Open Access

Oskar Lorenz, Rachel Ka Syn Mah, Janine Breßler, Janett Mohnke

• Obtaining basic literacy and numeracy are important foundations for all further learning in life. Ideally, these skills are obtained early on in school. But why should learning of such important skills stop there? We utilize the humanoid robot NAO from Aldebaran Robotics to motivate children to read more and with joy, extending learning to pastime activities. For this, an application – LeseNAO – was developed by the RoboticLab Telematics that allows children to read a book to NAO out loud and optionally has NAO question them on what they just read. During evaluations, we noticed that children become relaxed and feel comfortable reading out loud to NAO due to its friendly and funny demeanor. Case studies also suggest a positive impact of the NAO robot on learning. To expand on this idea, we transferred the same principles to another important area of learning: math. For now, with the MatheNAO application, children can train their multiplication tables or test their knowledge on basic geometry. In preliminary tests of a multiplication quiz feature with children in fifth grade, overall, active attention towards the NAO robot and a high level of engagement in the task was observed. The children had fun learning with NAO. The same principle can also be applied to adults with low literacy or numeracy, potentially having the same comforting and encouraging effect. Building on this foundation, we present additional concepts and projects utilizing the NAO robot to promote learning. The software is made available under an open-source license to support further research.