By KIRK PINHO, Crain’s Detroit
Christine Greenhow, assistant professor of counseling, educational psychology and special education at Michigan State University’s College of Education is bringing the concept of telecommuting to the academy using robotic technology. During a spring course in the Educational Psychology and Educational Technology Ph.D. program, 13 of 15 students participated using iPads affixed on top of either a stationary robot that swivels to interact with another student or a robot that moves around the classroom to do the same. Greenhow, who used the robot technology that was developed by the College of Educational Psychology and Special Education/College of Education Design Studio, said she saw the need for a virtual classroom after Ph.D. students taking most of their classes online “felt a sense of distance” between themselves and the teacher, as well as their fellow students. “Online and on-campus students recorded that when their colleagues were in robot form, each group felt more physically there.”
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20150830/NEWS/308309996/robots-tighten-gap-in-distance-learning
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