How To Use Robots in Education

     While some people might imagine a time in which our children are taught by intimidating, lifeless robots, the view over the horizon is decidedly rosier.  One Finnish tech expert has developed an interactive robot that he hopes will assume the mundane tasks of teaching, freeing educators to serve as mentors to students, while providing fun and consistent instruction to students.  While Lasse Rouhiainen did express some concern that children might grow attached to the robot, the benefits definitely seem to outweigh the potential drawbacks.  For example, the robot would provide "judgment-free" assistance; even the most patient adult can grow weary of explaining the same concept over and over.  School districts would need to absorb the initial costs for the robot (and the obvious maintenance), but those same school districts would be hard pressed to find teaching assistants who can speak twenty-three different languages.  Moreover, the costs associated with human beings, like health care and time off, are not factors to consider when using robots in the classroom.  As a student who needed support in a mainstream classroom, I think that a robot would have been a good fit for my needs.  I did not need assistance with self-care, I just needed certain instructions repeated and certain concepts reviewed.  After the initial allure of the robot wore off, it would have been more "organic" and less intrusive to receive assistance from a robot than to constantly have an adult at my elbow.
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