USERS’ EXPERIENCES AND PERCEPTIONS ABOUT TELEPRESENCE ROBOTS IN EDUCATION

Abstract

Telepresence robots (TR) enable people to be represented by a mobile robot at a distant location and audio-visually interact with people and the environment around the robot. The user of the TR remotely controls and drives the TR in its environment as well as interacts with people using microphones, speakers, cameras, screens, and other facilities of the TR. TR have been exploited in various areas including education. However, most previous studies examined specific cases of introducing TR in education. The current study aims at synthesizing the experiences and perceptions of various TR users at different countries and various institutes. A qualitative research study was implemented with regard to the Erasmus+ project TRinE: Telepresence Robots in education. The team conducted 20 interviewees with experienced users (students, educators, technicians, etc.) in the integration of TR in education across Austria, France, Iceland, and U.S.A. The interviewer interrogated the interviewee employing 28 questions about the interviewee’s views, practices and experiences with TR in education. The results shown that the most common use of TR was that of a remote teacher or student participating in a class via a TR. The most frequently mentioned TR strength include the ability of the remote students to feel present, participate, communicate, and socialize with their classmates; TR weaknesses include their weak wireless connectivity, low sound and camera quality, lack of hands and gestures; TR challenges include obstacles in its movement (e.g., elevators, doors, stairs), privacy concerns, lack of WiFi everywhere, risks of misusing TR. The interviewees were not aware of any national or international policies about TR in education. Finally, they made recommendations in a number of issues.