(ANSA) – ROME, FEBRUARY 22 – A humanoid robot helps students with learning disabilities stay focused. This was developed by engineering researchers from the University of Waterloo, Belgium, from a team that has been working on robotics in the context of disability for many years and incorporates the principles of equity, inclusion and diversity into research projects.
In recent years educators have explored the use of social robots to help students learn, but most often their research has focused on children with autism spectrum disorder. As a result, little work has been done on the use of socially assisted robots for students with learning disabilities. The team led by Kerstin Dautenhahn, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, decided to conduct a series of tests with a small humanoid robot called QT, whose ability to perform gestures using its head and hands, accompanied by the speech and features of the face, makes it very suitable for this use.
The researchers divided 16 students with learning disabilities into two groups. In one group, students worked individually with an instructor only, in the other they worked face-to-face with an instructor and QT. In the latter group, the instructor used a tablet to direct the robot, which then autonomously performed various tasks using his speech and his gestures. In addition to introducing the session, the robot set goals, and if the learning process was going astray, the robot used strategies such as games, riddles, jokes, breathing exercises and physical movements to redirect the student to the task.
The students who worked with the robot, Dautenhahn said, ‘were generally more engaged and could complete their tasks at a faster rate than those who were not assisted by a robot. There is certainly great potential for the use of robots in the public education system”. (HANDLE).
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