VRobotator: A Virtual Robot Facilitator of Small Group Discussions for K-12

Elinor Mizrahi; Noa Danzig; Goren Gordon

doi:10.1145/3555573

VRobotator: A Virtual Robot Facilitator of Small Group Discussions for K-12

Elinor Mizrahi, Noa Danzig, Goren Gordon

Department of Industrial Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has stressed the importance of efficient and accommodating online educational experiences. In this contribution, we present a novel system for the facilitation of small group online discussions using an avatar during video conferencing. The avatar was programmed with group facilitation best practices, whereas the content for the activities was prepared by the classes' teachers. Groups of tenth grade students interacted with the system, where we compared activities facilitated by the avatar with activities without facilitation. Our results show that students reported the activity with the avatar to be significantly more efficient, more understandable and inducing more participation compared to activities without avatar facilitation. Students also spoke significantly more with avatar facilitation. This system shows promise in future online educational activities as a facilitator of discussions with K-12 students.

Original language	English
Article number	472
Journal	Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction
Volume	6
Issue number	CSCW2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3555573
State	Published - 11 Nov 2022

Keywords

facilitation
group activity
video conference
virtual agent

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10.1145/3555573

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abstract = "The COVID-19 pandemic has stressed the importance of efficient and accommodating online educational experiences. In this contribution, we present a novel system for the facilitation of small group online discussions using an avatar during video conferencing. The avatar was programmed with group facilitation best practices, whereas the content for the activities was prepared by the classes' teachers. Groups of tenth grade students interacted with the system, where we compared activities facilitated by the avatar with activities without facilitation. Our results show that students reported the activity with the avatar to be significantly more efficient, more understandable and inducing more participation compared to activities without avatar facilitation. Students also spoke significantly more with avatar facilitation. This system shows promise in future online educational activities as a facilitator of discussions with K-12 students.",

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VRobotator: A Virtual Robot Facilitator of Small Group Discussions for K-12

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Keywords

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