Remember when the only form of technology you were able to access in the classroom was a simple scientific calculator? Whereas those pencil case fillers were once the very height of teacher/pupil tech, the last fifteen years of technological advancement that has literally changed the world has permeated in to all sectors and industries, and the school environment is absolutely no exception.
In this article we are going to take a look as some of the revolutionary ways that robotic technology is already influencing the classroom and education, as well as some simple alternatives and a look at what the future of robots might look like for the educational sector of the world.
- How Are Robots Used In Today’s Education?
- Student Proxies In some schools throughout the world, opportunities are given to gravely ill students to be able to virtually attend their classes with the help of an advanced VGo robot. Children who are suffering with cancer and undergoing heavy duty treatment that keeps them away from school, for example, are able to use a combination of video calling and a mobile robotic structure to continue to have a presence in their classes from the comfort and sanctuary of their homes, hospitals or hospices. This amazing technology enables a child to keep learning and retain an element of the social life that they once had as part of a class.
- Autistic Learning Technology is making huge strides in the teaching of autistic children who might find it extremely difficult to communicate with another person. Different levels of autism can affect ability to pick up facial expressions and comprehend nonverbal cues, so robotic teaching aids that look somewhat like humans but don’t give out any potentially confusing signals can really hope to focus an autistic child’s learning capacity and produce positive results.
- Teacher Proxies With more online opportunities than ever before, distance learning is fast becoming one of the most popular forms of education across the world. With the use of telepresence robots, revered and sought after teachers can now give a lecture or teach a class from literally anywhere on the planet that can be accessed not just by a group of student nearby but anybody in the world.
- What Are Some Accessible Alternatives?
- LEGO LEGO bricks are extremely affordable and can be used for many basic principles of robotics. The experience of hands-on building and problem solving that can be gained through using LEGO bricks is the perfect starter kit for younger classes to start to gain an understanding of the wider robotic world.
- $10 Robot Researchers at the University of Harvard have built a $10 robot that can be used to teach students programming skills. The inexpensive item will aid in the education of coding, with the robot performing certain actions when programmed to by the user.
- Pi-Bot Pi-Bot is a slightly more expensive classroom robot coming in a $99. The kit allows students to assemble and program their very own robot and is an ideal project for middle school aged children to act as an introduction in to more sophisticated robot technology.
- What Is The Future Of Robots In Education?
It would be pretty safe to predict that distance learning is only going to become a more prominent element of learning than it already is, and the logical assumption would be that the use of telepresence robots will becomes less of a science fiction quirk and more of an everyday normality.
We are still a long way away from the futuristic kind of learning that one can see on The Jetsons or any other fun science fiction show, but great strides are definitely being made. We sure have come a long way from the vintage scientific calculator!