《Nature》子刊发布教育机器人十年报告：从课堂辅助到推动全球公平的教育引擎
A decade ago, educational robots were merely "novel items" in the classroom; a decade later, they have become an important variable in the education system.
From programming teaching, STEM laboratories to vocational training and special education, robots are evolving from teaching tools to the infrastructure of the education system.
This year, a bibliometric study published in Nature Humanities & Social Sciences Communications provided a macro - picture of this evolution. Based on 1,120 SSCI papers from 2015 to 2024, the research team mapped the global landscape of educational robot research, sorted out the research trends, cooperation networks and keyword evolution over the decade, and for the first time systematically revealed its association with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Judging from the results, educational robots have gone beyond the narrow scope of "technology - assisted teaching" and become an important force in promoting quality education, health and well - being, industrial innovation and social fairness. They not only change the classroom but are also rewriting the structure and goals of education.
A Decade Driven by Technology: Educational Robots Enter the Systemic Stage
Looking back at 2015, educational robots were in their infancy. At that time, robots were mostly introduced as "teaching aids" into programming and mathematics classes, playing the role of "bringing abstract knowledge to life". Globally, only 13 academic papers focused on this field, and the research mainly revolved around children's attention, hands - on ability and basic logic training.
However, just three years later, the situation changed rapidly. 2018 became a crucial turning point - that year, the number of papers on educational robots jumped to 64, and the citation volume increased nearly tenfold. The driving forces behind this included the popularization of STEM education policies, the decline in hardware costs, and the maturity of artificial intelligence and voice recognition technologies. Robots were no longer just "programmable toys" but became "learning partners" in the classroom.
After that, educational robots truly entered the explosion stage. From 2019 to 2021, the global research output increased to 225 papers, with more than 3,500 citations. The research topics also shifted from "whether it can help students learn" to "how to co - teach with teachers" and "how to stimulate computational thinking". Some countries began to incorporate robot education into their education reform strategies - the United States regarded it as the core support for STEM courses, several provinces and cities in China built robot experimental schools, and Europe started to formulate an "ethical framework for educational robots".
After 2022, educational robots entered the "system integration stage". The addition of technologies such as AI, AR, and emotion recognition has made robots no longer single devices but components of the "human - machine collaborative teaching system". Robots can recognize students' learning states and emotional responses and adjust the teaching pace in real - time; teachers also collect classroom data through robots to optimize teaching design in reverse. Educational robots are evolving from "classroom devices" to "educational infrastructure".
The focus of research has also shifted synchronously: from "technical feasibility" to "fairness and sustainability". New issues such as how to popularize low - cost robot teaching programs in different regions, how to train teachers to master robot teaching skills, and how to evaluate the learning quality after the intervention of technology have made educational robots an integral part of the education governance system.
Over the decade, the evolution of this field actually reflects the overall transformation of educational technology - from tool - based to systematic, from empirical exploration to data - driven, and from teaching innovation to the reconstruction of the education structure.
Keyword Evolution: From "Programming" to "Human - Robot Symbiosis"
Academically, this decade has been a "global resonance period" for educational robot research. The United States, China, and the United Kingdom form a tri - polar dominant pattern, with China experiencing the most rapid growth. Institutions such as the Education University of Hong Kong, National Taiwan Normal University, and Beijing Normal University have become important research centers in Asia. The network of paper authors also shows a trend of cross - national collaboration, indicating that robot education has become an important topic in the global education technology field.
The distribution of research platforms further confirms the interdisciplinary nature of the field. Journals such as Computers & Education, Education and Information Technologies, and International Journal of Social Robotics form the core hubs of knowledge dissemination, and their common feature is the triple intersection of "education + technology + society". This interdisciplinary integration is the key to the rapid maturity of educational robot research.
Meanwhile, the evolution of keywords outlines the shift in research thinking.
From 2015 to 2017, the keywords were concentrated on "robotics", "programming", and "experiment", with the focus on classroom experiments and hands - on practice;
From 2018 to 2020, words such as "computational thinking", "STEM", and "collaborative learning" emerged, and robots became a medium for cultivating interdisciplinary abilities;
From 2021 to 2024, "AI", "emotion", "human - robot interaction", and "adaptive learning" began to dominate, and the research entered the stage of human - robot symbiosis and intelligent learning.
This change reflects the transformation of the role of educational robots - from "operation tools" to "cognitive partners". In the new research context, robots not only perform tasks but also participate in teaching interactions and become members of the community of situation, emotion, and cognition. The academic research methods have also shifted from case studies to systematic reviews and meta - analyses, marking that this field is moving from "exploratory experiments" to "systematic evaluation".
Notably, the evolution of keywords also reflects the upgrade of educational concepts. Educational robots no longer only serve the purpose of "learning knowledge" but help students develop computational thinking, collaboration skills, and emotional cognition, shaping a learning culture of "learning by doing". They enable education to regain the values of "hands - on, cooperation, and creation" rather than just transmitting information.
This human - machine collaborative learning method is also reshaping the role of teachers. Teachers are no longer the sole providers of information but are guides who jointly design and evaluate the learning process with robots. In the future classroom, perhaps it will no longer be centered on humans or machines but on "learning relationships".
Educational Robots: The Third Curve Growing between Technology and Society
The profound value of educational robots lies in their resonance with social sustainable development.
Research shows that among the 1,120 papers, more than half (588 papers) directly correspond to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 - "Quality Education".
Robots reconstruct the learning process in an interactive and practical way, making abstract knowledge experiential and operable, and significantly improving students' participation and understanding.
Meanwhile, educational robots are also entering the fields of health, employment, and industrial innovation. Under SDG 3 "Good Health and Well - being", social robots are widely used in social training, rehabilitation companionship, and psychological support for children with autism. Research shows that standardized interaction processes can significantly improve children's emotional expression and communication abilities, becoming a replicable solution in special education.
In SDG 8 "Decent Work and Economic Growth" and SDG 9 "Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure", robot education promotes the transformation of vocational education. Vocational colleges simulate automated production lines through "industrial robot training platforms", allowing students to complete operation and maintenance training in near - real industrial scenarios. Such courses not only enhance students' employment competitiveness but also cultivate much - needed skilled talents for intelligent manufacturing. Data shows that the employment rate of vocational college students who have received robot course training is 15% higher, and the average starting salary is 20% higher.
In addition, research has also found the potential impact of educational robots on educational fairness and sustainable awareness.
In SDG 10 "Reduced Inequalities", countries such as China and South Korea are trying to enable rural students to remotely share urban teacher resources through "cloud - based robot classrooms"; in SDG 12 "Responsible Consumption and Production", some schools integrate environmental protection concepts into robot courses - students make robot models from waste materials and understand the meaning of "recycling" in the process of hands - on operation.
Educational robots are therefore regarded as a bridge connecting educational innovation and social goals. They not only improve teaching effectiveness but also shape new educational ethics and social cognition - making education fairer, more open, and more capable of responding to the real world.
Towards Intelligent Education: When "Human - Robot Collaboration" Becomes the New Normal
As educational robots move from the classroom to the system level, a new question arises:
When robots become educational infrastructure, how should education redefine itself?
The future research directions are emerging.
One is "personalization and personification". AI algorithms enable robots to identify students' cognitive paths and even emotional fluctuations based on learning data, thus making "caring responses" in teaching;
The second is "teacher collaboration". Robots no longer replace teachers but become teachers' "data assistants" and "collaboration partners";
The third is "ethics and fairness". As robots enter more educational scenarios, ensuring algorithmic fairness, protecting privacy, and avoiding technological monopolies will become new challenges for education policies and governance.
Technologically, educational robots are entering a stage of in - depth development: AI - driven personalized learning and AR/VR integrated interactions will become mainstream; in terms of application scenarios, they will be further extended to fields such as elderly education and special education; and at the level of educational concepts, they will continue to play the role of connecting "education reform" and "social values".
Conclusion: Educational Robots Enter the "Global Value Creation Stage"
In the past decade, educational robots have proven their "feasibility": they can be used and can improve the learning experience. In the next decade, they will enter the stage of becoming "indispensable". Educational robots are no longer just experimental tools in the classroom but are becoming a key variable in whether the education system can adapt to the intelligent era.
From teaching applications to system integration, from local innovation to social collaboration, educational robots are entering a new cycle - the value creation stage. The focus of competition is shifting from technical performance to concepts and systems: those who can make intelligence truly serve learners will be able to redefine the form of education.
Their significance has never been to replace teachers but to help education be more responsive and structured. Robots reorganize the relationships among teaching, management, and learning, enabling the education system to have the ability of self - regulation and continuous optimization.
In this sense, educational robots are not only a technology but also a structural force for change.
They are taking education from experience to intelligence, from local innovation to overall evolution, and re - activating the public value of education. In the next decade, the competition in education may not lie in technology itself but in who can shape the future of education with intelligence in a more mature way.
Ten Years of Educational Robots: Trends and Contributions to Sustainable Development Goals:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-025-05663-5
This article is from the WeChat official account "Duojing" (ID: DJEDUINNO). Author: Duojing. Republished by 36Kr with permission.