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DuckyCode: A Hybrid Platform with Graphical and Tangible User Interfaces to Program Educational Robots

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Novel & Intelligent Digital Systems: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference (NiDS 2023) (NiDS 2023)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems ((LNNS,volume 784))

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Abstract

Nowadays it seems that there is a great interest in the development of educational systems based on tangible interfaces and educational robotics. However, existing systems seem to have limited capabilities and at the same time show reduced scalability. Therefore, this article describes: a) the sources of potential benefits of tangible user interfaces b) the challenges, and a series of design guidelines for designing such systems c) the DuckyCode system which is an educational robot programming platform that combines tangible, graphical, and text-based programming subsystems. The system presents a series of capabilities that appear for the first time in the relevant literature, enabling users to configure a full internet - connected tangible system as they wish, to interact simultaneously with different interfaces, and to exchange code with remote users. Therefore, the system appears as a programming platform aimed at both experienced and novice users like children and adults.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy and Education, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Theodosios Sapounidis

  2. DuckyCode, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Theodosios Sapounidis, Pavlos Mantziaris & Ioannis Kedros

Authors
  1. Theodosios Sapounidis
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  2. Pavlos Mantziaris
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  3. Ioannis Kedros
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Theodosios Sapounidis .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environment, Ionian University, Zakynthos, Greece

    Katerina Kabassi

  2. Department of Informatics and Computer Engineering, University of West Attica, Egaleo, Greece

    Phivos Mylonas

  3. College of Engineering, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Philippines

    Jaime Caro

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Sapounidis, T., Mantziaris, P., Kedros, I. (2023). DuckyCode: A Hybrid Platform with Graphical and Tangible User Interfaces to Program Educational Robots. In: Kabassi, K., Mylonas, P., Caro, J. (eds) Novel & Intelligent Digital Systems: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference (NiDS 2023). NiDS 2023. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 784. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-44146-2_10

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