Implementing Robotic Telepresence in a Synchronous Hybrid Course

Abstract

Synchronous hybrid learning is a technology-rich approach to enacting comparable, shared, and collaborative learning experiences for face-to-face and online participants in real-time. The benefits of this approach are often realized through an iterative process of innovation, review, and revision. We present an instructive case in which we used robotic telepresence devices to bring greater individualization to online students in one particular synchronous hybrid course. Our goal was to see if increased individuation for online participants helped them feel more "present" with their face-to-face counterparts, and thereby foster rich interactions between the two groups. The context was a higher education course in which 12 robotic telepresence devices were used to build a synchronous hybrid learning models. This case presents how we came to use robotic telepresence devices in this course, what challenges we encountered, how we tried to solve those challenges, and the lessons we learned in the process. Of particular interest is the importance of pairing pedagogical strategies to the technologies that best suit them.