A robot teacher?

File under dead-end educational technologies. It's cute, but there's no way that robots like this one will be an effective way to teach kids anytime soon. Check the video below, which shows the robot "Saya" reading a prerecorded text (why not show them a video?) right before the kids come up and poke and fiddle with its face.

The SFGate article claims Saya will have some ability to scold misbehaving kids and take roll call. Regardless, I can only imagine the mischief that would result if this were tried in most normal classrooms.

For the past two or three decades, there's been a regular stream of stories about prototype Japanese robots delivering the mail, bringing medicines to sick people, serving as pets, etc. Despite the breathless pronouncements from journalists about such robots becoming commonplace in a few years, Nothing ever seems to come from the experiments -- they're too expensive, the AI is limited, and certain technologies (especially visual and speech recognition) aren't ready for prime time.

On the other hand, if educators are looking for ways to engage young children, there are plenty of options, ranging from other types of technologies (video, software, online, and even 3D games) to old-school concepts such as storytelling and time capsules.

Disclosures: I am a board member of Immersive Education, which seeks to promote the use of virtual worlds in online education. I am also a personal friend of the owner of Heritage Time Capsules.

IDG layoffs

There was some tough news for IDG this week. Folio has the story:

Boston-based technology publisher IDG has restructured its b-to-b media division, grouping brands like CIO, Computerworld, InfoWorld, Network World, CSO, IT World and Industry Standard into one business unit.

As a result of the consolidation, 8 percent of IDG’s U.S. staff has been eliminated. An IDG spokesperson declined to say exactly how many employees were let go.

Generally speaking, the media industry has been in a state of ongoing disruption for years, thanks to Internet-driven advertising and audience trends. But the recession has been absolutely brutal on publications and the people who work for them. Many advertisers are cutting spending, and there're just not enough marketing dollars or paying subscribers to go around. Newspapers are reeling, and even specialist publications (such as Portfolio) are closing.

I believe the situation will turn around within a year, as the economy comes out of the recession and advertising dollars return. There will certainly be opportunities for publishers to rebuild and new ventures to rise out of the ashes, and for new jobs to open up. In other words, I am optimistic about the long-term prospects ... but getting over the short-term pain will be hard.