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About

Eva Brooks is a leading researcher at the intersection of educational technology, play, and child development, with a particular focus on how young children learn through interactive and playful engagement with robots and computational tools. Her work centers on designing inclusive, open-ended learning environments where children’s imagination and creativity drive their exploration of coding and robotics. Brooks’ major contributions include demonstrating how classic fairy tales can serve as a scaffold for children’s programming activities, and how robot-supported play can foster perspective-taking, collaboration, and inclusion in early childhood education. Her most cited paper, “Interactivity, Game Creation, Design, Learning, and Innovation” (2020, 45 citations), underscores her influence in shaping how interactive technologies can be harnessed for learning. In studies like “Robot-Supported Inclusion and Learning” (2019, 5 citations) and “Bringing Computational Thinking to Life Through Play” (2023, 6 citations), she has shown that when children are given the freedom to explore and design with robots, they develop not only technical skills but also social and emotional competencies. Brooks’ research is notable for its emphasis on “didactical design that goes rogue”—valuing children’s playful, sometimes unpredictable, explorations as essential to meaningful learning. Her work continues to inspire educators and designers to rethink how technology can support child-centered, imaginative education.