  We aim to design robotic educational support systems that can promote
socially and intellectually meaningful learning experiences for students while
they complete school work outside of class. To pursue this goal, we conducted
participatory design studies with 10 children (aged 10--12) to explore their
design needs for robot-assisted homework. We investigated children's current
ways of doing homework, the type of support they receive while doing homework,
and co-designed the speech and expressiveness of a homework companion robot.
Children and parents attending our design sessions explained that an
emotionally expressive social robot as a homework aid can support students'
motivation and engagement, as well as their affective state. Children primarily
perceived the robot as a dedicated assistant at home, capable of forming
meaningful friendships, or a shared classroom learning resource. We present key
design recommendations to support students' homework experiences with a
learning companion robot.
