Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership (GMHSCP) and the Association of Colleges (AoC) have funded an engaging social robot designed to support young people – with complex educational needs – to help improve their communication and confidence levels.
The QTrobot has been rolled-out at Bridge College in Openshaw to help young people with autism practice and learn new social, emotional, and cognitive skills.
The robot aims to support young people who may feel overwhelmed by human contact to become more confident and comfortable within educational settings. Through asking questions, the robot encourages young people who require the device to interact and engage with their learning.
Professor Sandeep Ranote, interim Greater Manchester Medical Executive Lead for mental health, said: “I’m so pleased to see that the QTrobot has played a key role in helping people to engage more in their learning and with other people.
“Working alongside the AoC and students and staff across Greater Manchester educational centres has really helped to benefit learners and together we have identified good practice that can be shared.
“There are a number of projects we work on together which benefit apprenticeships, mental health first aid, social prescribing and supporting transition and student retention. We aim to move further into the digital space for the benefit of children and young people and support further initiatives such as this.”
Jeremy Swinn, Principal at Bridge College, said of the new robot: “The QTrobot has really enhanced learning opportunities for some of our students that find social interactions and overstimulating environments difficult to manage. We have found that students have increased their engagement in the classroom when interacting with the robot and have developed skills though its built-in cognitive, social, communication curriculum.”
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