We all dreamed of having a robot that would help us to solve problems and challenges. Today this dream also concerns opportunities for learning. Robots have achieved incredible features and functionality with the development of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Now children’s dreams are much easier to turn into reality than ever before. After all, now the artificial tutor can become a reliable friend and mentor to them.
Even though robots are not bad at helping children with simple tasks in the exact sciences, they are not yet ready for the subtleties of the humanitarian sphere. Taking into account a variety of common school assignments like case analysis, summaries, reviews of books, plays or exhibits, plans for conducting projects, feature stories, slide presentations, micro-themes, etc. – only a few of them could be accomplished with the help of robot tutors.
Even the most developed robot cannot create a well-polished article, make creative suggestions, and provide a student with a judgment about a particular situation. Therefore, for some complex and creative challenges, human help is still needed. For such tasks like accomplishing of descriptive and argumentative essays, lab reports or literature reviews one can easily find help here via search query “write my essay” and ask to write, make formatting or edit the existed papers. Once a student has got positive feedback from a professional writer about his or her ideas on a particular topic, it makes him feel more confident about his skills. It is a key feature of human-human interaction, which is not possible between human and robots yet. But still, how robots will affect education in general? What will lead to gradual changes worldwide and what will be the result? Let’s dig deeper.
Knewton
If you ever thought about a personalized learning tool, here it is. Knewton was created in 2008, and in recent years has been getting licensing for learning technologies from giants like Houghton Mifflin. Teachers gave different kinds of tasks for students through Knewton and evaluated which ones are best suited for them. And the more pupils did the tasks, the better the system learned how to attract them. For example, if a child was lagging behind in some subject, the program prompted optimal content to help them progress.
Tega
As it is one of the smartphone-based projects, Tega uses Android devices to work. Initially, it was tested on the ability to teach children foreign words and giving them feedback. The next step was the development of an autonomous system for use in schools. The personal approach and the reaction of the robot to the behavior of the child have significantly improved the indicators for learning Spanish by English-speaking children.
Monica
The success of using robots in teaching children is based on the right interaction and feedback, which helps to better assimilate information. To improve performance is the main goal of the developers of the special bot for teaching children in primary school. Monica was tested on two children who had different cognitive abilities. It turned out that they felt more relaxed while studying with the robot, but the teacher could still give them more knowledge.
Elias
This is an interactive robot for learning foreign languages. Elias can understand the needs of students and help them improve their conversational skills in a new language. It can be used with one child or with a class of students. When studying takes place in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, pupils perceive new information and learn much more quickly and easily.
Squirrel
Fun and elementary classes are nice, but what about serious exams? Students at Chinese Colleges are helped by another robot teacher, or rather by the artificial intelligence called Squirrel AI. The comprehensive final exam includes mathematics, Chinese, a foreign language, and natural sciences. The average score obtained helps to distribute students to universities based on their academic performance. An individual approach of artificial intelligence to the training of each student helps them successfully prepare for this exam and pass it. The benefits are:
- Students are less stressed
- They learn faster
- Their performance with the squirrel AI is higher than with human
Getting an education with the help of robots and artificial intelligence is effective for both elementary school students and scholars who study for exams. It is important to create the necessary atmosphere of relaxation and friendliness. The right reaction to the student’s behavior and the information necessary for learning will help to understand the information better. People learn not through interaction with robots but due to the involvement of cognitive functions. It can improve not only quality of education but also the attitude to studying process as well. Unlike many teachers, robots easily allow you to make mistakes and even disagree with them. Many projects are now trying to reach the level when students no longer need to interact with people teachers to get all the necessary info.
Author’s Biography:
Mary Hampton is a prolific writer on both marketing theory and modern technologies. She writes bot as a hobby and as a career. She writes a professional academic essay, mostly focusing on issues regarding enterprise, economics, and modernization. On the other hand, for her hobby, she wishes to share professional tech observations with the general audience. Check out her most interesting work on twitter.