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Critical success factors for application of social robots in special developmental schools: Development, adoption and implementation

Seyed Mohammad Sadegh Khaksar (Department of Management, La Trobe Business School, Melbourne, Australia)
Bret Slade (Department of Management, La Trobe Business School, Melbourne, Australia)
Jennifer Wallace (Waratah Special Developmental School, Melbourne, Australia)
Kaur Gurinder (Waratah Special Developmental School, Melbourne, Australia)

International Journal of Educational Management

ISSN: 0951-354X

Article publication date: 23 December 2019

Issue publication date: 1 April 2020

713

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to address the role of social robots in the education industry, specifically within special developmental schools, as a part of an innovation technology portfolio. It identifies critical success factors (CSFs) arising from the development, adoption and implementation of social robots to educate students with special needs and assist their teachers.

Design/methodology/approach

The study engaged in longitudinal research over 12 months, tracking the role of the Matilda robot in providing educational services to students with special needs.

Findings

The results propose a three-faceted framework for social robot application in special education: development, adoption and implementation.

Originality/value

The study has shown the willingness of students and teachers to embrace social robot technology, and the CSF that arise from this adoption. It has also found that social robots achieve the greatest success within the development, adoption and implementation framework when championed by executive management, and peer teacher support.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The project was funded by House with No Steps (HWNS), under an external grant (Project Code: 3.4299.02). The authors would like to acknowledge the staff at Waratah Special Developmental School and the principal, teachers, students and their parents who participated in this research project.

Citation

Khaksar, S.M.S., Slade, B., Wallace, J. and Gurinder, K. (2020), "Critical success factors for application of social robots in special developmental schools: Development, adoption and implementation", International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 34 No. 4, pp. 677-696. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-08-2019-0304

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

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