Fighting the reading crisis with a reading robot

 

The Robot Bookworm helps pupils find a suitable book that they can read independently. The robot has weekly conversations with the children about the reading process and the content of the book. The questions the robot asks are adapted to the content of the book and the interests and reading level of the pupil. 

 

 

The reading robot is a project of the Network Institute, the interdisciplinary research hub of VU Amsterdam. Mike Ligthart (Social AI), Lisa van der Sander (Pedagogical and Educational Sciences) and Nina Sangers (Language, Literature and Communication) are involved as researchers. They expect that the personalized approach will promote pupils’ reading motivation and ultimately their reading comprehension. 

 

 

In the first phase of the project, the scientists will talk to students, teachers and library staff to map out the ideas and wishes about the use of reading robots at school. They also investigate the technical possibilities to personalize the interaction between child and robot. In the spring of 2024, participating primary school students will have the weekly conversations about their reading book with the robot, during which reading comprehension and reading motivation will be monitored. 

 

 

Artificial Intelligence scientist Ligthart has been researching the development of sustainable and inclusive child-robot interactions for some time. He specifically focuses on the question of how a robot can maintain a relationship with a child through a narrative conversation. Earlier this year he showed that children's arithmetic performance improved with the help of Hero, the math robot.