ABii the Robot in Laurens 55

Partnering with Van Robotics and the South Carolina Department of Education, Laurens County School District 55 (LCSD 55) announced participation in a research project that features ABii, a desktop-size robot. ABii personalizes every interaction, adapting to individual learning habits and encouraging students to stay engaged in social-emotional and academic learning.

The research project is intended to evaluate if, and by how much, student social and emotional learning (SEL) skills, attendance, and behavior in school are impacted with and without use of an ABii robot and SEL curriculum. Students from Ford and Waterloo Elementary Schools will be invited to participate in one of four possible study groups to provide the research data. The four groups include SEL whole group instruction along with individual ABii SEL instruction, SEL whole group instruction only, ABii SEL instruction only, and neither whole group nor ABii SEL instruction. Lessons are designed to help strengthen social skills, develop problem-solving skills, improve teamwork and collaboration sills, and increase social and emotional intelligence. A signed parental consent form is required for student participation in the research project.

The school district is also using ABii robots for academic recovery intervention in all elementary schools outside of the SEL research project. With personalized interactions that adapt to a student’s individual learning habits, ABii guides students through ten to fifteen-minute math and reading lessons that are aligned with national standards. ABii adapts to student attention and performance to heighten engagement and close comprehension gaps with varying levels of skill and focus. Superintendent Dr. Ameca Thomas explained, “The robot uses machine learning to adjust each math or reading lesson, in real-time, to accommodate individual student needs. Working with ABii, students are likely to engage more consistently in subjects in which they might not have previously been interested.”

ABii builds a historical user profile and uses a recommendation engine to guide students to specific lessons. An assessment feature of the program provides teachers with valuable information about their students’ progress and comprehension. “This feature will help teachers determine where additional instruction is needed for each student,” said Thomas.

“I am excited that we are able to partner with Van Robotics and the South Carolina Department of Education to bring this innovative platform to Laurens 55,” said Thomas. “This is just one way we are committed to helping our students mitigate learning loss and provide interventions and academic recovery.”