Robots as Reading Companions
The Background
Our partner – a primary school in a Glasgow suburb – was already running reading intervention sessions. In these sessions, primary school learners (aged 7-8) who needed additional support developing their reading skills, were able to read to dogs brought in by volunteers. However, it was hard to recruit the right kind of dog, with the right temperament to be a reading companion. The sessions required dogs who were trained for community therapy, which meant access to these busy companions was even more scarce. In the end, children who had pets were encouraged to read to them at home. But what about everyone else?
The idea for this project grew from seeking to provide an alternative "reading companion" for the school. A social robot is not a dog, but it can be programmed to emulate a particular temperament and level of attentiveness. A simple programmable robot can also give children the opportunity to hone their technology skills. The school’s Literacy Improvement Officer and Head Teacher welcomed the idea of a robot reading companion with much enthusiasm. That was the start of the journey for the project.
Because of the learning gap that the children experienced during the pandemic, we agreed with the school to work with slightly older (~9 year old) learners. The children who would take part were selected by the school based on their reading ability. Reading material was selected by class teachers and by the pupils themselves based on topics that they enjoyed.
The Robot
The Cozmo robot is produced by a company called Digital Dream Lab who took over from their original producer Anki. Digital Dream Lab used to specialise in educational video games before branching out to consumer robots. They have been working with teachers in the US to produce classroom packs with their robots, but those are mostly focused on STEM activities.
We decided to draw on the Cozmo teaching workbook as a basis for the activities using the Scratch programming facility on the Cozmo app. Cozmo comes with three cubes which enable the robot and the participants to interact with by tapping or moving. Cozmo is small enough to fit in the palm of one hand and can be used quite dynamically through the dedicated app via a tablet or mobile device through which it can be programmed.
How the project worked
We worked with two groups of children over a period of six weeks. In the first session, we used introductions, conversations, and drawing activities to explore what pupils believed about robots and their capabilities.
The next three sessions focussed on group reading, where pupils took turns reading their favourite book to their peers and to Cozmo. The robot was programmed to provide minimal cues to create a bond and attention simulation from Cozmo, without disturbing the child from the reading task. The learners showed great enthusiasm for reading to Cozmo, as well as curiosty about what Cozmo can do.
The final two sessions in the project included exploratory and coding exercises during which the pupils learned more about how Cozmo functions, as well as how to programme the robot to complete simple tasks.
Future plans
During this project, we have explored how the project might connect with schools in more deprived areas, which can sometimes stuggle to provide the time, space and resources to host such a project. In the next phase, we will explore we wanted the project viability in a community-based setting.
The Reading with Dogs project, which was our initial inspiration, also runs in local libraries around the UK. However, the pandemic meant we had limited access to local libraries; instead we approached an after school club serving multiple schools in the locality.
For this community-based phase, children will not be grouped by their age or reading ability, and there will be no teacher encouraging them to take part - unlike in the school setting where the educator’s guidance has been quite important. Participating children will be asked to bring a book from home to read to Cozmo. We expect this setting to provide an equally insightful understanding of how children enjoy reading to Cozmo and their peers.
Impact Aims
With this project, we are interested in capturing not only the impact and learning that happen over the course of the project, but also to develop an innovative literacy-STEM educational package that schools can use independently. Given the children’s curiosity, excitement, and high level of engagement, we are excited to take this project forward. We will be sharing further details about the project at our workshop: How can robots help improve educational outcomes? on 27th May 2022.
First published: 11 May 2022