I Am There But…”: Remote Students’ Experiences of Inclusion through Telepresence Robots

Abstract

The use of telepresence robots in educational settings offers a promising solution for students who are unable to attend classes in person due to illness, disability, or other barriers. However, the extent to which these technologies facilitate the perceived inclusion of remote students remains underexplored. This study investigates the experiences of remote students using telepresence robots to attend university classes, focusing on factors that mediate their sense of inclusion. Through an inductive analysis of interviews and observations from 22 remote students, we identify technological and socio-pedagogical factors that influence inclusion. Our findings reveal that while telepresence robots enhance physical presence and agency compared to traditional video conferencing tools, challenges such as technological limitations, social norms, and pedagogical practices can hinder full integration. We offer recommendations for educators and institutions to better support remote students and suggest design improvements for telepresence technologies to foster inclusivity in classroom settings.

Citation

Houda Elmimouni and Selma Sabanovic. 2025. "I Am There But...": Remote Students’ Experiences of Inclusion through Telepresence Robots. In Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '25). Association for Computing Machinery, Ne