Homebound Student Attends Classes via Robot

Haskell-Knox Shared Service Arrangement and Knox City – O’Brien CSID Deploys Communications Technology that Enables Distance Learning for Special Needs Students
by Jeanne' Snyder, M.Ed, M.S. CCC/SLP, Director, Haskell-Knox Shared Service Arrangement

January 12, 2011, Knox City, TX —Haskell-Knox Shared Service Arrangement (H-KSSA) and Knox City – O’Brien Consolidated Independent School District’s Knox City High School in Knox City, Texas, has teamed up with VGo Communications, a provider of visual communications solutions, to deploy a distance-learning program for special needs students who cannot attend school in-person.

New Technology is allowing a medically fragile high school student to attend classes at his local high school campus via the Internet and “Robotic Telepresence”. VGo Communications (www.vgocom.com) has recently begun to market an affordable visual communications solution that is controlled via wireless high speed networks. A recent series of events happened to fall into place to enable a deserving Knox City High School student to return to school for this spring semester – virutually using a VGo.

Lyndon, a freshman has a rare medical condition, Polycystic Kidney Disease that required a kidney transplant prior to his ever being able to attend a regular classroom back when he was 7 years old. His prior education was provided by the school’s special education Shared Service Arrangement homebound programming. Following a successful transplant, he was able to attend the public schools until last year when he began having symptoms of transplant rejection. Doctors ordered him to go back to a homebound setting as his immune system has become severely suppressed. Although the school has provided staff to go out and instruct him on a limited schedule, a large portion of the responsibility fell heavily on his parents.

The Haskell-Knox Shared Service Arrangement, provider of special education for the member district, Knox City-O’Brien CISD was intent on getting some type of technology in place. It was needed so that Lyndon could stay up with the instruction his peers were receiving. Several attempts with different types of assistive technology were considered, tried or failed to get the desired results. Then in December, H-KSSA’s Director, Jeanne’ Snyder contacted Mike Campbell, a consultant with Region 9’s Educational Service Center in Wichita Falls, Texas. After explaining the need for the student to get classroom lectures and notes, Mike agreed to come out and consult.

The Timing was Right

A sales rep visited Mike the following day and asked to show him a new technological piece of equipment he had with him. It was a Vgo. This robot is a new invention from a small town company in New Hampshire that fit the needs of a boy in a small town in Texas to a “T”! So quickly things fell into place. In less than a month the Vgo is located on the High School Campus, but the student can be anywhere – his presence is transmitted and controlled using his laptop computer. The robot has wheels so Lyndon can drive down the hallways and into classroom. It has a monitor that shows Lyndon’s face and speakers to project his voice as he converses. In turn the camera allows him to “see and hear” what the other students are experiencing. He can interact as if he was there. All this is from his secure environment whether it is home or the hospital or wherever his current location may be so long as he can access the internet.

Overcoming challenges

Last Tuesday, he was allowed to try it out for the first time. The biggest obstacle was having Lyndon find classrooms in a building where he’s never attended class. Once a map of the building was prepared for him he has had no problems getting from class to class to the docking station where his “robotic self” recharges until the next time he needs to attend.

“You cannot imagine the empowerment and social life it has given back to this student and his family,” reports Snyder. He is now able to take notes in science class and observe labs as they take place. He is also able to joke with classmates and faculty. Last week Lyndon joked about one of the drawbacks of the system, when a coach asked him if he wanted a door opened. “Yeah, I don’t have any arms!” replied a smiling Lyndon as the classroom door was opened for the robot to go through. Students, staff and others freely respond to the VGo as if it is the actual teenager. Lyndon now experience the classroom firsthand while responding directly. One of his teachers explained that the student body has readily accepted the virtual student, and studying Shakespeare lends itself so much easier with participation in class discussions.

Lyndon’s mother may have summed it up best when she reports: “the VGo has integrated Lyndon back into the classroom where he is able to participate in classroom discussions and activities as if he were physically there. Most importantly, the VGo has given back his daily socialization that illness has taken away. It allows him to interact with his peers in the classroom, and hallways and it opens up a whole new world of opportunities for him. VGo has given him a reason to get up in the mornings so he can go to school. I wish everyone was as excited about school as Lyndon.”

What next? Lyndon is interested in participating in extracurricular activities, band, stock shows and more. Who knows? He is sure to have many more doors opened for him.

About Haskell-Knox Shared Service Arrangement

H-KSSA provides specially designed instruction and services to those eligible under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, part B) a federally funded special education program. Member districts include five rural school districts in Haskell and Knox Counties – Benjamin ISD, Knox City-O’Brien CISD, Munday ISD, Paint Creek ISD and Rule ISD. Haskell-Knox was the first rural group of schools in Texas to join together as a consortium in order to pool resources to meet the needs of students in special education starting in 1971. This original pilot project continues to succeed 40 years later.

About Knox City-O’Brien Consolidated Independent School District

Knox City – O’Brien CISD provides public education to students in these North Central Texas rural communities. Located in both Knox and Haskell counties, these Pre-K through 12th grade schools are a recognized district by the Texas Education Agency. Students are encouraged to excel in all they do, whether they are enrolled in the elementary, middle, or high school. KC-O’B pupils have demonstrated excellence with academics, athletics and other initiatives.

About VGo Communications

VGo Communications, Inc. develops and markets visual communications solutions for the workplace. Based in Nashua, NH, just north of Boston, MA, VGo Communications is leveraging the recent trends of widespread wireless high-speed networks, lower specialized component costs and the universal acceptance of video as a communications medium to deliver solutions to a new market category called “Robotic Telepresence”.