the use of Robots in Special Education

1. Using Robots in Play
Special Education
Jacqueline Astrof-Bennett

2. • What do you think a
teacher/ teachers’
assistant looks like?
• How do they act?
• What do you expect of
them?
Meet RUBI
RUBI is employed
as a teaching
assistant in a San
Diego nursery
school
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3. What is a robot?
Definition:
“Robots are machines that can produce some
human tasks or imitate some of the things
that a person can do”
Merriam-Webster Definition
1 a : a machine that looks like a human being and
performs various complex acts (as walking or talking)
of a human being; also : a similar but fictional machine
whose lack of capacity for human emotions is often
emphasized b : an efficient insensitive person who
http://42explore.com/robots/htm
functions automatically
2 : a device that automatically performs complicated
often repetitive tasks
3 : a mechanism guided by automatic controls

4. Can Robots be effective teachers?
• If Robots are to be truly effective guides,
they will have to do what any good teacher
does:
– Learn from students when a lesson is taking
hold and when it is falling flat
• All this is still experimental – and
there is some controversy
around using robots in education
www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/science/11robots.html
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5. How are robots currently being used?
• Children are responding to robots
very positively – and robots are being
deployed all around the world
• For example, South Korea is hiring 100
robots as teachers’ aides

6. Using robots to overcome
mobility issues
• Children with special needs are
unable to play with their peers
• For severe cases, such as children with
mobility
• As babies develop they engage with their
world around them – for many babies as
well as children, not being able to move
around their environment can hinder their
ability to play and interact with others
Video: ride on robots: youtube – baby motor chairs
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7. The importance of play
• Play is a natural part of childhood
development. Without play, a child’s development
cannot be complete
• By playing, a child safely probes his/her limits,
explores the world, brings forth emotions and
feelings that would otherwise remain unexpressed
• Today, in special education, play is in fact a widely
implemented methodology that is used over a broad
range of objectives in the cognitive, social and motor
fields
• It is used to facilitate participation and inclusion in
daily living environments and to evaluate many areas
of childhood development

8. The role of robots in play
• Robots appear to be one of the most
promising areas of educational
technological development
• Robots are real objects that exist and act
in the real world: they can move in three-
dimensional space and with the
surrounding environment
• Can allow those with sever motor
impairment to move in the play
environment or to manipulate objects
independently
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9. What type of children can
benefit from Robots?
• Any child who is denied access to the
variety of play activities due to some type of
limitation (a child must be conscious and have
some short- and long-term memory function
• A study done by IROMEC (Research conducted in
various European countries) concludes that the
following types of children benefit most from
interacting with robots:
• Children with severe motor impairment
• Children with mild mental retardation
• Children with autism

10. How do Robots work with children
with motor impairments?
• The child can control the robot based on
his/her initiative
• Can interact with objects around him/her
• Can more the robot as a physical object
• Can move around and act instead of the child
• Can be a play mediator to stimulate new play
behaviors thanks to the social interaction
• Promotes visual/ tactile feedback
• Can have an assistive function to carry on the task
• Use of animated dolls/pets who can be controlled
by the child
• Physical: robotic ball can be thrown using a voice
command
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11. How do Robots work with children
with mental retardation?
• Used to support active behaviors –if the
child doesn’t react the robot could stimulate the
child by capturing his/her attention
• Used to motivate and support a child in creating
more complex structures (i.e. block building)
• Can give advice to child and model it- new actions
• Represent a character – interact with child 
stimulate new play behaviors (i.e. robot doll asks
for milk when waking from a nap)

12. Robots help children with Autism along a number
of dimensions
Take action to Can be a play Can support the Can support play
prevent the autistic mediator child in maintaining due to its
child from fixating representing a rules of games and predictable behavior
on some repetitive known character turn taking
aspect whose behaviors can
be precisely adapted
and improved
Key benefits
• Robots’ behavior can be gradually changed to
meet the child’s needs
• Appearance is simpler to children an not scary

13. How do Robots work with children
with autism?
• Robots’ behavior can be gradually changed to
meet the child’s needs
• Appearance is simpler to children an not scary
• Take action to prevent the autistic child from
fixating on some repetitive aspect
• Can support play due to its predictable behavior
• Can be a play mediator representing a known
character whose behaviors can be
precisely adapted and improved
• Can support the child in
maintaining rules of games
and turn taking
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14. Conclusion
• Robots have great potential for children
with special needs
• Keep in mind this work is still in
experimental stages. There is some
controversy around this issue
• Play is just one aspect where robots can be
useful
References:
• www.iromec.org
• www.nytimes.com 2010: http://tinyurl.com/26x4dru
• http: homepages/feis.herts.ac.uk
• www. Dana.org/media/detail.aspx
• www.gizmag.com
• http://www.calit2.net/newsroom/article.php?id=944