Classroom robots stand in for children too ill to go to school

Give us your feedback Thank you for your feedback. In classrooms around the world, teachers are starting to use robots to enhance learning experiences. In the United Kingdom, for example, Priors Court school for children and young adults with autism has been using an interactive humanoid robot, named Steve, to help pupils develop their social skills. With no facial expressions or tone in its voice, many of the severely autistic children are able to interact with the robot more easily than a human teacher. "It can engage children with communication problems, providing a tool for teachers to reach these children in a way that was not previously possible," says Carl Clement, founder of Emotion Robotics, the technology company that programmed the robot.