Da Daily Dank

An
English-teaching robot (R), “Engkey”, stands in front of
children at an elementary school in Daegu, southeast of Seoul. The 29
robots, about one metre (3.3 feet) high with a TV display panel for a
face, wheeled around the classroom while speaking to the students,
reading books to them and dancing to music by moving their head and
arms. (AFP/Ho/Daegu Metropolitan Office)





Almost 30 robots have started teaching English to youngsters in a South
Korean city, education officials said Tuesday, in a pilot project
designed to nurture the nascent robot industry.



Engkey, a white, egg-shaped robot developed by the Korea Institute of
Science of Technology (KIST), began taking classes Monday at 21
elementary schools in the southeastern city of Daegu.



The 29 robots, about one metre (3.3 feet) high with a TV display panel
for a face, wheeled around the classroom while speaking to the
students, reading books to them and dancing to music by moving their
head and arms.



The robots, which display an avatar face of a Caucasian woman, are
controlled remotely by teachers of English in the Philippines —
who can see and hear the children via a remote control system.



Cameras detect the Filipino teachers’ facial expressions and
instantly reflect them on the avatar’s face, said Sagong
Seong-Dae, a senior scientist at KIST.



“Well-educated, experienced Filipino teachers are far cheaper
than their counterparts elsewhere, including South Korea,” he
told AFP.



Apart from reading books, the robots use pre-programmed software to sing songs and play alphabet games with the children.



“The kids seemed to love it since the robots look, well, cute and
interesting. But some adults also expressed interest, saying they may
feel less nervous talking to robots than a real person,” said Kim
Mi-Young, an official at Daegu city education office.



Kim said some may be sent to remote rural areas of South Korea shunned by foreign English teachers.



She said the robots are still being tested. But officials might
consider hiring them full time if scientists upgrade them and make them
easier to handle and more affordable.



“Having robots in the classroom makes the students more active in
participating, especially shy ones afraid of speaking out to human
teachers,” Kim said.



She stressed the experiment was not about replacing human teachers with
robots. “We are helping upgrade a key, strategic industry and all
the while giving children more interest in what they learn.”



The four-month pilot programme was sponsored by the government, which invested 1.58 billion won (1.37 million dollars).



Scientists have held pilot programmes in schools since 2009 to develop
robots to teach English, maths, science and other subjects at different
levels with a desired price tag of five to eight million won.



Sagong stressed that the robots, which currently cost 10 million won
each, largely back up human teachers but would eventually have a bigger
role.



The machines can be an efficient tool to hone language skills for many
people who feel nervous about conversing with flesh-and-blood
foreigners, he said.



“Plus, they won’t complain about health insurance, sick
leave and severance package, or leave in three months for a
better-paying job in Japan… all you need is a repair and upgrade
every once in a while.”