Eunja Hyun

Comparative study of effects of language instruction program using intelligence robot and multimedia on linguistic ability of young children

This research explores feasibility of using intellectual robots as a language instruction tool for young children. Since the intellectual robots have several sensors which can recognize status of the other parties, it can perform various bi-directional interaction strategies. This study verified how such bi-directional interaction using intellectual robots affects the improvement of linguistic ability. The subjects were 34 4-year-old children, 17 of whom were in the traditional media-assisted reading program, and 17 of whom were in the Robot-assisted reading program. The results indicated that the children in the robot-assisted groups improved significantly compared with media-assisted groups in linguistic ability (story making, understanding, word recognition, PPVT (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test)). Furthermore, the benefits and limitations of using Intelligent Robot in linguistic education are discussed.

Relationships between user experiences and children's perceptions of the education robot

The purpose of this study is to investigate the biological, mental, social, moral, and educational perceptions of young children of the intelligent robot iRobiQ and to explore the effects of user experience on them. The interview was conducted with 111 five-year-old children attending two kindergartens and two childcare centers in which iRobiQ had been purchased and had been in use since March 2009. The young children interacted with the robot for one hour or less everyday over a period of two weeks or less. The robot contents were related to the socio-emotional perceptions of robots and had a high level of human-robot interactions, such as “Talking with the Robot” or “Attendance Check.” Children who experienced the “voice” and “touch screen” functions of the robot showed higher educational perception. The social and educational perception was higher when the robot was placed in a classroom than when it was placed in the hallway or in the office. The results indicated that robot content focusing on socio-emotional characteristics should be developed for educational purposes and that a robot should be placed in the classroom for individual use.

Young Children`s Response to Technological Components in Dramatic Activities Relying on Robot Projector Based Augmented Reality

The purpose of this study was to investigate young children`s response to technological components in dramatic activities relying on robot projector based augmented reality. The participants of this study were 16 five-year-old children. Young children`s response to the technological components was collected by interviews asking 1) the level of understanding and interest in robot technology and 2) the level of understanding and interest in augmented reality technology. The result of this study showed that most of children playing the role of actors as well as audiences were likely to understand and get interested in the robot and augmented realty technology. This study would support the feasibility of employing the robot projector based augmented reality contents to dramatic activities in early childhood settings.

Is Robot Alive? : Young Children's Perception of a Teacher Assistant Robot in a Classroom

The purpose of this study was to investigate young children`s perceptions of a teacher assistant robot, IrobiQ. in a kindergarten classroom. The subjects of this study were 23 6-year-olds attending to G kindergarten located in E city, Korea, where the teacher assistant robot had been in operation since Oct. 2008. Each child responded to questions assessing the child`s perceptions of IrobiQ`s identity regarding four domains : it`s biological, intellectual, emotional and social identity. Some questions asked the child to affirm or deny some characteristics pertaining to the robot and the other questions asked the reasons for the answer given. The results indicated that while majority of children considered an IrobiQ not as a biological entity, but as a machine, they thought it could have an emotion and be their playmate. The implications of these results are two folds : firstly, they force us to reconsider the traditional ontological categories regarding intelligent service robots to understand human-robot interaction and secondly, they open up an ecological perspective on the design of teacher assistant robots for use with young children in early childhood education settings.

Characteristics of young children's utilization of a robot during play time : A case study

This is a case study of the behavior that was observed when young children were given free access to Intelligent Service Robot iRobiQ during their free play time at kindergarten. The investigator conducted a 30-min observation of one class of three-year-olds and one of four-year-olds during their free play time both in the morning and in the afternoon, twice a week, from December 2008 to February 2009. In addition to videotaping the subjects at play, written notes were also recorded of various ways the children utilized the robot and its features. The characteristics studied included the preparation process before a robot was introduced, physical factors (time, distance, and posture) related to the childrens utilization of the robot, their reactions to the robots stimuli (direct stimuli, appearance, built-in contents, and functional error messages), the social relationships among student peers and with their teachers), and the influence of age and gender upon frequency of utilization.

Usability of Augmented Reality Picture Book for Young Children

This study was conducted to evaluate the usability of augmented reality (AR) picture book for young children. The participants of this study were 17 five-year-olds attending to M kindergarten in Korea. The measurement of the usability was conducted by observation and interviews during and after children`s AR picture book reading 1) usability test score such as task completed that is, reading the AR picturebook successfully, 2) children`s behaviors in the process of reading the book, 3) children`s response to the questions asking the level of satisfaction with the AR picture book. The result of study showed that most of children could read the AR successfully adjusting the distance and angle of AR picture book to web-camera`s location. And children showed verbal and nonverbal expression such as surprise, joy, questions and frustration in reading the book. Children told that AR picture book is fun and easy to read. This study would provide the implications for the interface development and adult-child book reading of AR picture books.

Intelligence Robot Contents for Early Childhood Education Settings

The purpose of this research is to design and develop teacher assistant contents `My Class` for an intelligent robot iRobiQ, using in early childhood educational setting. After observing daily activities and correspondence role of teachers in educational settings, we selected the robots` target contents as 6 main functions (Attendance, Activity, Gallery, Learning, Role Calling, and Timer). We designed the contents according to the PLU (Player-Learner-User) model which suggests importance of entertainment, education, and enabling features to meet player, learner, and user requirements. We also considered `emotional` features to satisfy `companion` requirements. The developed contents in this study was deployed in kindergarten classrooms consisting of five-years-old for 4 weeks to see how they response and use the contents. We found that both teachers and children were likely to show positive responses to the contents. Especially, young children responded to the entertainment and emotional features more actively than to the other features. And they continually explored for something new inside the contents. Finally, this paper discusses what should be considered to develop more useful teacher assistant contents for iRobiQ.

Supporting augmented reality based children's play with pro-cam robot: three user perspectives

This paper shares the experiences from the application of AR using the pro-cam robot assistant to managing childrens play from three user perspectives, namely, the operator (teacher), the actors (children), and the audience (mainly children). First a preliminary expert survey was conducted to assess the expected benefits and any particular provisions needed both educationally and technically. Based on the expert survey, the original implementation was slightly modified, particularly for the robot control interface design for the teachers (e.g. to support easier multi-tasking). Finally, a formative evaluation and analysis was conducted to assess the educational effects to the children (both actors and audiences) and their attitudes when a pro-cam robot was used to run an AR based play, as compared to when a conventional approach was used. The study has found that robot-assisted AR based play showed improved learning effects, compared to the conventional play, in language and creativity and this is attributed to the operational flexibility, novelty, robotic mediation and capturing the attention of the children. The result was also made possible in part by designing an effective interface for the teachers to control the robots and manage the simultaneously occurring tasks.

Contents Analysis of Vocabulary Learning Game Application on Smart-Phone and Tablet PC for Young Children`s Language Learning

The purpose of this study was firstly, to evaluate the contents of vocabulary game applications for young children`s language learning. and secondly, to examine whether there is any differences between Korean and English word games in terms of the evaluation score. For this purpose, the word game applications in smart phone and tablet PC were analyzed, which included 30 Korean word games and another 30 English ones. The criteria to evaluate the contents were developed based on Children`s Software Evaluation Instrument developed by CTR, the multimedia evaluation standard by Hee Sook Park, Young Joo Lee, and mobile contents evaluation standard by Soo Ui Choi. As a result, the educational value got the highest score whereas the design characteristics area got the lowest score in the whole evaluation analysis. And English word game applications mostly got higher score than Korean versions. The result of this study would suggest the way to evaluate educational game applications in use and to contribute to developing educational game contents aimed at young children`s language learning.

A Study of Creative Drama Activities for Young Children Based on Picture Books

The purpose of this study was to explore childrens experiences in a series of creative drama activities based around the use of picture books. The subjects were a total of 17 children 4 years of age. The research, implemented over the courses of 10 weeks, was integrated into their daily education curriculum. The childrens drama activities were collected by participant observation, field notes, audio and videotape transcriptions, documentation of the young childrens drama activities (eg. pantomimes, role plays & improvised expression, improvisations). The analysis reveals the following findings : 1) even shy and passive young children tried to participate in pantomime activities after reading books. 2) In role play & improvised expression activities, young children were immersed in the improvised situation and spontaneously expressed their emotions and thoughts as actors without the use of any scripts, in an impromptu manner. 3) In improvisation, young children collaborated with other children to create the improvisation by extending or transforming the content of the picture books through their own ideas.