Robots Are Entering Education, but Teachers Are Safe for Now

Any child is nervous when meeting a new teacher, but the anxiety quickly turns into curiosity when they are greeted by Robin, a 23-inch humanoid robot with a friendly expression.

The robot teacher invites the children to play a game, which has nothing to do with learning in their minds. That is why the schoolchildren quickly get involved in the learning process.

The Nao model from Softbank Robotics is part of a large European project called L2TOR, which was conducted in the Netherlands from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2018, with the participation of 208 children aged four to six in nine schools. The goal of the study was to teach schoolchildren English using educational robots.

Robin uses simple examples and the child's native language to teach them a foreign language. Over seven individual lessons, L2TOR program students learned an average of 34 English words, which confirms the effectiveness of the method.

But this is just one example of the educational revolution brought about by robots. Besides Softbank Robotics, there are many other companies around the world that make robots for teaching schoolchildren and students.

Personal Robots Group from Cambridge, Massachusetts, conducts research in robotics and designs various robots. One of them is Tega, a social robot designed to engage children in educational activities by making the process more enjoyable. The company is also working on a project to use robots for learning foreign languages.

International Robotics Inc. from Stamford, Connecticut, has been working with robots since 1975. Among many other applications, the company's robots are used, in particular, to teach children with disabilities.

Studies have shown that in some cases, children with autism find it easier to receive information from robots than from adults. International Robotics devices have helped humanity bridge the communication gap.

Kaspar from Hatfield, UK, grew from a university project into a full-fledged assistant for children with autism or other communication difficulties. Some people are frightened by the doll-like appearance of the robot, but its minimal facial expressiveness is one of the main design goals, since special children find it difficult to interpret facial expressions and tone of speech.

Lego Mindstorms is the result of a collaboration between Danish construction toy maker Lego and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1948, a university professor developed a programming language for children that made robots move in a certain direction, turn, and even draw.

When Lego's CEO learned about the experiment, he decided to use the new technology and created a series of programmable Lego Mindstorms robots to develop children's skills in science, engineering, technology, mathematics, and computer programming.

Vex Robotics from Greenville, Texas, teaches students to build and program robots. The company offers a wide range of robotic products for students of different ages, as well as a curriculum for teachers.

Every year, the company holds a robotics competition with participants from elementary school students to college students from around the world, who compete for cool prizes in robot building, design and programming.

BeatBots from San Francisco, California, created Keepon, a small yellow robot that helps develop social interaction and communication skills in children with developmental disabilities. A commercial version of the device is used by therapists in specialized centers, while the consumer model MyKeepon is available to anyone who wants it.

Can educational robots replace traditional teachers?

It turns out that most of the abilities of educational robots can be replaced by various games and apps for tablets and smartphones. So your child's favorite math teacher is safe. For now.

It is much more likely that robots will complement teachers rather than replace them. Robots will be used for individual lessons and to increase engagement in the educational process.

“Teachers, caregivers, parents and other guardians are irreplaceable. Despite all the research that seems to point to the similarity between robots and humans, the same research confirms that children prefer to learn from other people rather than from robots,” writes MIT researcher Jacqueline M. Kory-Westlund.

Futurism notes that we all learn differently and need an individual approach, which robotic teachers cannot yet provide. The author of the article also doubts that artificial intelligence will ever solve the most common problems of the modern education system. However, given the shortage of teachers in the US, which leads to hiring unqualified specialists, the development of educational robots is extremely important.