Halbach, T.; Schulz, T.; Leister, W.; Solheim, I. Robot-Enhanced Language Learning for Children in Norwegian Day-Care Centers. Multimodal Technol. Interact.2021, 5, 74.
Halbach, T.; Schulz, T.; Leister, W.; Solheim, I. Robot-Enhanced Language Learning for Children in Norwegian Day-Care Centers. Multimodal Technol. Interact. 2021, 5, 74.
Halbach, T.; Schulz, T.; Leister, W.; Solheim, I. Robot-Enhanced Language Learning for Children in Norwegian Day-Care Centers. Multimodal Technol. Interact.2021, 5, 74.
Halbach, T.; Schulz, T.; Leister, W.; Solheim, I. Robot-Enhanced Language Learning for Children in Norwegian Day-Care Centers. Multimodal Technol. Interact. 2021, 5, 74.
Abstract
We transformed the existing learning program Language Shower, which is used in some Norwegian day-care centers in the Grorud district of Oslo municipality, into a digital solution using an app for smartphone or tablet with the option for further enhancement of presentation by a NAO robot. The solution was tested in several iterations and multiple day-care centers over several weeks. Measurements of the children’s progress across learning sessions indicate a positive impact of the program using a robot as compared to the program without robot. In-situ observations and interviews with day care center staff confirmed the solution’s many advantages, but also revealed some important areas for improvement. In particular, the speech recognition needs to be more flexible and robust, and special measures have to be in place to handle children speaking simultaneously.
Keywords
Social robot; mobile app; e-learning; language education; kindergarden, pre-school
Subject
Computer Science and Mathematics, Robotics
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
