If he back-to-school it makes you anxious, and you prefer DAD to in-person teaching, this news may interest you. A school in Japan has installed gods robot in classeto allow students to follow lessons from home (while having a physical extension in attendance).
Japan: Fighting absenteeism at school with robots in the classroom
It’s happening in a school district of Kumamoto, in the southwestern part of Japan. An area where the rate of school absenteeism, according to the authorities, has significantly increased. In 2022 they would be well 2,760 students who, between elementary and middle school, did not want to go back to class.
More than double the 1,283 in 2018. So here comes the tech solution which, obviously, is not without social implications.
“In addition to allowing students to view lectures, the robots allow them to move freely in space and communicate with others as they please,” a school official told The Mainichi newspaper. “Hopefully this will help reduce anxiety in absentee students.”
The term anxiety is not used randomly. According to local experts absenteeism is said to be due to some students’ social anxiety. The debate is obviously open, given that this does not seem to be the solution to a psychological problem. Even so, district officials say the devices give students the ability to socialize with other kids without having to physically go to school.
The Mainichi explains to us that the robots are equipped with wheels. Through a tablet, students can thus remotely control their droid, communicating with teachers and classmates through text and voice chat. The robots are obviously equipped with a camera, showing students at home everything that happens in class.