Michal Gordon

Human Media, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Papers

Total Citations

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About

Michal Gordon is a leading researcher at the intersection of child-computer interaction, computational thinking, and social robotics. Her primary contributions lie in designing innovative, tangible toolkits that make abstract programming concepts—such as non-determinism and event-based logic—accessible to preschool-aged children. Gordon’s landmark 2015 paper, “Designing a relational social robot toolkit for preschool children to explore computational concepts,” has garnered 30 citations, establishing her as a pioneer in early childhood robotics education. In this work, she introduced a programmable social robot that leverages relational, tangible interaction, allowing very young learners to explore computational ideas through play. Her follow-up “Social Robot Toolkit” (2015, 13 citations) further extends this approach by integrating visual, tangible, and robotic programming modalities into a cohesive platform. Gordon’s research is notable for its focus on the unique cognitive and social needs of preschoolers, demonstrating that even complex computational concepts can be taught effectively with the right embodied, social interfaces. Her work has significant implications for the design of educational technologies and has inspired a growing body of research on developmental robotics and early STEM education.