The Career and Technical Education Academy in Hutchinson, Kan., has hired a new teacher who may fit in perfectly at an institution with such a technological name. The Hutchinson News reports Nao, a robot teacher, has arrived mid-year at the high school but is already making a big impact.
The Hutchinson News visited Nao's classroom, where a reporter spoke with students, Nao and Steve Stacey, the robot's human coworker/caretaker. Students in the computer programming class were mainly sending typed messages to the robot, which would repeat them back seconds later. But Stacey told the paper that students can program the robot to do whatever they'd like, an asset he says will look great on résumés and will serve an an early introduction to advanced engineering before the kids head to college.
Nao was developed by the French startup company Aldebaran Robotics, which describes the robot as an autonomous and programmable humanoid. Aldebaran says Nao offers students interactive lessons; for example, rather than calculating the velocity of a hypothetical curve ball themselves, students can use Nao's help to apply the mathematical formula in a computer program.
In this March 21, 2013 photo, Steve Stacey, an instructor at Hutchinson, Kan., High School, watches the new robot 'Nao' go through a pre programmed dance at the school's Career and Technical Education Academy. 'Nao' was purchased with a grant worth more than $20,000 from Cargill Corporation. (AP Photo/The Hutchinson News, Sandra J. Milburn)
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