Social/dialogical roles of social robots in supporting children's learning of language and literacy-A review and analysis of innovative roles.

One of the many purposes for which social robots are designed is education, and there have been many attempts to systematize their potential in this field. What these attempts have in common is the recognition that learning can be supported in a variety of ways because a learner can be engaged in different activities that foster learning. Up to now, three roles have been proposed when designing these activities for robots: as a teacher or tutor, a learning peer, or a novice.

Do Shy Preschoolers Interact Differently When Learning Language With a Social Robot? An Analysis of Interactional Behavior and Word Learning.

Temperamental traits can decisively influence how children enter into social interaction with their environment. Yet, in the field of child-robot interaction, little is known about how individual differences such as shyness impact on how children interact with social robots in educational settings. The present study systematically assessed the temperament of 28 preschool children aged 4-5 years in order to investigate the role of shyness within a dyadic child-robot interaction.