This paper describes and analyses a project carried out with two elementary school classes, working together with robots, by taking learning as a phenomenon intrinsically connected to participation in communities of practice (Lave, 1996Lave, J. Teaching, as learning, in practice. Mind, Culture, and Activity, LCHC, v. 3, n. 3, p. 149-164, 1996.; Lave; Wenger, 1991Lave, J.; Wenger, E. Situated learning: legitimate peripheral participation. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991.). We intend to characterize the participants, the implemented methodology of work , the description of the artifacts used, analyze the relationship between the participants and the robots, as well as participation patterns revealed with this type of work while trying to emphasize the contributions arising from participation in digital social environments to students’ learning, such as the participation and the joint negotiation of meanings, the importance for the students who have "built" the robots, the history of the project, and the definition of a shared repertoire and a joint enterprise.
technology and education; robots; learning as participation