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Educators’ views on telepresence robots in teaching

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Published: Mar 19, 2024
Dr.
University of Macedonia, Hellenic Open University
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9874-8417
Anastasios A Economides
University of Macedonia
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8056-1024
Dr.
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4534-351X
Marlene Galea
St Margaret College
Thomas Wernbacher
Danube University Krems
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8081-479X
Abstract

Remote persons can be represented by telepresence robots (TRs) located at another location. TRs are used in diverse fields including education. However, most of the previous studies have explored particular instances of introducing TRs in education. The present study aims to bring together the viewpoints of educators from different countries and educational institutes. The partners of the Erasmus+ project TRinE conducted interviews and focus groups among 46 educators in Austria, France, Germany, Iceland, and Malta. Findings indicated that educators appreciated that a remote student using a TR can feel and being felt present as well as move around in the class and the school. TRs enhance inclusiveness since the remote user can be an ill student or anyone at a remote location. The educators mentioned TRs’ weaknesses such as their unstable Wi-Fi connectivity and poor audio video quality. They also pointed out challenges concerning privacy issues, loss of Wi-Fi connectivity, noisy environments and obstacles along the way as the TR moves (elevators, doors, stairs, etc.). Finally, the educators recommended that TRs’ manufacturers build more user friendly, visible, and accessible TRs as well as educational institutes apply effective TRs management procedures.

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Author Biographies
Dr., University of Macedonia, Hellenic Open University

Maria Perifanou is an adjunct academic staff at Hellenic Open University at TESOL Master's Programme, and a senior researcher at the Smart and Mobile Learning Environments (SMILE) Lab of the University of Macedonia (GR) in the field of CALL and TEL. She holds a Master's degree in ICT and Foreign Language education from Ca’ Foscari, University of Venice, (IT), and a Ph.D. from the University of Athens, (GR), in the field of Applied Linguistics.

She is the vice-president of the European Association of Technology-Enhanced Learning (EATEL). Over the last ten years, she has collaborated with various European research institutions on more than 35 EU funded research projects in the field of Technology-Enhanced Learning, notably “Language learning and social media – 6 Key dialogues”, LangMOOC, Evolution of reading in the age of digitization (E-READ). Furthermore, she worked for 3 years as a TEL consultant and project coordinator at the Open Education Europa portal for the Commission's Directorate-General for Education and Culture (DG EAC).

Currently, she works for 8 EU projects: PASTILLE, DETEL, FeSTEM, TRinE, BACK2BASICS CARAT, including the DC4LT and the OPENLangNET Erasmus+ projects in which she holds the roles of projects’ initiator, scientific manager, and senior researcher. She is the author of over 80 articles that have been published in peer-reviewed journals, conferences, and books. She is also a member of different European TEL research networks and communities and has also been awarded several international and national scholarships and fellowships for her research (by STELLAR, UNESCO, EATEL, GRnet).

Anastasios A Economides, University of Macedonia

Dr. Economides is a Full Professor at the University of Macedonia (UoM), Thessaloniki, Greece. He is the Director of SMILE (Smart & Mobile Interactive Learning Environments) lab at UoM. He holds a M.Sc. and a Ph.D. degrees in Computer Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles. His research interests include open, online, mobile, personalised, collaborative learning & teaching. He is among the top 2% of scientists all over the world.
He has published two (2) books, more than 400 peer-reviewed papers in journals, conference proceedings and books. He has received over 9,000 citations, h-index = 49, i10-index = 150 (2023).
He has been the Director (2008-14) and the deputy Director (2000-2006) of the Interdepartmental Programme of Postgraduate Studies in Information Systems at UoM.
He has received dozens of research awards (e.g., Best Conference paper) and fellowships (e.g., Greek State Scholarships Foundation -IΚΥ, Fulbright). He has been Visiting Professor at the University Pompeu Fabra (2015), Open University of Catalonia (2014), University of Southern California (1998), Technical University of Denmark (1997), University of Helsinki (1997) and Helsinki University of Technology (1997).
He has been a Keynote Speaker at several international conferences, in the program committee of dozens international conferences, and in the editorial board of dozens international journals. He has been principal and/or scientific investigator and has participated in dozens projects. Finally, he has been evaluator of dozens project proposals and implementations (European and Greek), journal papers, conference papers, Ph.D. theses, M.Sc. theses, professors’ hirings and promotions, etc.

Dr. , Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

From September 2004 to March 2009, Polina Häfner (born Stoyanova) studied computer science according to the Karlsruhe curriculum at the Faculty for German Engineering and Business Administration Education (FDIBA) at the Technical University of Sofia. She carried out her bachelor thesis "Methods of Virtual Reality for configuring a product through customer co-design" at the Institute for Information Management in Engineering (IMI) at the University of Karlsruhe (TH) in cooperation with the FDIBA. From April 2009 to May 2012 she studied computer science at the KIT. Her diploma thesis "Development of an intuitive, easy-to-use human-machine interface for immersive environments" dealt with one of the weak points of virtual reality - interaction. During her studies at KIT she worked as a research assistant at IMI. She developed and supported the "Virtual Reality Internship" event and took part in various projects. She has been a research associate at IMI since June 2012 and mainly deals with basic and contract research in the field of virtual reality. In September 2020, Ms. Häfner successfully defended her doctoral thesis on the topic "Holistic Approach for Authoring Immersive and Smart Environments for the Integration in Engineering Education".  Since 2021, she  continues her research as a postdoc and head of the research group "Collaborative Immersive Environments".

Thomas Wernbacher, Danube University Krems

Thomas Wernbacher is a senior researcher and lecturer at the Danube University Krems, with over 10 years of experience in mobility, health, education and environment research. He specializes in gamified solutions and behavioral interventions for user engagement and activity, and has skills in funding and innovation management, data science, usability testing and evaluation. He has published several papers and books on topics related to positive impact games, gamification, nudging, sustainable development goals and mobility research.