If Korean children start speaking like robots in the future, it is the result of being taught by teachers who are instructing them from far distances via robot. Foreign English teachers are less willing to relocate to rural or isolated areas which prompted Korean schools to look for other ways to meet the growing demand of teachers.
The robot, named Engkey, will be controlled by the instructor so children will hear a human voice. It is able to roll around the classroom and also break out in song and dance in order to effectively teach while keeping the attention of young children.
Although the interaction is fairly good, it cannot be as effective as a human instructor at this time. However the Korean Institute of Science and Technology, the organization that developed the 'bot, aspires to create one that can mimic an English instructor; as a result, giving children the same experience they would have with a human teacher.
Daegu, a city that is a part of this 'teacher' transition, currently possesses 29 robots which it has distributed to 19 of its elementary schools. The goal for the nation of Korea is to introduce approximately 300 times the current amount by 2013.
Schools intend to use these robots for after-school programs as the robots are not able to handle large quantities of children at a single time. Due to the popularity of after-school programs, it is likely that all students will have some exposure to these robotic teachers.
