Telepresence Robots: Applications and Issues In Higher Education

Michael Paskevicius & Valerie Irvine

Image https://pixabay.com/en/robots-computers-bots-character-764951/License: CC0 Public Domain

Presented in CSC 586A: Topics in Computer Systems and Software: "Computer-Supported Collaborative Work“ October, 2015

Lecture – Wikipedia image from - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lecture Licensed with Creative Commons https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0

Face to face classrooms

Classroom – Wikipedia images from - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classroom Licensed with Creative Commons https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0

Asynchronous Fully Online or Blended

Video conferencing

Videoconferencing – Wikipedia images from - https://commons.wikimedia.org Licensed with Creative Commons https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0

Synchronous online classrooms

http://www.blackboard.com/platforms/collaborate/products/blackboard-collaborate/web-conferencing.aspx http://atate.org/mscel/archive/hp-blog-2011.html

Choice?Which configuration do you prefer? Where have you felt you had your best learning experiences?

Do you feel you have choice in the selection of the learning format?

FACE TO FACE ONLINEOR

Irvine, V. 2015. Video Conferencing via Robots: Needs and Implications of Access by Cyber Proxy. BCNet Conference 2015, Vancouver, BC. http://www.slideshare.net/virvine/video-conferencing-via-robots-needs-and-implications-of-access-by-cyber-proxy

FACE TO FACE ONLINE*AND*

BLENDEDIrvine, V. 2015. Video Conferencing via Robots: Needs and Implications of Access by Cyber Proxy. BCNet Conference 2015, Vancouver, BC. http://www.slideshare.net/virvine/video-conferencing-via-robots-needs-and-implications-of-access-by-cyber-proxy

F2F ONLINEMULTI-ACCESS

Irvine, V. 2015. Video Conferencing via Robots: Needs and Implications of Access by Cyber Proxy. BCNet Conference 2015, Vancouver, BC. http://www.slideshare.net/virvine/video-conferencing-via-robots-needs-and-implications-of-access-by-cyber-proxy

Physical

Flickr@faultlesspajamo CCBYNCSA2.0Irvine, V. 2015. Video Conferencing via Robots: Needs and Implications of Access by Cyber Proxy. BCNet Conference 2015, Vancouver, BC. http://www.slideshare.net/virvine/video-conferencing-via-robots-needs-and-implications-of-access-by-cyber-proxy

Special Needs / Anxiety

Flickr@gregous CCBYNCND2.0 Irvine, V. 2015. Video Conferencing via Robots: Needs and Implications of Access by Cyber Proxy. BCNet Conference 2015, Vancouver, BC. http://www.slideshare.net/virvine/video-conferencing-via-robots-needs-and-implications-of-access-by-cyber-proxy

Remote or Rural

Flickr@Michel-Yves CCBYND2.0 Irvine, V. 2015. Video Conferencing via Robots: Needs and Implications of Access by Cyber Proxy. BCNet Conference 2015, Vancouver, BC. http://www.slideshare.net/virvine/video-conferencing-via-robots-needs-and-implications-of-access-by-cyber-proxy

Potential models for multiaccess

Shared portals

Personal portals

Autonomous telepresence robots

(Bell, Sawaya & Cain, 2014)

Multiaccess - shared portals

http://designstudio.educ.msu.edu/virtual-flexibility-for-synchronous-hybrid-learning/

Multiaccess - personal portals

http://designstudio.educ.msu.edu/research-and-practice/synchromodal/personal-portal-model/

Mutiaccess - Autonomous telepresence robots

http://designstudio.educ.msu.edu/research-and-practice/synchromodal/personal-portal-model/

http://www.doublerobotics.com/ https://revolverobotics.com/ http://www.vgocom.com/

Kubi vGoDouble

Irvine, V. 2015. Video Conferencing via Robots: Needs and Implications of Access by Cyber Proxy. BCNet Conference 2015, Vancouver, BC. http://www.slideshare.net/virvine/video-conferencing-via-robots-needs-and-implications-of-access-by-cyber-proxy

Remote participant’s view

Irvine, V. 2015. Video Conferencing via Robots: Needs and Implications of Access by Cyber Proxy. BCNet Conference 2015, Vancouver, BC. http://www.slideshare.net/virvine/video-conferencing-via-robots-needs-and-implications-of-access-by-cyber-proxy

Faculty and student perspectives on using telepresence robots to support multiaccess

The argument against multiaccess• The technology to support this is costly and hard to setup

• It will a challenge facilitating both in person and distance learners

• This will have a negative impact on the sense of community in the classroom

• “The robot to me is an interesting idea. Part of my thinking is thinking about who are we, so it’s ontological but what essence or what physicality is different to me. It wouldn’t bother me, if I had 10 of those it still wouldn’t bother me, it’s just another way of being.”

• “I can just teach normally to them and to them the same way as this face-to-face student. I don’t see that being an issue. ”

• “I would love to try it as a student. I would love to try it as a teacher. As long as I have no responsibility for moving their screens around.”

Irvine, V. 2015. Video Conferencing via Robots: Needs and Implications of Access by Cyber Proxy. BCNet Conference 2015, Vancouver, BC. http://www.slideshare.net/virvine/video-conferencing-via-robots-needs-and-implications-of-access-by-cyber-proxy

Student feedback

Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/natematias/13871008314 Licensed with Creative Commons https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada License. To view a copy of this license, visit

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/ca/

Prepared by: Michael Paskevicius michael.paskevicus@gmail.com

Follow me: http://twitter.com/mpaskevi

Blog: http://wordpress.viu.ca/ciel/

Presentations: http://www.slideshare.net/mpaskevi

References • Bell, J., Sawaya, S., & Cain, W. (2014). Synchromodal classes: Designing

for shared learning experiences between face-to-face and online students. International Journal of Designs for Learning, 5(1).

• Herring, S. C. (2013). Telepresence robots for academics. Proceedings of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 50(1), 1-4.

• Irvine, V., Code, J., & Richards, L. (2013). Realigning higher education for the 21st-century learner through multi-access learning. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 9(2), 172-186.

Face to face Asynchronous text based

Video conferenced Multiaccess