About

TRinE

Get ideas about the use of Telepresence Robots in educational settings and learn about use cases, teaching scenarios and challenges. 

Read stories from educators who have had many years of experience with telepresence robots.

Find interesting content for educators, students, teachers, parents, researchers, policy makers and others – in the field of school and university.

And share your own experiences with Telepresence Robots in educational settings.

Learn about different models of Telepresence Robots, technical challenges and solutions.

TRinE – Telepresence Robots in Education

The Erasmus+ project “TRinE – Telepresence Robots in Education” (Project Reference: 2020-1-MT01-KA227-SCH-092408) addresses the use of Telepresence Robots in educational institutions at upper secondary and higher education levels, such as in classrooms and other (e-)learning settings. Telepresence Robots (TR) are mobile remote-controlled devices that represent the remote user via video and audio. In the project we deal with the question of how the educational sector can benefit from this technology, what challenges we face, and what projects and research already exist in this area. On this platform we collect our findings and make them accessible to educational institutions, parents, students, researchers and anyone interested in TR technology.

A better understanding of TR and their application in educational settings can be gained from the very few educational institutions in which TR is already a part of everyday life. Amongst them are two Icelandic institutions, the University of Akureyri, which implemented TR already in 2016, and the upper secondary school Menntaskólinn á Tröllaskaga, where the technology is used in secondary education. The project TRinE combines these institutions’ rare practical expertise with TR in education with the respective expertise of Danube University Krems, Center for Applied Game Studies (game studies, media education), University of Macedonia (elearning methodologies), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (virtual presence), B&P Emerging Technologies Consultancy Lab (emerging technology) and St. Margaret College Verdala Secondary (school, teaching). The Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) acts as project lead.

This composition of the consortium makes it possible to address the challenges and potentials of TR in education, to develop new innovative didactical methods and approaches and make this knowledge accessible to educators, students, parents and other stakeholders. The overall goal is to prepare these target groups for the broad adaptation of TR-based teleteaching practices in educational settings. 

The projects’ results will be disseminated during 4 multiplier events held in Iceland, Germany, Austria as well as Greece. The learning teaching training event will take place at the telepresence innovation hub Iceland with all partners attending including teachers from the participating schools. It is envisioned that the widespread adoption of TRinE will raise awareness of the importance of media literacy and social competences in the context of distance education.

Follow us on social media for all the latest news about the project:

Twitter: @trineplatform
Facebook: @trineplatform

In the following articles you can read more about the TRinE project and the TRinE platform:

The project “TRinE – Telepresence Robots in Education” is funded by the European Union under the Erasmus+ programme.
Project Reference: 2020-1-MT01-KA227-SCH-092408

Organisations & Team

Institute of Information Management in Engineering

The Institute of Information Management in Engineering (IMI) is situated at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany. The Smart Immersive Environments (SIE) research group working on TRinE project is dedicated to researching, developing and optimising the use of virtual reality technologies for engineering applications, in construction, in the laboratory and in industry. We cover the entire virtualisation cycle, from digitisation to smart virtual environments in immersive systems.

Web: www.imi.kit.edu
Research Gate: Link
YouTube: Link

Facebook: KIT.Karlsruhe.Official
Instagram: kitkarlsruhe
Twitter: KITKarlsruhe
YouTube: KITVideoclips

Malta College for Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST)

The Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology is the largest vocational institution in Malta. Our mission is “to provide universally accessible vocational and professional education and training with an international dimension, responsive to the needs of the individual and the economy”. The College is made up of 6 Institutes, together with a cross-institute Applied Research and Innovation Centre (ARIC). The college is comprised of 6,700 full-time students and 500 academics. MCAST also provides short courses for approximately 5,000 part-time adult students annually.

Web: www.mcast.edu.mt/applied-research/
Facebook: MCASTmt
Instagram: mcastmt
Twitter: mcastmt
LinkedIn: malta-college-of-arts-science-&-technology-mcast
Youtube: Link

University of Akureyri

The University of Akureyri (UNAK) is located near the edge of the Arctic Circle and has served Akureyri and its rural surroundings since 1987. The University is at present operating in three Schools; School of Business and Science, School of Humanities and Social Sciences and School of Health Sciences. UNAK is the leading university in Iceland in providing opportunities for students, outside of the capital area. For the last twenty years it has been developing distance learning and online courses for their students. Presently all courses are taught both at campus and online, under the term flexible learning.

Web: www.unak.is
Facebook: haskolinnaakureyri / kennslumidstodha
Twitter: Haskolinn_Ak / kennslumidstod
Flickr: haskolinnaakureyri
YouTube: Haskolinn
Instagram:haskolinnaakureyri

Center for Applied Game Studies

The Center for Applied Game Studies is located at the Department for Arts and Cultural Studies at the Danube University Krems, Austria. In research and teaching, the complex relationship between games and society is addressed with a combination of expertises from game-, media- and education studies.

Web: donau-uni.ac.at/ags
Twitter: appliedgames
Facebook: appliedgames
Instagram: appliedgames
LinkedIn: appliedgames

University of Macedonia

University of Macedonia (UoM), Thessaloniki, Greece, is a leading public university in the field of education, informatics, management, business, economics, finance, Balkan, European and International studies, and more. It is in operation for 63 years. It has over 200 professors, 100 teaching & technical support staff, 12,000 undergraduate students, and 3,000 graduate students. UoM’s Smart Mobile Interactive Learning Environments (SMILE) lab participates in TRinE project.

Web: www.uom.gr
Twitter: univofmacedonia
LinkedIn: university-of-macedonia
Facebook: universityofmacedonia
YouTube: univofmacedonia
Flickr: Link

Menntaskólinn á Tröllaskaga

The Tröllaskagi Upper-Secondary School, located in Ólafsfjörður, Iceland, began operating in the autumn of 2010.  It functions under Iceland’s newest legislation for education and provides more flexibility in study options.  The school offers an ambitious program with diverse teaching methods that focus on student performance and independence. The school’s objective is to prepare students (typically ages 16-20) for university study.  This is accomplished by having them complete their work through an efficient schedule that focuses on their needs in three major areas: learning under teacher supervision, self-study with access to learning materials, and distance learning.  Self-management is the core virtue of this approach, as the power to learn is placed primarily in the students’ hands.

Web: www.mtr.is
Facebook: menntaskolinn

St Margaret College, Verdala Secondary School

St Margaret College is a state educational entity with schools at Kinder Garten, Primary, Middle School and Secondary LEvel. We are a co-ed secondary school, with intake of students from Year 9 to Year 11, aged 13 to 16. WE present a variety of programs targetting students different abilities and academic inclinations.

Facebook: SMC Secondard Verdala

B&P Emerging Technologies Lab

B&P Emerging Technologies Consultancy Lab Ltd. is a Maltese company that specialises in consulting and the creation of demonstrators in the field of emerging technologies. The current focus is on distributed ledger technology, artificial intelligence (such as chat bots) and telepresence robots in the field of education.

Andre Attard

…is a Senior Research Officer at the Applied Research and Innovation Centre at MCAST.

… Is the project manager in charge of the TRinE project and supports TRinE with additional research duties as required by the project.

LinkedIn: @andreattard

Clifford De Raffaele

… is the Director Research & Innovation at MCAST.

…supports TRinE with expertise in computer science, educational technology, innovate interactive applications, robotics, augmented & mixed reality, etc.

LinkedIn: @clifford-de-raffaele-27a930b1

Massimo Pierucci

…is Senior Research Officer at MCAST.

…supports TRinE with the development of the Technology Acceptance Model, data collection and research methodologies.

LinkedIn: @massimo-pierucci-943a1765

Edwin Zammit

…Deputy Director for Innovation within the Applied Research & Innovation Office at MCAST.

…supports TRinE with expertise in the area of disruptive educational technologies. Additionally, he shares expertise on innovative pedagogical methods and their implemenation.

LinkedIn: @edwin-zammit-9b7a29a9

Lára Stefánsdóttir

…is principal of Menntaskólinn á Tröllaskaga (MTR).

…supports TRinE with expertise of using Telerobotics in education for 3 years in a rural school environment where some teachers use TR to be able to be in the classroom. MTR has over 500 dist. students and 5 dist. teachers where TR is one of the tools used.

Facebook: @lara.stefansdottir

Bergthor Morthens

…is a teacher at Menntaskólinn á Tröllaskaga

…supports TRinE with his extensive experience as a teacher. In his art classes, he teaches students remotely using a telepresence robot.

Maria Perifanou

…is a Senior Research at SMILE Lab, University of Macedonia.

…supports TRinE with expertise in Technology Enhanced learning (TEL), Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), Blended learning, Teachers Training, MOOCs, OERs, etc.

LinkedIn: @mariaperifanou

Anastasios Economides

… is a Professor and Director of Smart Moble Interactive Learning Environments (SMILE) Lab, University of Macedonia.

…supports TRinE with expertise in online teaching, learning & assessment, digital competence & skills, user experience, augmented & mixed reality, etc.

LinkedIn: @anastasios-economides-08703734

Marlene Galea

is Computing Head of Department at St Margaret College Secondary School in Malta.

…supports TRinE with her experience is in teaching Computing at Secondary, curricular development, professional development and educational mentoring.

Polina Häfner

…works as a postdoc at IMI and heads the Virtual Reality Laboratory (CAIT) at Institute for Information Management in Engineering, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

…supports TRinE with her expertise lies in the use of virtual reality technology for engineering and educational applications.

LinkedIn: @polina-häfner-2aa417216

Natalie Denk

…is head of the Center for Applied Game Studies, University for Continuing Education Krems

…supports TRinE with expertise in the area of media education, game-based learning and gender & diversity

Twitter: @natalie-denk
LinkedIn: @natalie-denk

Simon Wimmer

…works at the Center for Applied Game Studies, University for Continuing Education Krems

…supports TRinE with expertise in the field of game studies, game & behavioural design, cultural anthropology and storytelling.

Thomas Wernbacher

…works at the Center for Applied Game Studies, University for Continuing Education Krems

…supports TRinE with expertise in the area of media psychology, user experience testing and the evaluation of the didactical potential of telepresence robots

Alexander Pfeiffer

…works at B&P Emergent Technologies Lab

…supports TRinE with expertise in the area of emergent technologies in education.

Twitter: @alexpfeiffer

Constantin Kraus

…works at the Center for Applied Game Studies, University for Continuing Education Krems

…supports TRinE with expertise in the field of graphics, audio, video and web design

Audbjörg Björnsdóttir

… is the director of the Centre of Teaching and Learning at University of Akureyri.

…supports TRinE with experience in developing and advising the curriculum at UNAK and in professional development, specifically when it comes to online, distance and flexible learning.

Helena Sigurðardóttir

…is an E-Learning consultant / Instructional Designer at the Centre of Teaching and Learning at the University of Akureyri.

…supports TRinE with her expertise educational science and information technology and her experience in teaching ICT skills to both teachers and students. Helena has excellent ICT skills and has been leading implementation of Telepresence robots at UNAK. 

Twitter: @helenasigurdar

Valgerður Ósk Einarsdóttir

…is a Instructional Designer at the Centre of Teaching and Learning at University of Akureyri.

…supports TRinE with her expertise in methods of blended learning and hybrid learning. At the University Valgerður has used her experience from teaching through LMS and with teleprecense robots to assist teachers with online teaching and course assessment.

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