New robot to help online students learn better

Scientists have developed an innovative robot that can help online students more engaged and connected to the instructor and students in the classroom.

Stationed around the class, each robot has a mounted video screen controlled by the remote user that lets the student pan around the room to see and talk with the instructor and fellow students participating in-person.

The study, published in Online Learning, found that robot learning generally benefits remote students more than traditional videoconferencing, in which multiple students are displayed on a single screen.

Instead of looking at a screen full of faces as she does with traditional videoconferencing, she can look a robot- learner in the eye - at least digitally, said Christine Greenhow, associate professor at Michigan State University (MSU) in the US.

"It was such a benefit to have people individually embodied in robot form - I can look right at you and talk to you," Greenhow said.

The technology also has implications for telecommuters working remotely and students with disabilities or who are ill, she said.

MSU's College of Education started using robot learning in 2015. Researchers studied an educational technology doctoral course in which students participated in one of three ways - in-person, by a robot and by traditional video conferencing.

Courses that combine face-to-face and online learning, called a hybrid or blended learning, are widely considered the most promising approach for increasing access to higher education and students' learning outcomes.

The number of blended-learning classrooms has increased dramatically in the past decade and could eventually make up 80 percent or more of all university classes, the study notes.

With traditional video conferencing, remote students generally can not tell the instructor is looking at them and can get turned off from joining the discussion.

"These students often feel like they're interrupting like they're not fully participating in the class," Greenhow said.

"The main takeaway here is that students participating with the robots felt much more engaged and interactive with the instructor and their classmates who were on campus," she said.

To engage the robot from home, students just need to download free software onto their computer.