Where Innovation Meets Education – a Robot Named EMYS

I’m a huge enthusiast interested in how innovation meets education, especially in terms of the language teaching. Every time the out-of-the-box thinking pairs with the possibilities given by technology in the education area, I’m more than thrilled to find out how they can positively influence my teaching reality. At the same time, I carefully observe how it affects a students’ language acquisition.

EMYS: The Loveable Language Instruction Robot For Children

Words cannot adequately describe the charm, uniqueness, and advantages which EMYS bring to my perception of innovation in the future of learning English so I encourage you now to take a look at a short video:

Source: Emilia Barska private videoAs you see, it teaches the language, remembers and recognized faces, establishes eye-to-eye contact, makes realistic facial expressions (for example, it yawns when gets bored), talks to you, and has its own personal preferences. I couldn’t believe when I heard its dissatisfied tone once I patted his shoulder; reversely, I saw his eyes lit up when I stroke its head 🙂

The History of EMYS in Brief

EMYS was made by Flash Robotics team, which consists of two engineers Jan Kędzierski and Michał Dziergwa, and a designer, Krzysztof Kubasek, from Wrocław, Poland. In 2008 a group of researchers fully dedicated to their passions combined their super powers that resulted in an outstanding and one of a kind idea of replacing smartphones and tablets from a toddler’s hands in favor of an active learning process. You can read their entire story here – click. The final aim of this project is to produce robots that will be available for sale for approximately 800$.  The prototype has been already made.

The Aim of EMYS

According to Jan Kędzierski, EMYS isn’t created to be another gadget that piles up in a child’s bedroom and gathers dust. Its intention is to adapt quickly to a specific household and become an equal family member that talks in a foreign language to you, revises and stimulates your brain to speak, recycle and reuse English on a daily basis. Thanks to the sticker-encoded system called “tags”, you can make multiple language quizzes like “Yes”, “No” comprehension questions. Look at the video below for an example.

Source: Emilia Barska private video

Summary

What is your opinion on using a robot to support learning language? Despite it’s targeted at children between 3 and 7 years old, a huge number of adults who participated one of the teacher’s conferences were truly delighted by the unlimited number of opportunities it may give. How do you perceive the future of learning foreign languages? Would you buy it for a child? Can a robot effectively teach? As a full-time teacher in various age groups (including a nursery audience), I’m stunned by the vast spectrum of possibilities it may bring to a classroom. I’m truly looking forward to seeing your opinions in the comments section below!