Robot-Aided Learning and r-Learning Services

摘要

Very recently, many researchers have shown much more interest in the pedagogical effects of educational service robots. Depending on the location of the knowledge framework of educational service robots, the robots are categorized into three types: autonomous, teleoperated, and convertible. Most of the current educational service robots inter-connect their knowledge framework with a web service. These types of robotic services are referred to as r-Learning, or robot-aided learning. In this study, r-Learning services are defined as the interaction between a learner and a robot that occurs for educational purposes. To date, the knowledge framework of educational service robots primarily consists of technology and subject contents with almost no pedagogical knowledge, making the teacher's pedagogical knowledge still important. Therefore, referring to it as r-Learning instead of R-Learning may be more appropriate until the day when there is unity between artificial intelligence and human intelligence, as forecast by Kurzweil (2005). Also, this study reviewed previous studies relating to r-Learning, and categorized them into r-Learning services according to the types of robots, their role, and so on. A literature review revealed that most of the existing r-Learning services utilize web-based contents as the information that robots provide. Many of them confirm that the use of robots can positively contribute to improving learners' motivation for learning, which has led to the commercialization of a teaching assistant robot.