Driving Is Believing: Effects of Using Telepresence Robots to Access Makerspace for Teachers in Rural Areas

• In Event: Teacher Learning in the Virtual Classroom

Abstract

This quasi-experimental study explored two different ways for K-12 teachers to take virtual fieldtrips to access educational makerspace. Seventy-one K-12 teachers from the rural area of the Southeast USA were divided into an experimental group who drove telepresence robots for their fieldtrip, and the comparison group who watched the same trip through a recorded video. Analyses of the quantitative and qualitative data, collected through surveys and written reflection, showed that the virtual trips through telepresence robots significantly improved teachers’ embodiment, social presence, and engagement (i.e., cognition, emotion, behavior), and that the participants favored the experience of driving the robots for the virtual trips. Educational significance and implications are discussed.

Authors

• Ye Chen, University of West Georgia

• Li Cao, University of West Georgia

• Lin Guo