  This paper presents a work-in-progress on a learn-ing system that will
provide robotics students with a personalized learning environment. This
addresses both the scarcity of skilled robotics instructors, particularly in
community colleges and the expensive demand for training equipment. The study
of robotics at the college level represents a wide range of interests,
experiences, and aims. This project works to provide students the flexibility
to adapt their learning to their own goals and prior experience. We are
developing a system to enable robotics instruction through a web-based
interface that is compatible with less expensive hardware. Therefore, the free
distribution of teaching materials will empower educators. This project has the
potential to increase the number of robotics courses offered at both two- and
four-year schools and universities. The course materials are being designed
with small units and a hierarchical dependency tree in mind; students will be
able to customize their course of study based on the robotics skills they have
already mastered. We present an evaluation of a five module mini-course in
robotics. Students indicated that they had a positive experience with the
online content. They also scored the experience highly on relatedness, mastery,
and autonomy perspectives, demonstrating strong motivation potential for this
approach.

Robotics;Artificial Intelligence;Human-Computer Interaction