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CelluloTactix: Towards Empowering Collaborative Online Learning through Tangible Haptic Interaction with Cellulo Robots

Hasaru Kariyawasam, Wafa Johal

TL;DR

A novel way to engage students in collaborative online learning by using haptic-enabled tangible robots, Cellulo, and introduces a novel system that can provide interesting insights on how to integrate haptic feedback into collaborative remote learning activities in future.

Abstract

Online learning has soared in popularity in the educational landscape of COVID-19 and carries the benefits of increased flexibility and access to far-away training resources. However, it also restricts communication between peers and teachers, limits physical interactions and confines learning to the computer screen and keyboard. In this project, we designed a novel way to engage students in collaborative online learning by using haptic-enabled tangible robots, Cellulo. We built a library which connects two robots remotely for a learning activity based around the structure of a biological cell. To discover how separate modes of haptic feedback might differentially affect collaboration, two modes of haptic force-feedback were implemented (haptic co-location and haptic consensus). With a case study, we found that the haptic co-location mode seemed to stimulate collectivist behaviour to a greater extent than the haptic consensus mode, which was associated with individualism and less interaction. While the haptic co-location mode seemed to encourage information pooling, participants using the haptic consensus mode tended to focus more on technical co-ordination. This work introduces a novel system that can provide interesting insights on how to integrate haptic feedback into collaborative remote learning activities in future.

CelluloTactix: Towards Empowering Collaborative Online Learning through Tangible Haptic Interaction with Cellulo Robots

TL;DR

A novel way to engage students in collaborative online learning by using haptic-enabled tangible robots, Cellulo, and introduces a novel system that can provide interesting insights on how to integrate haptic feedback into collaborative remote learning activities in future.

Abstract

Online learning has soared in popularity in the educational landscape of COVID-19 and carries the benefits of increased flexibility and access to far-away training resources. However, it also restricts communication between peers and teachers, limits physical interactions and confines learning to the computer screen and keyboard. In this project, we designed a novel way to engage students in collaborative online learning by using haptic-enabled tangible robots, Cellulo. We built a library which connects two robots remotely for a learning activity based around the structure of a biological cell. To discover how separate modes of haptic feedback might differentially affect collaboration, two modes of haptic force-feedback were implemented (haptic co-location and haptic consensus). With a case study, we found that the haptic co-location mode seemed to stimulate collectivist behaviour to a greater extent than the haptic consensus mode, which was associated with individualism and less interaction. While the haptic co-location mode seemed to encourage information pooling, participants using the haptic consensus mode tended to focus more on technical co-ordination. This work introduces a novel system that can provide interesting insights on how to integrate haptic feedback into collaborative remote learning activities in future.
Paper Structure (14 sections, 5 figures)

This paper contains 14 sections, 5 figures.

Table of Contents

  1. Abstract
  2. Introduction
  3. Related Works
  4. Learning Scenario Design
  5. Interaction Design
  6. Case Study
  7. Conclusion
  8. Acknowledgments

Figures (5)

  • Figure 1: Remote Haptic Collaboration Setup featuring the printed paper sheet, the Cellulo robot used as a probe to explore the cell's organelles.
  • Figure 2: (a) co-location: Two remotely collaborating participants (A and B) are situated on different organelles of the cell. Exhibited in red, force-feedback pulls the users towards the location of the other. (b) consensus: Two remotely collaborating participants (A and B) are situated on the same organelle (the nucleus). Exhibited in red, the robots emit a gentle vibration as they are in agreement on the same organelle
  • Figure 3: The $x$ and $y$ positions of each robot in the co-location team plotted against time, for the duration of the experiment (exploratory activity and quiz).
  • Figure 4: The $x$ and $y$ positions of each robot in the consensus team plotted against time, for the duration of the experiment (exploratory activity and quiz).
  • Figure 5: Pearson correlations between each pair of dimensions over the duration of the experiment (exploratory activity and quiz). For the two pairs of robots ($x1$: the x position of robot 1)