User-driven design of robot costume for child-robot interactions among children with cognitive impairment

The involvement of arts and psychology elements in robotics research for children with cognitive impairment is still limited. However, the combination of robots, arts, psychology and education in the development of robots could significantly contribute to the improvement of social interaction skills among children with cognitive impairment. In this article, we would like to share our work on building and innovating the costume of LUCA's robot, which incorporating the positive psychological perspectives and arts values for children with cognitive impairment. Our goals are (1) to educate arts students in secondary arts school on the importance of social robot appearance for children with cognitive impairment, and (2) to select the best costume for future child-robot interaction study with children with cognitive impairments

Application of Educational Gaming and Robotics in Teaching and Learning Process

The development of technology has resulted in the development of many assistive tools employed to facilitate education. Amongst these technologically enhanced tools developed for education are games and robots. This paper examines the application of educational games and robots through review of available literature. The areas of application of games and robots in education have been presented. The paper further highlights some challenges encountered in the deployment of games and robotics in education

Educators' views on using humanoid robots with autistic learners in special education settings in England

Researchers, industry, and practitioners are increasingly interested in the potential of social robots in education for learners on the autism spectrum. In this study, we conducted semi-structured interviews and focus groups with educators in England to gain their perspectives on the potential use of humanoid robots with autistic pupils, eliciting ideas and specific examples of potential use. Understanding educator views is essential, because they are key “gatekeepers” for the potential adoption of robots, who would directly facilitate future use with pupils. Educators were provided with several example images (e.g., NAO, KASPAR, Milo), but did not directly interact with robots or receive information on current technical capabilities. The goal was for educators to respond to the general concept of humanoid robots as an educational tool, rather than to focus on the existing uses or behaviour of a particular robot. Thirty-one autism education staff participated, representing a range of special education settings and age groups as well as multiple professional roles (e.g., teachers, teaching assistants, speech and language therapists). Thematic analysis of the interview transcripts identified four themes: Engagingness of robots, Predictability and consistency, Roles of robots in autism education, and Need for children to interact with people, not robots. Almost all interviewees were receptive toward using humanoid robots in the classroom. They perceived future robot use as likely posing a series of complex cost-benefit trade-offs over time. For example, a highly motivating, predictable social robot might increase children’s readiness to learn in the classroom, but it might also prevent children from engaging fully with other people or activities. Educator views also assumed that skills learned with a robot would generalise, and that robots’ predictability is beneficial for autistic children – claims that need further supporting evidence. These interview results offer many points of guidance to the HRI research community about how humanoid robots could meet the needs of autistic learners, as well as identifying issues that will need to be resolved for robots to be both acceptable and successfully deployed in special education contexts

Synthesizing and restructuring the conversation around the use of robots in the education and therapy of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders

A conversation about the use of robots as tools in public schools’ special needs classrooms necessarily implicates a variety of disciplines. As such, this paper will draw upon: (1) academic literature from the fields of robotics, education, and psychology specifically devoted to the development of robots for use in the education of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, (2) academic literature from the fields of robotics, education, and psychology specifically devoted to testing the effectiveness of these robots, (3) legal writings concerning the education of differently abled individuals, specifically, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, (4) broad discussion of education technology, drawing from academic publications in the field of education as well as newspaper articles and blog posts, and (5) original interviews with clinicians, educators, and robotics industry professionals. This paper is organized into four parts. The first will trace the development of robots in the education of individuals with ASD within the academic sphere. The second will do the same within the realm of industry. Together, these sections will demonstrate the fact that disparate strands of research largely distinct from the clinical or educational fields have dictated the development of this robotic technology. A third section will briefly but necessarily explain that robots are viable in the public education system from a legal perspective. Finally, a fourth section will bring together expert voices from the clinical, educational, and industrial fields to explain how and why educational and clinical experts should lead the conversation about the use of educational robots in ASD therapy and education

The case of classroom robots: teachers’ deliberations on the ethical tensions

Robots are increasingly being studied for use in education. It is expected that robots will have the potential to facilitate children’s learning and function autonomously within real classrooms in the near future. Previous research has raised the importance of designing acceptable robots for different practices. In parallel, scholars have raised ethical concerns surrounding children interacting with robots. Drawing on a Responsible Research and Innovation perspective, our goal is to move away from research concerned with designing features that will render robots more socially acceptable by end users toward a reflective dialogue whose goal is to consider the key ethical issues and long-term consequences of implementing classroom robots for teachers and children in primary education. This paper presents the results from several focus groups conducted with teachers in three European countries. Through a thematic analysis, we provide a theoretical account of teachers’ perspectives on classroom robots pertaining to privacy, robot role, effects on children and responsibility. Implications for the field of educational robotics are discussed.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

The use of UTAUT and Post Acceptance models to investigate the attitude towards a telepresence robot in an educational setting

(1) Background: In the last decade, various investigations into the field of robotics have created several opportunities for further innovation to be possible in student education. However, despite scientific evidence, there is still strong scepticism surrounding the use of robots in some social fields, such as personal care and education; (2) Methods: In this research, we present a new tool named: HANCON model that was developed merging and extending the constructs of two solid and proven models: the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model to examine the factors that may influence the decision to use a telepresence robot as an instrument in educational practice, and the Post Acceptance Model to evaluate acceptability after the actual use of a telepresence robot. The new tool is implemented and used to study the acceptance of a Double telepresence robot by 112 pre-service teachers in an educational setting; (3) Results: The analysis of the experimental results predicts and demonstrate a positive attitude towards the use of telepresence robot in a school setting and confirm the applicability of the model in an educational context; (4) Conclusions: The constructs of the HANCON model could predict and explain the acceptance of social telepresence robots in social contexts