Robot teachers

Robot teachers

Read an article about robot teachers to practise and improve your reading skills.

Do the preparation task first. Then read the text and do the exercises.

Preparation

Reading text

If you think of the jobs robots could never do, you would probably put doctors and teachers at the top of the list. It's easy to imagine robot cleaners and factory workers, but some jobs need human connection and creativity. But are we underestimating what robots can do? In some cases, they already perform better than doctors at diagnosing illness. Also, some patients might feel more comfortable sharing personal information with a machine than a person. Could there be a place for robots in education after all?

British education expert Anthony Seldon thinks so. And he even has a date for the robot takeover of the classroom: 2027. He predicts robots will do the main job of transferring information and teachers will be like assistants. Intelligent robots will read students' faces, movements and maybe even brain signals. Then they will adapt the information to each student. It's not a popular opinion and it's unlikely robots will ever have empathy and the ability to really connect with humans like another human can.

One thing is certain, though. A robot teacher is better than no teacher at all. In some parts of the world, there aren't enough teachers and 9–16 per cent of children under the age of 14 don't go to school. That problem could be partly solved by robots because they can teach anywhere and won't get stressed, or tired, or move somewhere for an easier, higher-paid job.

Those negative aspects of teaching are something everyone agrees on. Teachers all over the world are leaving because it is a difficult job and they feel overworked. Perhaps the question is not 'Will robots replace teachers?' but 'How can robots help teachers?' Office workers can use software to do things like organise and answer emails, arrange meetings and update calendars. Teachers waste a lot of time doing non-teaching work, including more than 11 hours a week marking homework. If robots could cut the time teachers spend marking homework and writing reports, teachers would have more time and energy for the parts of the job humans do best.

Task 1

Task 2

Discussion

Download

Language level

Average: 4.1 (129 votes)

Submitted by Muhammad Bagir on Wed, 20/05/2020 - 05:03

Permalink
It will be a good idea, you know, robot can make a calculating and decision just less than a second. They can help teacher in quantitative thing. It can save many times, so teacher can explorize their skill or learn new method in teaching.

Submitted by Daudau0601 on Tue, 21/04/2020 - 03:37

Permalink
Yes, i really like this idea. Because it has many useful things, Robot will become a great assistant for teacher and student. If you don't understand anything of lesson, you can ask it whenever you need and it will explain to you which help you learn more effective
Profile picture for user JuanManuelLopezGil

Submitted by JuanManuelLopezGil on Tue, 21/04/2020 - 01:13

Permalink
Yeah, because a robot can repeat me everything the times that I want. For example, I learn better grammar here that in a traditional class with a human teacher. But, "the speaking class" is most effective in traditional style.

Submitted by fathibba34 on Mon, 13/04/2020 - 19:02

Permalink
I think its a good idea bu tfor me robots will never replace humain teachers, because robots as the proverb say " the machine is stupid and discipline"

Submitted by jazmin marquez on Tue, 24/03/2020 - 18:58

Permalink
Well I think teachers are not the problem. I am a teacher and I think we could be better if we had more time and more education. Of course, robots will not stress, nor tire, and they would not claim for better pay. But thinking about it, if in many countries it is really difficult for all students to have a computer or a cell phone, or even to go to school, what are the chances that the most vulnerable populations will have a robot in the classroom? I think we don't have enough resources for this, at least for now.

Submitted by Julian183 on Thu, 19/03/2020 - 09:37

Permalink
Surely. The teachers are not to be replaced. Roboters can only work as assisstent.

Submitted by LucaCoglia on Thu, 05/03/2020 - 17:23

Permalink
Yes. I like have a robot teacher because i love technology

Submitted by shahhoseini on Sat, 29/02/2020 - 16:50

Permalink
Robots are capable of education only in some subjects. For example, these can be used to language learning but they unable to teach mathematics that needs creativity and intelligence.
Profile picture for user Ditsy

Submitted by Ditsy on Mon, 24/02/2020 - 11:43

Permalink
yes, of course. i think, that robot could be a great teacher. ecpeccially, if needs make testing or give information.

Submitted by huyentran on Mon, 17/02/2020 - 01:20

Permalink
I think with my finances right now, having a robot is a difficult thing but it would be great if I had a robot. You know, not only teachers, students also need an assistant. They need a robot to help them learn the right way. Robots can explain every problem so students understand and learn faster. In addition, students have their stress, so sometimes they need something that can help them relax and change their minds to be more positive.