Tablets and humanoid robots as engaging platforms for teaching languages

Educational use of mobile robots is among the most explored subtopics of Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), given the potential attention calling possibilities drawn by its novelty aspect. In educational environments is expected that social robots enhance learning, such as virtual agents that have been used. However, the real effect of applying a physical robot has not been well exploited. This paper presents an attention span comparison between a humanoid robot and a tablet during an English lecture. Analysis of recorded videos of the interactive sessions was performed to gather objective measurements about the experiment, and a questionnaire was applied to evaluate subjective perceptions of the children. Results have shown that the tablet performed better regarding attention, comprehension and learning perception, while the robot drew more interest.