Going to School Via Robot

Guest: Veronica Newhart, Graduate Student, School of Education at the University of California, Irvine These days, school is much more than sitting in class, listening quietly and doing worksheets. There tends to be a lot of interaction: working in groups; moving to different centers; having classroom discussion. Which makes missing school that much harder for children with chronic illness or cancer who may sometimes be absent for many months. Teachers can send home reading material and workbooks; parents can hire tutors; but nothing can really compensate for not being in the classroom.  But have you seen these robots that are kind of like an iPad on wheels where you can Facetime or Skype through it using remote control? Some schools are beginning to experiment with them as a way to get homebound students into the classroom virtually, and researcher Veronica Newhart says they’re showing real promise.