Doctor talking with mobile robot unit

Robots Take Distance Learning to New Level

Personal Robots in 2017

It is not longer science fiction. For years, robots have been increasingly working in the manufacturing industry.  They are “helping, not replacing humans” as I heard one Toyota tour guide say. Now robots are quickly become part of our everyday life and culture. What was impossible or way too expensive a few years ago is now becoming part of home, work and school. If you have not kept up on the current robotic news, consider these 5 Robots you can buy today (enjoy the horrible dubbing in the first commercial):

Robots in Distance Education

Some schools like the University of Montana and University of Colorado, Bolder, are using “robots” to help their distance learners stay connected into a physical environment. Technically these are not robots, but free standing video conference stations. They have self propelled wheels which can be remote controlled from anywhere in the world. The main product being used is from a company called “Double” (clever). You can even test drive one of their doubles at their website here: https://www.doublerobotics.com/

Read the full story at Edsurge here.

Robots in Your Future Class?

In the future, will teachers have classes full of robots representing their students from all over the world? Is this the beginning of a robot revolution in education? There are so many possibilities for this technology. But until they can make one that can raise its hand or write on the desk (and make it a little more affordable) I think we are few years away from a robot replacing physical students in your class.