Experiencing autonomous futures: Engaged learning with next generation technology

Digital software has been proliferating in the classroom, frequently replacing students’ hands on experiences. This article reports on a study that tested how hands on experiences with physical emerging technology, namely personal robots, drones, cameras, and echo dots, may improve or impair student learning and enhance or diminish the classroom experience. This study examines the potential impact of hands on experiences on student knowledge, skills, and values regarding emerging technology in the context of a course that employed traditional learning, defined as theoretical applications of next generation technology, namely autonomous vehicles during the first half, and hands on experiences with physical emerging technologies related to domotics, during the second half. Using three diagnostics, tweets, reflections, and discussion posts, we suggest that hands on experiences allowed students to more easily identify potential challenges with, and reduced their fears regarding, emerging technology. Additionally, our findings suggest that traditional learning methods may decrease familiarity with most technologies, whereas hands on experiences increased familiarity. Hands on experiences also appear to reverse several other trends associated with traditional learning. Ultimately, given the proliferation of technologies in the modern world and the impacts of automation, hands on experiences may be even more valuable than expected to students as they enter the workforce.