Some 29 robots will start teaching English to children in South Korea. Ministry of Education, on Tuesday (12/28/2010), mentions, oval white robot called Engkey, and was developed by Korea Institute of Science Technology (KIST).

To-29 robot began to teach on Monday at 21 sekoldah the bed in the city of Daegu, South Korea's southeastern region. Robot foot and faced the television screen, move the class to use wheels as legs while talking to the students.

He also read books and dance to the music by moving his head and hands. Robot's face is described as white women, are controlled remotely by teachers of English in the Philippines who can see and hear the students through the remote control system.

The camera detects the facial expressions of teachers in the Philippines and in an instant look at the "face" robot, a senior scientist said KIST Sagong Seong-Dae. "Teachers from the Philippines are educated and experienced teachers worth it cheaper than anywhere else, including in South Korea," he said.

In addition to reading the book, the robot uses software that is programmed in order to sing and do the alphabet game with the kids.

"The kids seem like it because the robot looks, yes, funny and interesting. But some adults also expressed interest, admit not too nervous to talk to the robot than the original people," the official said the city education office of Daegu Kim Mi-Young.

Kim said, the possibility of some units will be sent to remote areas shunned by South Korean teachers of English. He said the robot is still in experimental stage.

But officials are likely to hire them full if researchers can improve the quality and makes it easier to manage and more affordable.

"Having a robot in the classroom makes students more active participation, especially the shy students who are afraid to talk to a human teacher," said Kim.

He stressed the experiment is not to replace human teachers with robots. "We help key and strategic industries, and all together by giving attention to children about what they learned," he said.

Four-month pilot program was sponsored by the government, which has poured investment of 1.58 billion won (Rp12, 34 billion).

The scientist has conducted pilot programs in some schools since 2009 to develop a robot that teaches English, math, science and natural pengatahuan other subjects in various grade levels for five to eight million won.

Sagong emphasize, at this time each was worth 10 million won, most people only help teachers but in the end will have a bigger role.

The machine can be an efficient tool to hone language skills for the many people who feel nervous when talking to strangers native, he said.

"Plus, they're not going to complain about health insurance, sick leave and severance pay, or leave within three months for a better job in Japan ... all you need is repair and upgrade regularly," he said.