Granny_Weatherwax Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 Life is interesting. I am teaching three sections of the same class this term. Two of those sections have students telecommuting from a satellite campus. We are using robots for them to participate in class and engage with the other students. This is what the bot looks like. It's been a hoot the last two days. I'm seriously going to have some fun with these things. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 How do they interact - do they speak? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny_Weatherwax Posted January 18, 2017 Author Share Posted January 18, 2017 How do they interact - do they speak? Yes, it's exactly like skyping. It's in realtime with no lag. The student has control from the remote location. The student can raise, lower, and tilt the facescreen, and move the robot around the room. I have to carry it from it's parking dock to the classroom and back but other than that the student has complete control. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 How do the other students respond to it, beyond the novelty effect? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 Welcome to the future! This is neat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 That would be great for our hospital/homebound students. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny_Weatherwax Posted January 18, 2017 Author Share Posted January 18, 2017 How do the other students respond to it, beyond the novelty effect? I'm going to have to get back to you on that. Today was the first day of the semester so we have limited experience. I found it quite easy to overlook it when it wasn't moving and I had to make an effort to include the student in the discussion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilaclady Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 That is quite cool. Will make classes more interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranquilMind Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 There was a comic strip where one of the characters had a girlfriend who couldn't leave her house so she attended school as this bot. Zits, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluegoat Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 What is it that it needs to do to move around the classroom? I mean, why does it need to move places? Is it really like Skype - I find skype really annoying to interact with. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 What is it that it needs to do to move around the classroom? I mean, why does it need to move places? Is it really like Skype - I find skype really annoying to interact with. I assume it needs to move if the teacher says things such as, "okay, form groups of three people to work on the next project" Also with the camera the robot student can look towards who ever is talking. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 That is a much cooler version of a very similar looking "robot" that DH and DS built 2 years ago. They used the body of a rechargeable RC car for the base, some stuff from Home Depot for the body and an extra mini tablet courtesy of DH's company (year-end gift to employees). It was really fun that we could RC it to all over the house and we installed a smart app for our lights so we could control our lights with the robot too. We could then RC it back to the power outlet and one of us would plug it in without having to carry it around. And yes, the tablet screen allowed Skyping but no tilting to who ever is talking. That latter turning around to speaker part is so cool! I love how technology is being used in classrooms but am also nostalgic about the simpler days. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoJosMom Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 That is amazing! Please keep us posted about how it goes during the semester; I am fascinated. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 That is more fun than satellite classes where one only has video and audio of the instructor and audio of everyone else. We had a family sue the local school district for one a few years ago. They were turned down,as they were on homebound for temporary medical rather than permanent sn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoggirl Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=S5LKXO9aCTc Clip from the Big Bang Theory. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=S5LKXO9aCTc Clip from the Big Bang Theory. This is immediately where my thoughts went! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 This is what the bot looks like. Looks similar to what we saw on Black Friday as a demo. This 17 January 2017 BBC article has a photo of a similar robot. "The next best thing to teleportation Living in one country and working in another will soon be common, thanks to remote-control robots. Future Now spoke with economist Richard Baldwin about how this trend could change the world." http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170113-the-next-best-thing-to-teleportation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkT Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 With all the college cutbacks and tuition hikes - who pays for stuff like this ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny_Weatherwax Posted January 20, 2017 Author Share Posted January 20, 2017 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=S5LKXO9aCTc Clip from the Big Bang Theory. Here's the joke: my robot's name is Sheldon! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny_Weatherwax Posted January 20, 2017 Author Share Posted January 20, 2017 With all the college cutbacks and tuition hikes - who pays for stuff like this ? That answer is above my pay grade. As I spent the week learning how to use the Bot. an announcement was made that the school is closing another dept, laying off FT faculty, not filling vacant positions, and consolidating other positions. Our local schools, town, and county are shrinking and aging and there is no new industry to replace what has been lost and it has been difficult to find new programs to entice students to enroll. From my perspective, I'm going to enjoy the Bot, have a great time with the students using it, and do the best I can to make sure the in-class students engage with the Bot as much as possible. This is a test class so I have an incentive to make it work. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 That would be great for our hospital/homebound students. I love this kind of technology for exactly this reason. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoggirl Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Here's the joke: my robot's name is Sheldon! Lol!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny_Weatherwax Posted February 1, 2017 Author Share Posted February 1, 2017 After 2.5 weeks with the robots, we're still in the learning phase. We've had issues with one side or the other not being able to hear. One day there was a glitch and the student sounded like Alvin the Chipmunk. One instructor (not me) forgot to disconnect the program so the next student to log in (mine) was already on screen and connected when I went to pick up the bot. I looked at the screen and there the student was, smiling and laughing; the student had logged in 15 mins before class. The bot is stored in an area where faculty and staff engage in private conversation so this student was getting an earful. A notice went out immediately with proper disconnect guidelines. There are multiple bots on campus and, evidently, they are a drain on internet bandwidth. We have been instructed to change the settings so that each bot uses less bandwidth. Now the students are complaining that it's difficult to see the whiteboard, etc. I am finding that everything has to be done well in advance of class as everything has to uploaded so the distance learning students can have access to resources, handouts, homework assignments, etc before logging in. There is no lee way for procrastination or last minute changes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 With all the college cutbacks and tuition hikes - who pays for stuff like this ? It's probably part of the cutbacks. They are now offering one less course at the satellite campus, a class that only had two students. If it's a required course for a major, it saves them cutting that program and losing those students (and their tuition.) Telepresence robots are at most a few thousand dollars, and it was possibly covered by a grant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny_Weatherwax Posted February 7, 2017 Author Share Posted February 7, 2017 The first big blooper occurred yesterday. Whoever used the Bot last (not me) didn't put it into the dock properly and it was dead. We were scrambling to get Skype connections set up so the student could participate in at least the lecture. In order for the student to see the white board we had to have almost all of the lights turned off. Moving the camera around was a bit of a pain. We decided to try facetiming if this happens again. We also found that due to the inherent limitations the robot isn't as effective as a class tool as we had hoped. It has to be carried if any degree of speed is needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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