Emerging Teaching Assistants - Robot Play, Robot Interaction, New Possibilities

infographic: robots @ school  (Flickr)

I am continuing my study and research about the effect of Student-Robot-Machine Interaction (SRMI) and Augmentative Teaching methodologies and instructional approaches on Teaching and Learning. Serendipitously, a study was released last week after my posting on the possibilities of children, learning, play and robots. Forbes posted a study funded by LEGO that was released about children and robotic interaction. The conclusion of the study was that robots do benefit and can assist students in the classroom with learning opportunities. The study data pointed out that there was an even-split in between what the kids wanted a robot to play with while the others wanted a robot to learn with  (learning companion). There is a good infographic originally posted on Flickr highlighting the study results plus you can also download the study as a PDF file.

"According to the study researchers, and as summarized in this charming infographic, “Learning becomes fun, play becomes knowledge.” Because of this, the researchers deduced that robots could unleash untapped potential in school-age children frustrated with the learning process." Forbes Online, 02/03/2012

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Pre-Post - Robots in Education: My Teacher's A Cyborg!

Teachers as SuperHuman Cyborgs! A Preposterous Science-Fiction Fantasy you say? Pioneering days in the areas of Emerging Tech, Augmentation, A.I. and Research tells us otherwise....

Just wanted to briefly share with you a bit of what I am currently delving into in regards to the research into Emerging Technology and Augmentative Teaching; such as the use of social-teaching robots in the regular classroom and specialized lab settings.

Robots have also been utilized and field-tested recently in social experiment research with children (both early childhood and autism) with surprising if not controversial results. Already robots are being used for training purposes in medical schools and institutes for remote-surgery and tele-medicine (robotic-telepresence).

What does the research and studies say? 
What are the implications on Teaching and Learning?
And more importantly what do the kids think?


Included here is a stack of research and articles related to the use of robots in education across the world and US - Follow the Delicious Link

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

Smart Weapons: Pigeons, Teaching Machines and Learning

                        flickr

I read an insightful posting on cognitive illusions and biases called The Over Justification Effect a psychological theory about intrinsic/extrinsic motivation from You Are Not So Smart by David McRaney. It got me thinking about scientific research and data collection on learning and motivation.

Anyway this led me down the path to researching the history, innovation and source of computer instruction and electronic gaming machines. Through the web, I was reintroduced to B.F. Skinner's study of pigeons and his infamous Skinner boxes; which brought about the development of Teaching Machines (circa 1950s) and Programmed Instruction which utilized the method of Linear Sequential Learning or Linear Learning. Machines (computers) at that time were primarily used for calculations not for teaching and/or learning with students- most machines today use software programs that capitalize on linear algebraic formulas or what is called "secret sauce".

On Research, Computers and Learning - There is an classic article on computers in the classroom and its effectiveness on learning from the Atlantic (1997)  called The Computer Delusion by Todd Oppenheimer. I retrieved this article because it mentions Skinner's device and the buy-in from the government...also Ex-Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, prophetically mentions something vaguely-sounding like Anytime, Anyplace Online Learning just imagine the possibility of a NEWT-U.


A recent online article from The Chronicle (2011) which talks about the company, Knewton, that features predictive and analytic software using the hot tech topic of "Adaptive Learning"; ideas and concepts originally developed by B.F. Skinner (see video below) and a interactive video-game UI for low socio-economic and poor performing learners. Given the problems that schools are having today with funding schools, districts and states will be using more of this approach due to cheaper costs and relative ease of data collection.

Critics, however, note one crucial problem: Few good studies have been done on the outcomes of these programs, particularly at the community-college level, which serve the kind of vulnerable students they are supposed to help most.

Still, advocates say an advantage of the software is that it gives these and other students more control in a course. Historically, "students have had to work in the order that the instructor and textbook author think is most relevant," says A. Daniel Johnson, a senior lecturer in biology at Wake Forest University..." The Chronicle, (2011)

The scientific research and debates are still continuing on the effectiveness of machines and automation on teaching and learning.

So the humble pigeon's technosavy and influence on machine teaching and learning is with us to this very day... remarkable and strange indeed.

                                                                                                                  Video - YouTube - please use the CC transcription


Curious Side Note to this Posting:

           
I rediscovered the etymological trivia root of the word Pigeon-Brain or Bird Brain courtesy of the web and Wikipedia- apparently there was a WWII program led by BF Skinner called Project Orcon using pigeons as guided SMART weapons! who knew? It also the development of early touch screen technology for the pigeon-guided bomb. I think there is a potential e-book in the works called Bird Brains: The Development of Smart Weapons, Teaching Machines and their Influence on Computer-Aided Learning. The curious and humble role that birds have played in Science, Warfare and Education in America is meritorious.

(CC- Creative Commons) 

Some work is copyrighted by Original Content Authors of linked journals.