Toy, Tutor, Peer, or Pet?

Abstract

Research focused upon Child-Robot Interaction shows that robots in the classroom can support diverse learning goals amongst pre-school children. However, studies with children and robots in the Global South are currently limited. To address this gap, we conducted a study with children aged 4-8 years at a community school in New Delhi, India, to understand their interaction and experiences with a social robot. The children were asked to teach the English alphabet to a Cozmo robot using flash cards. Preliminary findings suggest that the children orient to the robot in a variety of ways including as a toy or pet. These orientations need to be explored further within the context of the Global South.