May 12, 2009
School children in Japan have been the first to be taught by a robot developed by researchers at the Tokyo University of Science.
Ten-year-old pupils at Kudan Elementary school in the capital city were given a science lesson by the humanoid robot, called Saya, who is able to express six different types of emotion.
The aim of teaching with Saya is to show the children that science and technology can be fun.
Although the robot was not built to replace teachers, its creators said that it could become useful for areas with a shortage of education professionals.
Professor Hiroshi Kobayashi, of Tokyo University of Science, said: "In the countryside and in some small schools, there are children who do not have the opportunity to come into contact with new technology and also there are few teachers out there that can teach these lessons."
College lecturers in Sheffield recently won a grant to allow them to visit companies producing cutting-edge technology in order to pass the knowledge on to students, according to the South Yorkshire Star.
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