MissingSchool was featured in an article from EBS News. To view the original article click here.
Australia is working to introduce innovative technologies into the education sector to ensure that students from diverse backgrounds can receive an equal education. One of these is the introduction of telepresence robots into Australian schools.
Telepresence robots have emerged for children who cannot attend school for long periods due to serious illness or injury. Thousands of children in Australia are able to interact with their school friends and live without going to school with the help of telepresence robots.
Robotic telepresence, which looks like an electronic tablet with wheels, creates an environment similar to a real classroom for sick students who have to take classes remotely from home or the hospital, unlike simple video conferencing tools like Zoom or Skype.
Students can control the telepresence robot remotely to listen to live lectures in the classroom, and can also move around the school and stream their location themselves, making it feel as if they were actually at the school.
Thanks to this robot, children are expected to be able to develop independence through close interaction and participation in social activities by seeing, hearing, and talking about the same things as their friends.
A 2016 study from the University of Illinois found that children ages 5 to 16 who had chronic illnesses that prevented them from attending school felt more confident in school after learning remotely via robots. They were able to participate actively in school activities even after long absences and were able to live without a significant gap with their classmates.
◆Studying while controlling a robot using an electronic device such as a laptop ©The Story Mill
The official name of the robotic telepresence service, developed in 2017 by the Australian non-profit organization MissingSchool with the help of the St. George Foundation, is ‘SEE-BE’, and it provides services to students across Australia from kindergarten to year 12.
MissingSchool co-founder Megan Gilmour’s son underwent a bone marrow transplant at age 10, which left him unable to continue his education for a long time. Gilmour, who experienced her son’s suffering alongside her, decided to establish MissingSchool to ensure that all children, regardless of their health status, have equal access to education.
Mr Gilmore said he wanted to show sick children that there was a positive future for them and to keep them involved in school activities so they wouldn’t be forgotten by their friends and teachers.
Since 2019, MissingSchool has been conducting a joint research project with the University of New South Wales and the University of Southern Queensland in Australia to explore the educational and social disadvantages faced by children who use these robots and how to overcome them.
“Around 60,000 children and young people in Australia miss school each year due to illness, some requiring long-term treatment or missing months or years of school due to lengthy recovery periods,” said Ms Ellis, the project’s lead researcher. “This prolonged absence from school can have implications not only for the learning ability of children with chronic illness, but also for their social and emotional development.”
The research team predicted that the introduction of technologies such as robots could shorten the distance between schools and children who must stay in hospitals or at home due to illness, and reduce or prevent the negative effects that can occur due to school absences.
Australia = Lee Ji-ye Global Reporter stjlove0324@hotmail.com
■ About the author
I worked at Yahoo! Korea
Master’s Program at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia
Master’s Program at Universidade Estadual Paulista, Brazil
Current Australian Korean Language School teacher
Author of ‘The Personalized Guide to Writing Money-Making E-Books’
