For the last year and a half, the Teaching and Learning
with Technology (TLT) office at Pennsylvania State University, University Park,
has been piloting a program to explore ways to use robots in education. The
BeamPro Smart Presence System allows students to attend class without actually
being there.
The BeamPro technology is being used for a wide variety of projects, including bringing artists to
campus virtually, providing tours, connecting students with their academic advisers, and as
a summer outreach program in robotics. Another use envisioned for the robot is
allowing students to attend class while off campus because of an illness or
family emergency.
“There’s never been a technology that affords you this
kind of freedom, and I think it changes the way that we will eventually
collaborate or communicate over distances,” Chris Stubbs, manager of emerging
technology and media for TLT, said in an article for Penn State News.
The robot has two wide-angle cameras, microphones set
up to eliminate echo and reduce background noise, a 17-in. LCD screen, and
built-in speakers. Students use a computer application to remotely steer the
BeamPro robot to class and can even command the robot to take an elevator or go
to other buildings around campus, according to a report in Campus Technology. The
device can reach speeds of 2 mph and connects to the Internet through dual-band
radios or an optional 4G card.
“Lion
Ambassadors could conduct tours, career services could use it for mock
interviews with companies located anywhere, and foreign-language classes could
invite native-language speakers located internationally to engage in the
classroom. That’s just the beginning,” said Kate Morgan, director of virtual
education at Penn State Lehigh Valley.
“The future of interaction involves technology like the BeamPro and to
have the opportunity to expose our students to it as undergraduates is one more
way to prepare them for the millennial workplace.”
