Aspects of Using Telepresence Robot in a Higher Education STEAM Workshop

Abstract

Telepresence robots (TPRs) are becoming increasingly popular in education as they support social presence (an important component of human communication) of teachers and students. This paper presents the results of a study that explored the challenges of using a telepresence robot in a higher education STEAM workshop through the eyes of a teacher, telepresence robot mediated persons and physically present students. We identified crucial aspects that need to be addressed when involving telepresence robots in the hybrid teaching and learning process. The perspectives of using TPRs were mostly positive. However, technical support and changes in classroom practices are needed for successful use of TPRs in the teaching and learning process. Although TPRs enable greater social presence, the technology is still novel and its successful implementation requires more research, focusing on applying effective pedagogical design principles and adapting the environment accordingly to the conditions necessary for the successful operation of the TPRs. The TPR’s passenger option did not yield positive results in our research. This caused the participants to become detached from what was happening in the classroom, feel unable to control the situation, and supported social presence even less than using teleconference-based distance learning methods.