How does it feel if the teacher in the class looks strikingly similar to the kids, complete with uniform and shoes?
She is Shiksha, teacher and student rolled into one, and has been a big hit among children in the schools of the taluk.
She may not be in flesh and blood, but teaches her friends-cum-pupils the tables, multiplication and poems, in a mode that they don’t get bored.
Not just that. Shiksha, a robot created by Prof Akshay Mashelkar, physics teacher at the MES Chaitanya College here, also plays with her students.
The robot is a topper in her own right and knows answers to all questions from the students. She is now so popular that her services are requisitioned by all schools.
Mashelkar has ‘taught’ his creation popular local games like ‘kere-dada,’ musical chair and fun maths.
He has fed lessons in countless topics and trivia to the robot, so that she can teach to the children with ease.
All that one has to do is place a special smart card on Shiksha’s hand and she gets going.
The robot, a joint project by Mashelkar and his under-study Adarsh Devadiga, comes with many sensors that play a key role in its functioning. Anyone can operate the robot and is easy to transport because of its light weight.
Mashelkar says this is a much better teaching device than mobile phones, because it holds the attention of the students for a longer span.
(Published 19 February 2023, 16:46 IST)
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