A Robot In Every Korean Kindergarten By 2013?

kkleiner writes "Elementary school children in Korea in the cities of Masan and Daegu are among the first to be exposed to EngKey, a robotic teacher. The arrival of EngKey to Masan and Daegu is just a small step in the mechanization of Korean classrooms: the Education Ministry wants all 8400 kindergartens in the nation to have robotic instructors by the end of 2013. Plans are already under way to place 830 bots in preschools by year's end. EngKey can hold scripted conversations with students to help them improve their language skills, or a modified version can act as a telepresence tool to allow distant teachers to interact with children."

Comments

This can happen only in Korea

[arivanov]

Have you seen a Korean child? Think of a ragdoll cat. You put it somewhere (with books and toys in hand) and you can safely come back a couple of hours later. It will be there and you will not hear a squeak in the meantime. I have no idea how they do it and I am not sure if I should admire it or get shivers from it.

In any case, a robot will not survive 15 minutes in a classroom with average European (or american for that matter) kids. I know what my daughter will do. If she cannot get her hands on a screwdriver she will craft herself a replacement out of whatever she can find and start disassembling the thing until she has figured out what makes it tick or it is so dead that she will lose interest. That is probably still better than the reaction of her brother who would simply use it for target practice.

Re:This can happen only in Korea

[Sycraft-fu]

Neil DeGrasse Tyson had a great bit on this, which I cannot find right now, where he encourages parents to let their kids take things apart, let them learn. He argues that kids are born scientists. They don't believe in shit like horoscopes and they want to experiment on their world, their surroundings. So he says that when kids want to take something apart, and it is dangerous/expensive/etc, let them, let the experiment run its course. Let them keep and nurture that natural curiosity that is so key to being a scientist.

I think too many people who see only the superficial level idealize the Asian education/cultural systems because they see the children as being so much more quiet and respectful, and they think that is good. Ok, maybe so, but at what cost? For the last 15-20 years Japan has been having a major crisis in their educational system that they aren't producing creative thinkers. They produce conformity very well and this comes at the cost of creativity. They've been working to rectify it, but it is hard since (as we know) changing an educational system isn't easy and there's cultural issues here too.

We've not found the perfect way to raise kids yet, and probably never will, humans are complex. However you need to look carefully at the pros and cons of various things before jumping on them as being The One True Way(tm). So Korea has an effective way to teaching kids to be very quiet and behaved. Ok, great, at what cost and using what methods? If you can't answer that, then you really aren't in a position to say it is a good way of doing thing.

I have to agree with Dr. Tyson: The innate curiosity children have is important, and should be encouraged. Wondering about the world and trying to learn is how we've gotten to where we are. Sitting down and being content with what you are given gets us nowhere.

Re:This can happen only in Korea

[Anonymous Coward]

Being married to a Korean woman, and having lived and visited South Korea many times, I can speak with some authority. Pretty much everyone you will meet in South Korea is "quiet and respectful". Part of their culture is being respectful to others. If you act like a lout and a buffoon over there, you will soon be shunned by _everyone_. Your actions have a social consequence, something that is sadly lacking in many western countries.

Another thing is that almost everyone you meet has been educated to a high level. Even the workers in fast food restaurants tend to have degrees. A consequence of this high level of education is that you _have_ to study hard as a child and get qualifications just to survive. Another consequence of this high level of general education is that people are more refined in their manners and actions towards others.

Laziness is abhorrent to Koreans. It's not tolerated. They have a strong work ethic, which may seem like anathema to the Western World, but it produces far more capable and responsible people.

Re:This can happen only in Korea

[damburger]

Would your children disassemble a cat?

I have a 12 week old kitten, recently visited by three small children (aged 5, 3 and 6 months). The 3 and 5 year old were very gentle with her and could basically play with her unsupervised (and did so at several points). These were not unusually well behaved British children.

You don't have to pass the Turing test; you just have to get your robot to simulate as much agency and intention as a small animal and they won't destroy it on purpose. Children raised properly aren't mindlessly destructive.