Robots will be a regular sight in classrooms, says head

ROBOT CLASSROOM assistants and virtual reality learning are part of the future of education worldwide, headteachers have been told.

Technology is set to play a vital role in helping the 263 million children globally who are not in school, delegates at the annual Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference (HMC) heard.

Mark Steed, the director of Dubai private school JESS, predicted that robots could be used to teach maths and reading to primary school pupils. He said there was already an example in Dubai where a robot accompanied sick children from the classroom to the school’s health centre.

“I think they (robots) will become routine, particularly in primary classrooms, as teaching assistants,” he said.

Mr Steed, who outlined his vision at the HMC conference in Belfast, also said virtual reality (VR) headsets could enable a child in the developing world to sit in on a lesson delivered in a top independent school.

He said footage captured by a 360 degree camera placed in the second row of one of the classrooms at JESS provided a totally immersive experience when watched through a VR headset. “When you put a headset on you feel as if you are in a classroom and it’s a very different experience from the passive idea of watching a screen,” he said.

The HMC is a body which represents the heads of independent schools around the world.