BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) – A robot sporting an Anderson Elementary School T-shirt has been rolling down the halls and visiting classes to aid teachers in educating students.
Three years ago, the school was identified as a focus school, meaning that some students weren’t making as much progress in reading as others, said Principal Andrew Brown.
“One of the things we did is implemented a reading intervention program where we partnered with a company called Lindamood-Bell and they provide a lot of professional development for teachers.”
The school received a grant and used the money to fund the program. For the first two years, a person from the company was at the school. This school year, the robot, named Lucky 3296, which is an iPad attached to a Segway, arrived as a way to save money since salary would not have to be paid to an on-site individual.
Therese Mayo, with Lindamood-Bell, said the robots allow the company to continue partnerships over multiple school years and to implement larger projects in more schools. Mayo drives the robot via a wireless connection and sees and communicates by using FaceTime. She visits classrooms and provides teachers with feedback on their methods, evaluates student progress and skills.