Educational robotics (ER) is increasingly present in secondary education classrooms and has acquired greater projection, especially with the appearance of championships, such as FIRST^® LEGO^® League. These competitions are based on a globalizing focus of the different areas of the curriculum, therefore, we consider that it directly links with the achievement of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) skills. We present a research study that provides objective data based on the opinions of teachers and students that participated in this championship during the course 2017/2018 about its impact in the learning process. To this end, Spanish students and teachers answered questionnaires to collect their perceptions and assessments just after their participation. The results obtained allow us to conclude that both teachers and students believe this project promotes interest and scientific curiosity, as well as social skills through teamwork.

One of the main objectives in education is to increase the motivation of the students to achieve meaningful learning. The use of technologies in classrooms which students are familiarized with such as the smartphone or the tablet, is a way to achieve this goal. On the other hand, it has been proven that the inclusion of scenarios supported by games and competition enhance the active participation of students. Therefore, in this work we present the results of a study based on of the application Kahoot with students of secondary education, in the subjects of mathematics, biology & geology and physics & chemistry, during the academic year 2017/2018. This tool allows students to answer to on-line questionnaires created by the teacher, through mobile devices, and check their results in a few seconds as well as those of their classmates. The results obtained on the assessment of the tool by students, in terms of the benefits in the learning process, have been very positive and help us to examine the potential of the use of on-line questionnaires in the classrooms.

One of the main objectives in mathematics education is to motivate students due to the fact that their interest in this area is often very low. The use of different technologies, as well as gamification in the classroom, can help us to meet this goal. In this case, it is presented the use of two techniques, which are a digital escape room, using Genial.ly and a breakout, for learning algebra in the third course of secondary education. To carry out the experience, a comparison of the course 2018/2019 and the course 2019/2020 is made. Students of both courses completed an exam of algebraic fractions and then an equations exam; the exams were done in the course 2019/2020 taken after having used the techniques. The results show that there are low significant differences between both courses in the algebraic fractions exam qualifications, but those of the equations exam were significant, with a difference of almost two points, which led us to conclude that the use of this techniques improved the qualifications of students. Finally, the perception that students had of the experience was very positive, as shown by the data obtained and allowed them to improve their knowledge as well as their motivation and teamwork.

Educational robotics are commonly present in kindergarten and primary school classrooms, particularly Bee-bot. Its ease of use allows the introduction of computer programming to young children in educational contexts from a science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) perspective. Despite this rise, there are still few investigations that collect evidence on the effectiveness of robotic interventions. Although mentoring experiences with robotics had been carried out in educational contexts, this work explores their effect on the acquisition of computational thinking skills through mentoring. Participants from the second grade, aged seven through eight years, were exposed to two sessions of robotics with Bee-bot in order to promote hands-on experimentation. The sessions were conducted by nine students of the fourth grade (the mentors), aged 10 to 11 years. A descriptive case-study methodology was employed for the analysis of the mentoring intervention. The effect of the mentoring experience was assessed in terms of motivation and computational thinking skills. Mixed quantitative and qualitative results show two important findings: (i) Mentoring is a powerful tool to be considered for improvement of the motivation and cooperation of students in their teaching–learning process, and (ii) computational thinking skills can be acquired by second-grade students through a mentoring process.

The aim of the work presented in this article is to assess whether the use of a hologram enhances the meaningful learning of cellular division contents. A pilot phase has been carried out with a sample of students of 4th course of high school education in the town of Logroño, Spain, working with a control group in a traditional way and an experimental group with the use of the hologram. A test of knowledge about cell division contents was answered so as to know if there were significant differences between the results obtained by the two groups. The statistic U of Mann-Whitney of the non-parametric mean comparison test showed that there is a significant difference of 2.55 points, at 0.05 level, between results obtained in both groups. Moreover, there was also assessed the level of motivation and satisfaction when using the tool for the purpose of knowing their opinion for the future use and development of the tool. The results obtained lead us to consider the hologram as a potential teaching medium as well as a highly motivational tool.

In recent years, the way in which mathematics is taught has changed radically and there has been an increase in the percentage of online classes. One of the biggest challenges that teachers face in this type of online scenario is the need to motivate students so that they do not lose the thread and continue with their usual rhythm and seek methodologies that facilitate the teaching–learning process. The growth of educational technology has become a powerful ally in carrying out this study. This study presents the use of a digital Escape Room in an online scenario for teaching mathematics in the first course of engineering. To measure the results, a pretest–posttest experience has been considered with two different groups of the first course of engineering in an online university. Some comparison tests of the qualifications obtained by both groups shows that, despite they were homogeneous in terms of previous knowledge of calculus in the beginning, the differences obtained between those who have used the Escape Room instead of the traditional methodology are significative. In addition, the effect sizes obtained were intermediate and also considering the results of the survey allows us to conclude that the use of the digital Escape Room is a very good tool for teaching Calculus in Engineering. Finally, it is also important to highlight that the satisfaction of the student with respect to the experience has been very high and they asked for more experiences like this.