Robots to teach English in South Korea?
By Oneironaut
@_sketch_ (5742)
United States
December 28, 2010 2:12pm CST
South Korea is testing 30 English-teaching robots in schools in South Korea. They expect that these robots will help cut back costs and help shy students who may feel more comfortable talking to the robots than to a human teacher.
While these robots are controlled remotely by English teachers in the Philippines, the robots display an avatar face of a Caucasian woman. The system detects the facial expressions of the teacher and changes the avatar to fit it.
Here's the link to the article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101228/tc_afp/skoreaphilippinesroboteducationtechnologyoffbeat_20101228051921
My question is why? Why not show the actual face of the teacher?
I am worried that these new robots will depersonalize the classroom. Yes, maybe the shy kids will feel more comfortable answering a question in class, but what about if they have a personal problem; maybe something's going on at home; who will they talk to about that? I really have a hard time picturing someone confiding in a robot, even if it is remotely controlled by a real person. Do the children even understand that? Thinking back at my grade school days and all my past teachers and how their involvement shaped the whole experience, I don't know if I can get on board with the whole robot teacher thing.
What do you think? Do you think it's a step forward or back, or do you think it makes a difference at all?
2 people like this
6 responses
@uath13 (8192)
• United States
28 Dec 10
Some techno geek is having a field day after selling them these I'll bet. How silly can you get. There's a real woman controling it anyways so why not just have her in the freaking classroom? Are they afraid someone might attack the teachers?
Are the kids really THAT bad? 
@_sketch_ (5742)
• United States
28 Dec 10
But they say that the reason for the robots is to save money because the teachers in the Philippines will work for less and that's who is controlling the robots. So in other words, it's just a new form of outsourcing.
Why am I not surprised?
@EdnaReyes (2622)
• Philippines
6 Jan 11
This would mean losing my job as a teacher here in our place if this Teacher Robot prosper. I don't think it could duplicate the real teacher. Where's the human touch that is the soul in teaching?
@paula27661 (15811)
• Australia
1 Jan 11
I think they are ridiculous contraptions and if I were a student I would feel really silly interacting with it! I don’t see children learning properly from a machine and I agree that the personal interaction will be missing leaving children who may have personal problems out in the cold. Surely this type of thing will not take off...
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
16 Jan 11
I think that the further away we move from human interaction, the worse we will be. This is a step backwards in my opinion and reminiscent of old science fiction horror movies where computers take over the world. 
This is not good for a child's education. Whether they are shy children or outgoing children, human interaction is an important thing to learn. Learning without humans involved sounds easy and cost effective, but what happens when these children have to go out and face the real world and interact with other people? They will not have the skills required to do so. 
This is not good for a child's education. Whether they are shy children or outgoing children, human interaction is an important thing to learn. Learning without humans involved sounds easy and cost effective, but what happens when these children have to go out and face the real world and interact with other people? They will not have the skills required to do so. 
@Liliac26 (557)
• Romania
28 Dec 10
Wow, it seems like something out of a dystopian novel. Shy kids may find it easier to talk to that thing, but it won't help them deal with their shyness in everyday life. On the contrary, I'd say. Teachers should be role models and figures of authority for kids of that age and help with the socialization process. Sometimes, they're almost as important as parents and can offer useful advice and support (especially when, for different reasons, their parents can't do that). They provide kids with a model of behavior and help shape their future interactions with people. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I don't see how a robot can do that.
@_sketch_ (5742)
• United States
28 Dec 10
That is also my concern. Parents are already complaining that kids would rather text them than call them. Now we are replacing computers with human interaction even more. It's crazy.
@IreneVincent (15962)
• United States
8 Mar 16
Robots can be useful and cost effective, but I don't think they should replace ALL teachers. Evidently, it's just for English teachers which is understandable, since not all South Korean teachers have a perfect understanding of the English language. English is a very difficult language to learn unless you hear it from birth.
