ACM TechNews

28 Colleges and High Schools to Use Personal Robots in Class

Chronicle of Higher Education (08/06/08) Vinas, Maria Jose

The Institute for Personal Robots in Education hopes to improve the basic computing skills of students by helping to fund the use of personal robots in 28 colleges and high schools across the country. They will share $250,000 and will receive their own book-sized, wheeled blue robot. Students will be able to program the robot, called Scribbler, to perform simple tasks. The institute also has developed the curricula, software and text for Scribbler. The Georgia Institute of Technology, Bryn Mawr College and Microsoft Research support the institute, which sees robotics as a way to boost interest in computer science and enrollment in programs at the undergraduate level, especially among women. Bryn Mawr says enrollment in upper-level computer science courses has more than quadrupled since the women's liberal-arts college started using Scribbler in the introductory course. Georgia Tech says students in robotics courses have a higher pass rate and express more interest in computers after taking the classes.

http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/
3224/28-colleges-and-high-schools-to-use-personal-robots-in-class

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