Sofia Serholt

Empathic robotic tutors for personalised learning : A multidisciplinary approach

Within any learning process, the formation of a socio-emotional relationship between learner and teacher is paramount to facilitating a good learning experience. The ability to form this relationship may come naturally to an attentive teacher; but how do we endow an unemotional robot with this ability? In this paper, we extend upon insights from the literature to include tools from user-centered design (UCD) and analyses of human-human interaction (HHI) as the basis of a multidisciplinary approach in the development of an empathic robotic tutor. We discuss the lessons learned in respect to design principles with the aim of personalised learning with empathic robotic tutors.

The case of classroom robots: teachers’ deliberations on the ethical tensions

Robots are increasingly being studied for use in education. It is expected that robots will have the potential to facilitate children’s learning and function autonomously within real classrooms in the near future. Previous research has raised the importance of designing acceptable robots for different practices. In parallel, scholars have raised ethical concerns surrounding children interacting with robots. Drawing on a Responsible Research and Innovation perspective, our goal is to move away from research concerned with designing features that will render robots more socially acceptable by end users toward a reflective dialogue whose goal is to consider the key ethical issues and long-term consequences of implementing classroom robots for teachers and children in primary education. This paper presents the results from several focus groups conducted with teachers in three European countries. Through a thematic analysis, we provide a theoretical account of teachers’ perspectives on classroom robots pertaining to privacy, robot role, effects on children and responsibility. Implications for the field of educational robotics are discussed.

Robots Tutoring Children: Longitudinal Evaluation of Social Engagement in Child-Robot Interaction

This paper explores childrens social engagement to a robotic tutor by analyzing their behavioral reactions to socially significant events initiated by the robot. Specific questions addressed in this paper are whether children express signs of social engagement as a reaction to such events, and if so, in what way. The second question is whether these reactions differ between different types of social events, and finally, whether such reactions disappear or change over time. Our analysis indicates that children indeed show behaviors that indicate social engagement using a range of communicative channels. While gaze towards the robots face is the most common indication for all types of social events, verbal expressions and nods are especially common for questions, and smiles are most common after positive feedback. Although social responses in general decrease slightly over time, they are still observable after three sessions with the robot.

Breakdowns in children's interactions with a robotic tutor: A longitudinal study

Abstract In recent years, there has been a growing research interest towards exploring the benefit of Child–Robot Interaction for educational purposes through the use of social robotics. Despite the label, such robots are typically only social within scripted activities. The current study takes a critical look at the case of a robotic tutor which was implemented in an elementary school for 3.5 months, where children repeatedly took turns interacting with the robot individually as well as in pairs. The aim of the study was to explore what caused breakdowns in childrens interactions with the robotic tutor. In this qualitative study, over 14 h of video recordings of childrens interaction sessions were analyzed in-depth through interaction analysis and thematic analysis. The results comprise four themes to explain why childrens interactions with the robotic tutor break down: (1) the robots inability to evoke initial engagement and identify misunderstandings, (2) confusing scaffolding, (3) lack of consistency and fairness, and finally, (4) controller problems. The implications of these breakdowns for the educational use of robots are discussed, and it is concluded that several challenges need to be rigorously addressed in order for robotic tutors to be able to feature in education.

PARTICIPATE: Capturing Knowledge in Public Library Activities

We present PARTICIPATE, a technology probe exploring how to strengthen the connection between activities taking place at public libraries and their collections, both in the digital realm and in the physical space. Based on ethnographic studies and participatory design activities, we derive three core implications for place- and activity centric library services. These implications led us to design PARTICIPATE in collaboration with library staff from three European countries. The probe is a mean to investigate how place- and activity-centric digital services in the library space can engage participants in co-creating knowledge, and enable libraries to integrate activities with library collections.

Opportunities and challenges for technology development and adoption in public libraries

In this paper, we discuss opportunities and challenges for technology development and adoption in public libraries. The results are based on a multi-site comparative study and thematic analysis of ethnographic work in three libraries, each in a different European country. The results explore the socio-technical practices, understandings, and perspectives of library staff and patrons when it comes to the role(s) and function(s) of libraries today. The contributions, which aim at informing the design and implementation of new digital services in public libraries, are two-fold. Firstly, the main findings from the study is presented under six themes. Secondly, a list of key opportunities and challenges focusing on 1) media and technology literacy, 2) institutional transformation and technical infrastructures, 3) resource constraints among library staff, and 4) a shift in focus towards supporting activities.

Critical robotics: exploring a new paradigm.

In recent years, we have witnessed a rise in voices advocating more human-centered and holistic approaches to research on robot technology. Towards this end, the adoption of broader perspectives and the exploration of critical questions related to the design and study of these technologies in everyday life have become increasingly pressing. In this workshop, we aim for researchers and industry experts to experience hands-on approaches to explore how we can address critical human-centered perspectives in robot research and whether critical questions within the area of Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) can be considered a new emerging paradigm: critical robotics. We invite people from a variety of disciplines both inside and outside of HRI and HCI (e.g., education, media and communication, philosophy of technology, applied ethics) to submit a short position paper and join us in an open exploration of this burning topic already identified by leading researchers in HRI and HCI.

Students' Normative Perspectives on Classroom Robots

As robots are becoming increasingly common in society and education, it is expected that autonomous and socially adaptive classroom robots may eventually be given responsible roles in primary education. In this paper, we present the results of a questionnaire study carried out with students enrolled in compulsory education in three European countries. The study aimed to explore students’ normative perspectives on classroom robots pertaining to roles and responsibilities, student-robot relationships, and perceptive and emotional capabilities in robots. The results suggest that, although students are generally positive toward the existence of classroom robots, certain aspects are deemed more acceptable than others.