Robots could be used in schools to take the place of children who cannot attend class in person in South Gloucestershire.
The local authority is considering the use of ‘telepresence’ robots to allow pupils whose special needs prevent them from physically being in school to interact with their classmates and teachers virtually from home.
Such robots sit in classrooms and perform a child’s commands at a distance during the day.
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They also translate what is happening, move, organise communication with the class and teachers, and even go with everyone for dinner, according to specialist publication Robotics Tomorrow.
The possibility of introducing the technology in local schools was raised by South Gloucestershire Council’s head of education, Hilary Smith, at a meeting of the local authority’s scrutiny commission on Wednesday, June 23.
Ms Smith said: “One thing that we are looking to do is...using robots for children who can’t be in classroom.
“[They] can use the robots sitting in the classroom and be logging on at home and actually speaking through the robot which is quite an interesting innovation.
“That’s something that we’d like to explore.”
The idea came amid a discussion about the use of technology by special schools to help children learn.
Ms Smith said online learning had “come an enormous way” in the past 12 months and some of what was being offered by schools was “really brilliant”.
“In terms of the education offer, then I would say that actually our special schools are very well equipped,” she said.
“I’m thinking of one [child] in particular, a little boy who really wanted to engage with learning but couldn’t, because of his particular needs, come in to school.
“However, he was able to [virtually] access the school every morning, meet with his classmates online, see them as they are in the class, engage fully in the curriculum and the activities that he could do that were possible to be delivered online and digitally.”
