[ti:Educational Technology: Not Just Computers]
[ar:Steve Ember]
[al:Education Report]
[by:www.21voa.com]
[00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English 
[00:02.89]Education Report.
[00:04.70]A question from the West Bank: 
[00:06.89]Zuheir Khlaif wants to know 
[00:09.22]how American schools 
[00:11.00]use educational technology.
[00:13.77]There is not a simple answer. 
[00:16.07]It depends on the subject 
[00:18.29]and level of students, of course. 
[00:20.79]But it also depends on the interest 
[00:23.65]and training of the teachers, 
[00:26.74]and the goals and budgets of the schools.
[00:30.71]Schools are almost all 
[00:32.88]connected to the Internet. 
[00:35.26]But some have more technology, 
[00:37.58]and use it more, than others. 
[00:40.56]For example, some schools 
[00:42.88]use computers for activities 
[00:45.24]like video conferencing, 
[00:47.38]to bring the world 
[00:48.60]into the classroom.
[00:50.44]And some classrooms 
[00:52.38]are equipped with things 
[00:54.11]like a Smart Board,
[00:55.81]a kind of interactive whiteboard. 
[00:58.91]Interactive whiteboards 
[01:01.09]are large displays 
[01:02.73]for presentations. 
[01:04.65]They connect to a computer 
[01:06.61]and can operate by touch. 
[01:09.59]They can be used for documents 
[01:12.28]or writing or to project video.
[01:15.95]Some teachers are trying 
[01:18.26]creative new ways to teach 
[01:20.79]with devices like iPods 
[01:23.28]and mobile phones. 
[01:25.27]But educators say 
[01:27.11]the most important thing, 
[01:29.00]as always, is the content.
[01:31.93]Yet technology can have 
[01:34.84]special importance in some cases. 
[01:37.24]Cosmobot is a therapy robot. 
[01:41.46]It stands about half a meter tall 
[01:44.32]and has a blue body 
[01:46.15]and a friendly face 
[01:48.02]with big eyes.
[01:49.80]One child who works with 
[01:52.31]it is six-year-old Kevin Fitzgerald. 
[01:55.46]Kevin has developmental dyspraxia; 
[01:59.12]he has difficulty moving 
[02:00.97]his mouth and tongue.
[02:03.23]He works with Carole Semango-Sprouse 
[02:06.55]as he interacts with the Cosmobot 
[02:09.65]during therapy for his condition. 
[02:12.35]Here, he uses a set of buttons
[02:15.11]attached to a computer 
[02:16.71]to make the silent robot 
[02:19.29]move forward, backward 
[02:21.59]or around in circles.
[02:23.89]CAROLE SEMANGO-SPROUSE: "Say come!"
[02:25.13]KEVIN: "Om here ..."
[02:25.87]CAROLE SEMANGO-SPROUSE: "Good boy. 
[02:26.91]Call him again! Come here!"
[02:28.41]KEVIN: "Om ere ... "
[02:29.24]CAROLE SEMANGO-SPROUSE: "Perfect! 
[02:30.47]Say it again, Kev! Come here."
[02:32.24]KEVIN: "Om ere."
[02:33.63]CAROLE SEMANGO-SPROUSE: "Good boy. 
[02:34.61]That's beautiful."
[02:36.41]Kevin's mother thinks the robot 
[02:39.01]has had a calming influence, 
[02:41.12]helping her son get along 
[02:42.95]better with his friends.
[02:44.59]Cosmobot was developed 
[02:46.96]by AnthroTronix. 
[02:48.98]Corinna Lathan started 
[02:50.94]the company ten years ago 
[02:53.01]to work with children 
[02:54.68]with cerebral palsy, 
[02:56.70]Down's syndrome, autism 
[02:59.25]and other developmental disabilities.
[03:02.23]Children become friends 
[03:04.38]with the robot, she says. 
[03:06.32]That can have a big effect 
[03:09.22]on their behavior, helping them 
[03:11.21]work harder and longer 
[03:13.41]in therapy sessions.
[03:15.43]Corinna Lathan is currently 
[03:18.54]working with a British company 
[03:20.52]to develop other socially 
[03:22.93]assistive robots. 
[03:24.71]She says they are still 
[03:26.81]considered research tools
[03:29.03] in the United States, 
[03:30.45]and not used as much as in places 
[03:33.63]like Britain and Japan. 
[03:36.34]But she hopes to change that.
[03:38.28]And that's the VOA Special English 
[03:42.29]Education Report, 
[03:44.03]written by Nancy Steinbach 
[03:46.37]with Julie Taboh. 
[03:47.85]Transcripts and podcasts 
[03:49.88]are at 51voa.com. 
[03:53.99]I'm Steve Ember.