Telepresence Robots: A Phenomenological Study of Perceptions of Graduate Students and Professors

Abstract

The purpose of this phenomenological case study was to capture the perceptions of telepresence learning from three different perspectives: the graduate student using the telepresence robot, the graduate students in the physical learning environment with one of their peers utilizing the telepresence robot, and the instructor teaching in the learning environment where a telepresence robot is being utilized. Keywords: telepresence robots, social presence, physical presence, recruitment, retention INTRODUCTION Telepresence robots are being used in education to provide access to students who available yet cannot be physically present in the room with their peers (Herring et al., 2016;Zhang et al., 2018). Purpose of the Study The purpose of this research study was to capture the perceptions of telepresence learning from three different perspectives: the graduate student using the telepresence robot, the graduate students in the physical learning environment with one of their peers utilizing the telepresence robot, and the instructor teaching in the learning environment where a telepresence robot is being utilized. Understanding these themes or trends may help inform professors how to better utilize telepresence robots in their higher education courses, and, in turn, increase access to the classroom and equitable time in the classroom for educators taking graduate level courses. [...]when access and equity are provided for these educators, such modeling may influence them to consider using telepresence robots in their classrooms.