Mini-computer goes to school for sick people

Created: 01/03/2022, 09:04 AM

From: Ulrike Osman

Thanks to a placeholder, Sonja Mitropoulos' sick pupil can remain part of the class.

© Peter Weber

Too sick for the classroom and still there for class - a mini-robot makes it possible.

Maisach - A pupil at the Orlando-di-Lasso-Realschule Maisach has the digital tool at her disposal so that she does not miss too much material during her sick leave.

But more importantly, thanks to the so-called avatar, she remains part of the class community.

During the last school year, the student had to go to hospital for long periods of time.

Then the avatar stood in its place as a placeholder - a small white bust with a head, shoulders and eyes.

The robot is built with a camera, microphone and loudspeaker.

With the help of a tablet computer, the girl was able to turn the avatar's head from the clinic or from home and follow everything that was happening in the classroom through his eyes.

Voice from the loudspeaker

The student could even report - then a red light shone on the white plastic bust. When she was called, her voice came from the loudspeaker of the avatar in the classroom. The classmates were fascinated by the device. “The children were always the first to notice when the pupil was online,” says Sonja Mitropoulos and laughs. She is the girl's former class teacher. And she's proud of how well the other kids reacted to the robot in their ranks. "Everyone was happy to volunteer with the avatar, for example taking him to the specialist rooms."

When worksheets were handed out, a classmate took the device to her place and let the sick classmate read along.

If there was something on the board that the pupil could hardly see, there was always someone who could put the avatar in a favorable position.

The sick girl was also able to participate in group work in this way.

Just write homework - that wasn't possible.

But that didn't matter either.

“Participation in normal school life was the main concern in this situation.

That did the student good, ”says Sonja Mitropoulos.

Of course, it is not the same as if the child were sitting in the class in person, "but it feels a bit like that".

The avatar was even allowed to take the break, just not outside.

Window into the world

The device was made available to the student by the clinic where she is being treated for her serious illness.

When she lay there in bed, attached to infusion tubes, the avatar was like a window into the everyday world.

In order for the device to be able to be used, the parents of all classmates had to agree to the live transmission of the pictures from the class for data protection reasons.

"Getting the consent was not a problem," says Sonja Mitropoulos.

"The pictures only went to this one student, and it was clear to everyone that the whole thing had a serious background."

This is how teaching works with the help of an avatar

Most people probably only know the term avatar from films or computer games.

But the computers, which act as representatives of a real person in the computer world, can also provide valuable help in real everyday life.

For example, it is possible for a mini-computer in the stylized form of a human head and opera body to represent a sick child in school.

The avatar lends his Schützlich eyes and ears, so to speak, and speaks for him in class via loudspeakers.

With the placeholder, chronically ill boys and girls do not miss so much learning material.

And contact with classmates is maintained in a certain way, at least virtually.

Avatars are still very rare in class.

One was used in Maisach.