP) structure ([36], p. 64–68). Originating from structural-situational teaching, the main objective of PPP is to place language in a clear situational context. It is one of the most common ways to structure a teaching activity, and is mainly used to teach the linguistic system (i.e., phonology, vocabulary, morphology, etc.) and linguistic functions (i.e., to actively put the L2 into practice for a specific purpose, such as ordering something, apologising for something or introducing someone).

We opted for this structure for the LU about the marketplace in TA, but, of course, it would be opportune to change the structure from time to time. Among others, it is possible to use the Flipped Classroom, ESA or Task-Based Learning methods10. In order to stimulate students' interest and to keep their level of attention high, it is important not to choose the same didactic approach at all times.

The PPP structure comprises three phases. The first is Presentation, where the LU topic is introduced and students are provided with a context for the topic. The second is Practice, when the students put into practice the linguistic forms introduced earlier. Generally, this phase involves a limited degree of arbitrariness with the students first practising with simple mechanical exercises; only later do they deal with more difficult exercises with a greater degree of freedom in the linguistic choices available. For example, simple drills or gap-filling exercises are recommended at the start before progressing to more complex cloze-type quizzes. Finally, the third phase is Production, i.e., free practice, when the students autonomously apply the language to real-life tasks.

Speaking more specifically about the marketplace topic, the Presentation involves the introduction of new vocabulary relating to the semantic field of fruit and vegetables, while the grammar input relates to the imperative verb tense. The Practice includes various lexical, phonological and morphological exercises, which, by exploiting the many tools offered by MOODLE, allow students to put the L2 into practice. Finally, the Production phase involves students being able to simulate going shopping, interacting with vendors, negotiating prices and ordering things using the imperative.

<sup>10</sup> For an overview of the most popular teaching methodologies, see [36, p. 62–78].

*Digital Platforms in Teaching Arabic Dialects DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110672*

#### *3.1.1 Presentation*

At the beginning of any LU, regardless of the learning strategy adopted, it is necessary to introduce the topic. The proposal for the LU of the marketplace in TA starts with a warm-up exercise and the presentation of the lexicon.

The teacher first shows the students a video supported by the Animaker software11, introducing the LU lexis and related morphology. The video is created by the teacher him/herself to bridge any gaps in teaching materials. As stated in Section 2.4, in fact, it is not always possible to find pre-packaged products, particularly audiovisual materials for teaching Arabic dialects. In order to provide support for parts of the lesson for which the textbook is not sufficient, it is important for the teacher to know about, and learn how to use, alternative tools. In this respect, MOODLE is extremely useful as it allows users to upload various kinds of links and files. In this specific case, the teacher created a short educational video using Animaker to explore a marketplace. By having two fictitious characters interact (**Figures 2** and **3**), students can see the best-selling products as well as the names of the most common stalls.

The video, previously uploaded on MOODLE, gives the teacher the chance to start a little conversation with the students. Firstly, the teacher drills students in pronunciation and vocabulary, asking them to repeat the names of the objects they have just seen in the video. Then he/she can start asking more complex questions, perhaps about the students' favourite fruit and vegetables or asking them to describe their favourite dishes and their ingredients. Students in e-learning can carry out this task using Forum. This is the first part of the lesson, so the primary goals are to activate students' schemata to provide a context for the topic and introduce the lexicon.

The Presentation then continues with vocabulary building. In this part of the LU, teacher-student interaction (when the teacher speaks to the whole class or questions

#### **Figure 2.** *Example of didactic video created with Animaker "At the marketplace" (fi-l-māršī).*

<sup>11</sup> On this software, see Section 2.3 and, for an example, see [37].

#### *Technology in Learning*

#### **Figure 3.**

*Example of didactic video created with Animaker: "Greengrocer" (h*̮*ad*̣*d*̣*ār).*

an individual student) develops alongside the student's autonomous production. In fact, the oral conversation exercise that takes place in the physical class is supported by a series of virtual exercises previously uploaded on MOODLE. The platform also allows the users to set up various word games, such as matching recorded audio to the correct word and translating it (see **Figure 4**) 12 or moving the name of an object (a vegetable, for example) to the correct blank space in a picture (see **Figure 5**).13

Multiple-choice quizzes can also be created using an audio track instead of written prompts, providing students with slightly more complex exercises such as listening to sentences and matching the correct unit of measurement to each product (see **Figure 6**) 14.

In this way, the teacher also drills students in phonetics using an alternative method to traditional dictation.

From time to time, this kind of exercise can be carried out by every student on his/ her own device with time limits set by the teacher; it can also be done collectively and orally using the teacher's device and projected in the classroom or used at home for independent study.

As mentioned in 2.4, students have access to reference materials, both printed and online, for the entire course and this is particularly important when studying vocabulary. For this LU, for example, we propose two online dictionaries (Derja. Ninja [38], an English-Tunisian Arabic dictionary in which entries can be looked up

<sup>12</sup> MOODLE: activity > quiz > matching question type.

<sup>13</sup> MOODLE: activity > quiz > drag and drop onto image.

<sup>14</sup> MOODLE: activity > quiz > multiple choice.

*Digital Platforms in Teaching Arabic Dialects DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110672*

#### **Figure 4.**

*Example of Moodle activity: Listen to the audio and choose the correct answer.*

#### **Figure 5.** *Example of Moodle activity: Drag the word into the correct blank space.*

#### **Figure 6.**

*Example of Moodle activity: Choose the correct answer (multiple choice quiz).*

both in Arabic characters and in Arabizi; and TuniCo [39], a product of an important University of Vienna project, in which entries can be looked up in scientific transcription) in addition to printed dictionaries (an English-Tunisian dictionary written for the Peace Corps [40]; an old French-Tunisian dictionary with a large number of headwords [41] and a modern general Maghrebi Arabic to French dictionary [42]).

After introducing and practising the vocabulary, the Presentation part of the LU introduces the grammar. Here, students are offered sentences (heard and perhaps spoken during the lesson) that include both verbs in the imperative tense (*'amr*) and present tense (*mu*ḍ*āri'*). Focussing on the imperative verbs, the teacher elicits from the students why they are different, thus introducing grammar in a real-life situation and making the students deduce the grammar rule for themselves. Moreover, the teacher can encourage learners to compare the rules for imperatives in MSA with those just encountered in TA. We believe that this comparative approach helps to develop students' metalinguistic analytical skills and encourages the memorisation of corresponding structures in both language varieties.

Once the theory is understood, students can put the learned rules into practice using drills. For example, we propose a multiple choice test in which the student has to select the correct imperative form of the corresponding verbs in the past tense (*mā*ḍ*ī*).

Finally, in order to focus on lexis and grammar structures, the textbook is a fundamental tool: a text read out loud with textual comprehension questions is a useful way of revising new words, grammar and syntax, alongside examples of a well-structured dialogue that the student can also imitate in oral production.

As stated above, classroom lessons are always accompanied by a PowerPoint summary on the MOODLE platform. At any time, students can find the main concepts

of the LU explained with diagrams, and with the recorded voice of the teacher. As independent work to be done at home, the students must then complete the collaborative glossary, inserting any new words encountered accompanied by all the additional information they can find (sentences exemplifying how the word is used, morphological characteristics, the correct spelling in all the required systems of writing etc.).

#### *3.1.2 Practice*

In this part of the LU, students have to put into practice the topics studied using the L2, first through controlled practice, i.e., with mechanical exercises and a low level of arbitrariness, then with a 'semi-controlled practice', i.e., with greater freedom.

Various drills and word-games have already been presented in the previous section, all of which provide excellent examples of how MOODLE can assist in putting the L2 into practice. Another extremely interesting way to learn and revise vocabulary is provided by the Quizlet software [43]15. This gives teachers the chance to create flashcards on any topic: you only need to find a suitable image on the Internet or on your device and associate it with the required word. The word can be written clearly in whatever graphemes the user prefers and it can also be linked to an audio version. In addition, Quizlet allows for the creation of word games, such as 'match the pairs'.

As **Figure 7** illustrates, you have many pictures of objects and the words for them scattered across the screen; there is a timed challenge to make all the pairs disappear by matching them correctly. These are always extremely dynamic stimulating exercises that help to train the memory. Of course, the link to the online resource can be uploaded to MOODLE.

As to other resources already available on MOODLE, the platform also offers the chance to create tests of greater complexity than those seen so far.

Therefore, for semi-controlled practice, we propose (see **Figure 8**) an exercise in which the student has to understand a written text, choose the right meaning to insert in the empty space from the five options offered and insert it in the correct

#### **Figure 7.**

*Example of Quizlet activity: Match the pairs.*

<sup>15</sup> For further information on the use of Quizlet in Arabic language teaching, see [8].


#### **Figure 8.**

*Example of Moodle activity: Choose the correct word (multiple choice quiz).*

grammatical form16. It turns out that in this exercise the degree of freedom in the linguistic choices available is higher than in the previous exercise, and consequently the difficulty increases. This type of practice is usually left to individual study: again, the individual is always at the centre of interaction in a process of self-evaluation and absorbing the concepts presented.

#### *3.1.3 Production*

After the topic has been introduced and after the students have understood and learned the vocabulary and grammar and put it into practice with supervised exercises, they are ready for free practice. This is the final part of the LU, which tests the learner and shows if the topic covered has been mastered. It is also a fundamental part of the teaching-learning process since it allows the language studied in theory to be applied to a real-life situation, i.e., through a real-life task. At this stage, it is, in fact, the students who have to produce the L2 to complete a task, and they have to do so by interacting with others, whether they are native speakers or classmates.

The interaction therefore changes completely compared to that adopted in the early stages of learning: from vertical interaction where it is mainly the teacher who addresses the students, we now move to horizontal interaction where the students interact with each other. Pair and group work are privileged in the Production stage; this is a good way to increase the time that the students spend talking in the L2, such output is necessary for language acquisition.

In this LU, in particular, the task that the students have to complete takes place through group work within a role-playing framework, i.e., one of the preferred means

<sup>16</sup> MOODLE: activity > quiz > multiple choice.

*Digital Platforms in Teaching Arabic Dialects DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110672*

acknowledged by Constructivism for teaching the L2. Indeed, it is believed that knowledge arises through a process of active construction and that learning occurs when the students interact with the world around them. Moreover, according to the Communicative approach, it is important to put the emphasis on task-oriented activities where the students play an active role in order to develop their communicative abilities.

For this part of the LU, therefore, the teacher creates groups of 5–6 people, trying to mix the students appropriately (that is, creating balanced groups both from the point of view of their pre-existing knowledge and their behaviour in class). In each group, one student will be identified as a customer that goes shopping to the market.

The remaining students in the group will play the role of shopkeepers. Once the groups have been created and the roles have been assigned, the teacher will give the student-customer a pre-prepared shopping list. To complete the task, the student will have to pretend to go to the market, interact with all the merchants from whom he/she has to buy products, negotiate the price, ask for the right quantities and pay correctly.

In addition to being fun and dynamic, an exercise of this type facilitates the simulation of a possible interaction in a real linguistic context. Furthermore, knowing how to carry out this task indicates that the student is actually capable of putting into practice all the linguistic data (phonetic, morphological, lexical, syntactic) introduced in the previous lessons.

#### **4. Case study: a learning unit for Egyptian Arabic**

#### **4.1 Structure: the flipped classroom**

Studying EA in a Western country means little or no exposure to the language outside the classroom. It is to implement the number of hours dedicated to the L2 that some of the teaching materials will be assigned as homework before the lesson, in line with the Flipped Classroom structure17. In fact, we stress the importance of providing a weekly lesson plan, uploaded to the MOODLE platform, that sets out what the student should prepare autonomously before attending the class.

The materials presented follow the Communicative Approach that puts the student at the heart of the learning process, the teacher's role revolving around organising a varied linguistic input according to the learners' needs [45]. The materials are also chosen with the aim of giving the student a more effective and independent role within the learning process. Therefore, the class is divided into small groups, so that students can interact with each other, while the teacher acts as a facilitator. In line with this methodology, grammar rules are presented starting from a real context of use and through a process of exploration, although without going into unnecessary detail.

The case study is divided into three parts, each part preparatory to the next one: students start building basic vocabulary in EA (e.g., fruit and vegetable lexicon) and end up carrying out more complex skills, such as having a whole conversation in a food market. The materials presented do not overlook the cultural aspect: the student will thus be introduced to Egyptian cuisine and its distinctive dishes.

<sup>17</sup> The Flipped Classroom is a lesson structure becoming more and more used in teaching L2: "Basically the concept of a flipped class is this: that which is traditionally done in class is now done at home, and that which is traditionally done as homework is now completed in class" [44, p. 13].

#### *4.1.1 Expand vocabulary*

The first LU activity consists in expanding the vocabulary through the MOODLE Glossary. In line with the Flipped Classroom structure, this activity is carried out independently by the students: it consists of an initial vocabulary list given by the teacher that they have to study before class. The words are entered in the Glossary in Arabic alphabet alongside an image and a recording of the pronunciation, without the need to add a translation or transcription (**Figure 9**).

Leaving the lexicon of fruit and vegetables to self-study is a choice due to various reasons. First of all, it allows the teacher to focus, during the face-to-face lesson, on communicative exercises that use the same lexicon. Furthermore, given the lexical and phonetic similarity between the words in EA and MSA, the student can easily and independently develop a metalinguistic reflection. During the lesson, students' attention can thus be drawn to phonetic differences between EA and MSA that they have already heard, for example, the regular pronunciation of the letter *qāf* ([q] in MSA) as [ʔ] in EA.

Among the advantages of the Glossary is that synonyms can be inserted: in **Figure 9** the two alternatives ṭ*amā*ṭ*im* and *'ū*ṭ*a* (typical of Cairo) are proposed for the meaning of 'tomato'.

After drilling the students on pronunciation, the teacher can evaluate what the students were able to assimilate when working on their own before class through MOODLE's Quiz function.

Students who are following the class remotely can access Quiz from the MOODLE platform, while face-to-face students can use their own electronic devices. For a smoother experience, it is highly recommended to carry out these activities in a language lab where 'Communication happens in pairs or in groups using objective language. Students try innovative things in a lab than in a classroom. Audio, video, multimedia, and the internet collectively provide resources with which the students respond. For students, attending lab sessions is a retreat from the traditional classroom sessions. They find it an effective and versatile tool

#### **Figure 9.**

*Examples of Moodle glossary entries: "Tomato" (*طماطم*" ;(Rocket" (*جرجير*" ;(Orange" (*برتقان*(.*

#### **Figure 10.**

*Example of Moodle activity: Listen to the audio and choose the correct answer.*

in providing interactive sessions to the students to learn the language or swiftly undergo any activity' ([46], p. 2).

We will now show some examples of exercises, from the simplest to the most complex. We started with quizzes based on listening and identifying, as it is sufficient at this stage for the student to recognise the meaning without needing to read. We, therefore, use mainly multiple-choice questions18 allowing the teacher to insert pictures and voice recordings: students must look at the picture, listen to different recordings, and match the picture with the appropriate name of the fruit while repeating it various times (**Figure 10**); or they must listen to the name of a fruit or vegetable and match it with the right picture while repeating the correct word.

We then move to a more challenging exercise where students are asked to work in small groups to discuss and read words, so they can finally drag each type of fruit or vegetable and put it in the correct place19 (**Figure 11**) or choose the correct word for each picture from many types of fruit and vegetable20.

MOODLE Assignment can now be used to set up homework exercises so that students can apply and practise what they have learned in this part of the LU. In the assignment we suggest, students are asked to write down the types of fruit and vegetables they would like to add to a salad and then record what they have written. They can upload this to Assignment so that the teacher can listen to their recordings and provide feedback on their pronunciation.

<sup>18</sup> MOODLE: activity > quiz > multiple choice.

<sup>19</sup> MOODLE: activity > quiz > drag and drop onto image.

<sup>20</sup> MOODLE: activity > quiz > matching question type.

#### **Figure 11.**

*Example of Moodle Activity: Look at the picture and choose the correct word (Multiple choice quiz).*

#### *4.1.2 Oral comprehension and production*

The second part of the LU focuses on providing students with the language and communication skills they need to start a conversation with a vendor at the marketplace.

It begins with presenting the key phrases that will help students to express their needs at the market. The expressions, written, translated, illustrated and recorded, are listed in the Glossary. To make sure that the meaning is clear, the word is placed in a frequently used sentence context. In this way, we expand the vocabulary necessary for exchanges in the marketplace. Later, the students will study at home the mentioned expressions by listening to the recordings, re-reading the expressions in the given contexts, and trying to create simple dialogues.

In addition, students further practise new expressions through quizzes similar to those proposed in paragraph 4.1.1, which prepare them for simple listening about the subject.

Teachers of EA sometimes face the challenges posed by finding authentic audio and visual materials. Scenes from Egyptian films and TV series can be used to simulate authentic communicative situations, but these types of audio-visual resources are sometimes unsuitable for beginners as they require more highly developed language skills. It is therefore inevitable to resort to pre-made materials: we made use of an existing YouTube video created by an EA teacher [47] to simulate real everyday life situations. Students watch part of the video in class—relating specifically to the LU topic—talking about it in small groups using the guidelines and questions prepared by the teacher on Assignment (**Figure 12**), before they discuss it with the teacher.

For homework, we propose a multiple-choice exercise21 using Quiz. Here students must watch and listen to the part of the video that they have already worked on during class to complete the missing parts of the text by choosing the right answer from the

<sup>21</sup> MOODLE: activity > quiz > gap fill.

*Digital Platforms in Teaching Arabic Dialects DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110672*


#### **Figure 12.**

*Example of Moodle Activity: First part: Watch the video and answer the questions (in Italian); Part Two: Watch the video and answer the questions (in Arabic); Part Three: Guess the meaning.*

various options available. This requires paying greater attention and listening carefully to each word in the video.

We preferred to avoid detailed explanations of grammar rules, which are presented only in restricted contexts in this phase, but which will gradually be introduced by the teacher according to each SCT.

The MOODLE platform also allows teachers to upload links to educational sites that can simulate real communicative situations. For example, a tool like Lingt Editor [48] can be used with Assignments for speaking exercises and to assess student progress. This site allows the teacher to record the role of the vendor but leaves the role of the buyer blank for the student to record it themselves (**Figure 13**). Consequently, students practise what they have learned, and the teacher can listen to and evaluate each student separately.

#### *4.1.3 Culture*

This part of the LU focuses on cultural aspects and can be integrated using Forum, where the teacher adds instructions guiding students through two video clips [49, 50], one of a popular Egyptian market and the other about the fruit and vegetable section in a famous supermarket in Egypt. Both are authentic videos showing Egyptian citizens on a market/supermarket tour.

**Figure 13.** *Example of speaking activity supported by Lingt editor.*

Students autonomously watch the two videos and lead a discussion on Forum: what they heard and saw about fruit and vegetables, their observations about the differences between the popular market and the famous supermarket or the discussion on prices. In their discussions on Forum, students can use EA, MSA or their mother tongue, given that the main purpose of this activity is cultural rather than linguistic. The teacher follows up on what the students discussed and during class watches the videos with the students, exchanges opinions and observations with them, and discusses any of the points that they have shared on the Forum.

To extend the cultural dimension, we can also use Forum to create a new discussion topic about Egyptian food. In this activity, the students are divided into small groups: each group is responsible for a famous Egyptian recipe, and they have to discover what its ingredients are and how it is made. To achieve this goal, the students communicate through social media with students studying Italian

#### *Digital Platforms in Teaching Arabic Dialects DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110672*

at Egyptian universities to obtain information about the dishes. The communication between the students and their Egyptian counterparts must be in EA using Italian only when necessary: indeed, at this stage, it is important to indicate to the Egyptian students the level of EA they should use and to try not to go beyond it. Our own students thus come back with information about Egyptian recipes and post it on Forum, preparing an oral presentation in EA. The purpose of this activity is to expose students to EA outside the classroom, i.e., to hear it and to practise it authentically with Egyptians, as well as to expand their cultural awareness of Egyptian society. Activities involving communication with Egyptian students can be repeated throughout the academic year as necessary, based on the various cultural topics that are raised.

#### **5. Conclusion**

The two case studies examined to demonstrate how an online platform like MOODLE can provide captivating strategies for learning about linguistic variation, a field that is still largely unexplored. There is a certain aversion to the teaching of spoken varieties in TAFL (Teaching Arabic as Foreign Language) linked to an ideological reluctance to teach dialects, compounded by a lack of appropriate teaching materials. In an academic context, dialects are mostly taught according to dialectological methods and the role reserved for them is minor compared to MSA. Although the CEFR is also a point of reference for the teaching practices of non-European languages, Arabic instructors do not appear to give sufficient importance to the communicative approach emphasised in the CEFR descriptors, even though learning Arabic also requires competence in one or more dialects.

Creative use of MOODLE's functions allows for a potentially limitless range of materials—audio extracts, quizzes and videos—that can meet and satisfy students' needs in their search for motivating and enjoyable language practice. The PPP structure (Presentation–Practice–Production) is very efficient: in Presentation the LU topic is introduced and students are provided with a context for the topic (vocabulary and morphology); in Practice, the students put into practice the linguistic forms introduced earlier through the different degree of freedom in the linguistic choices available. Only in the third phase, the Production, the students autonomously apply the language to real-life tasks. The choice of the same topic for Tunisian and Egyptian dialect, allows to show how this methodology can be easily adapted to other colloquial varieties and how flexible the MOODLE platform is. The interactive activities should be seen within the framework of a collaborative relationship between student and teacher. This stimulating approach can easily be applied to the teaching of one or more colloquial varieties. From this perspective, the two case studies presented here show how complementary the activities can be when MOODLE is exploited to the full. Here the teacher's role is more active since s/he has to manage the platform appropriately in order to cover all educational requirements – whether lexical, audio-visual or, more generally, grammatical – using a deductive approach. The content and the methodology adopted demonstrate the need to design an Arabic Second Language syllabus using an integrated approach, in which Arabic is presented in its oral as well as in its written varieties. This allows students to be aware of the linguistic reality of Arabic and to be confident in using the opportune form in different SCTs.

### **Author's contribution**

The Teaching Dialect in Arabic Language Courses project is coordinated by C. Solimando and is taught at Roma Tre University by A. Abdelbary and L. Panascì. This paper is the result of the project. All three authors collaborated on the article: for academic purposes, C. Solimando is responsible for sections 1.1, 1.2, 2.2, 5, L. Panascì for 2.1, 2.3, 2.3.1, 2.3.1, 2.3.2, 2.4, 2.5, 3.1, 3.1.1, 3.1.2, 3.1.3 and A. Abdelbary for 4.1, 4.1.1, 4.1.2, 4.1.3.

#### **Author details**

Asmaa Abdelbary1 , Livia Panascì<sup>2</sup> and Cristina Solimando1 \*

1 Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy

2 Tuscia University, Viterbo, Italy

\*Address all correspondence to: cristina.solimando@uniroma3.it

© 2023 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

*Digital Platforms in Teaching Arabic Dialects DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110672*

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*Edited by Micheal van Wyk*

## *Edited by Micheal van Wyk*

Published in London, UK © 2023 IntechOpen © noLimit46 / iStock

Rapid advancements in technology have had a significant impact on teaching and learning. Globally, we have experienced an increase in innovative pedagogies and disruptive learning spaces, which have transformed teaching and learning. Tremendous changes in educational innovations and methods have emerged over the last century, such as Open Educational Resources (OER), Mass Open Online Courses (MOOC), open resources, blended learning, and virtual reality (VR). Technology in Learning brings together in one single text the basic rudiments of technology integrated into teaching and learning in a manner that would assist the university postgraduate students, emerging researchers, and postdoctoral fellows who are engaged in the planning, designing, conducting as well as reporting on technology. Rapid advancements in technology have had a significant impact on teaching and learning. Globally, we have experienced an increase in innovative pedagogies and disruptive learning spaces, which have transformed teaching and learning. Tremendous changes in educational innovations and methods have emerged over the last century, such as Open Educational Resources (OER), Mass Open Online Courses (MOOC), open resources, blended learning, and virtual reality (VR). Technology in Learning brings together in one single text the basic rudiments of technology integrated into teaching and learning in a manner that would assist the university postgraduate students, emerging researchers, and postdoctoral fellows who are engaged in the planning, designing, conducting as well as reporting on technology.

Technology in Learning

*Edited by Micheal van Wyk*

Technology in Learning

Technology in Learning

*Edited by Micheal van Wyk*