The last years, innovation and technologies are spreading around the world within the fields. One of the latest innovations is the robot teacher. Is this is a good idea, or not? At first, the idea of having a robot teacher sounds compelling to students and parents, but there are some considerations that are placed.
Some of the reasons that robot teachers can replace human teachers are:
- Cost-effective, the robot does not require a pay, healthcare package, pension, and so on.
- Robot teacher can perform the same tasks as the human with preciseness, except the technical error.
- Robot teacher does not show emotions, so in the case of an issue with some of the pupils, they can react in the best way that the situation will be handled appropriately.
Some of the reasons that the robot teacher cannot replace human teacher are:
- The human teacher might need to be paid, but the fact that before getting a robot for the school you need to pay for it and the price is not a small amount of money.
- A human teacher prepares every day in order to perform their tasks. Also, the teacher is looking after the students in the class, following their progress, spotting the difficulties. It is known that artificial intelligence can carry out these tasks as well, but there are always some limitations. For instance, the robot’s approach to every student could be the same. On the other hand, the teacher is able to make a difference between the students and dealing with them accordingly. Besides, the profession is recognisable, because we are where we are because of our teachers.
- The role of a teacher is not to teach, it is about interactions and relations. Humans like to learn in groups and they like to learn from other people. Robots will never be able to match humans on that count. Another factor that is likely to be irreplaceable: the ability to inspire. Teaching facts and theories is one thing, relating the things you teach to everyday life is quite another. Teachers are not in the school only to present the material and then disappear, they are there to answer questions. Besides, some of the questions from students are so complex that not every time can be answered by a human, but what about a robot.
The compromise option is combining both methods – robot and human teaching. This ensures that students will receive the best possible education and will not experience a lack of opportunity for better education.