Kingsland School offers robot avatars to pupils facing long-term absence due to extended treatment or complex mental health needs
The school’s Laurel Bank site in the ward of Shaw already specialises in serving children and young people who are ordinarily unable to attend mainstream settings due to medical needs. Now it is pioneering a novel approach to helping pupils who can’t attend class in-person on a long-term basis. The pupils are replaced by robots.
An AV1 robot with Phil Pye, the teacher with responsibility for online learning at Kingsland School’s Laurel Bank site in Oldham, photo courtesy of Oldham Council
Three AV1 telepresence robots developed by Norwegian communications equipment company No Isolation are available to sit in on classes, serving as the eyes, ears and voice of the pupil. In this way, the pupil can stay connected to classmates and maintaining social bonds and their sense of belonging, helping to mitigate the effects of long-term absence. Reintegration back into the class is also made easier.
Where the pupil might be – at home, hospital or some other site – they can see the class via the robot’s inbuilt camera. They can speak to the class through the robot’s speaker, adjusting the volume to address either the whole classroom or just a nearby classmate.
What’s more the pupil can control the AV1’s eyes to express one of four moods: happy, neutral, sad or confused. If the pupil wants to ask their teacher a question, they can make a light flash in the robot’s head.
Students are initially paired with robot stand-ins for six to eight weeks. An assessment is then made of ongoing needs and, if necessary, the robot continues to stand in for them.
The school reports a range a benefits – and surprising interactions – from using the robots. One pupil asked if her robot could join her friends at lunchtime, ensuring she didn’t miss out on chat.
Phil Pye, the teacher with responsibility for online learning and the AV1 initiative, says: ‘One of the students wasn’t attending because of a medical need. With the robot, her attendance is 99%. It wasn’t 100 per cent because of [a technical] glitch. With this particular child, it has worked really well and we are looking at her transition back to school in Year 10.’
Sal Qureshi, Head Teacher at Kingsland School’s Laurel Bank site, adds: ‘We are the only school in Oldham to have these [robots]. It’s revolutionary and you can see that with the impact on our students. [One student] wasn’t attending school at all and he wasn’t leaving the house. He finds it really anxiety-inducing to leave the house and started 100% on the AV1 robot. Now I’ve managed to get him to the library so he has some face-to-face tuition. We will aim to increase that because it’s always better than being at home.’
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