Deadly allergies mean this little boy must spend most of his life in isolation but it does not mean he gets out of doing his school homework.
The seven-year-old New Yorker Devon Carrow is allergic to almost everything. Pets, dust, detergents, peanuts, dairy — the list of things that threaten his life is a long one. Understandably, the classroom is a highly volatile environment for him, so in order to get an education while staying safe he attends school via robot. The VGo telepresence robot, to be precise.
Devon Carrow delivers notes and attendance papers from Dawn Voelker's second-grade classroom to the main office at Winchester Elementary School in West Seneca. He meets and greets fellow classmates at the entrance to the school building before the morning bell. And he leads his class in the Pledge of Allegiance. But he does it from his home, about five miles away on Lake Avenue in Orchard Park.
So, he uses a "VGo" robot to traverse Winchester's halls, to talk with his teacher and fellow classmates and to learn just as any other second-grader does - only remotely, from a classroom set up in his home. The high-tech gadget uses HD cameras to show Devon his classroom and he can signal when he wants to give an answer with a flashing light.
"The VGo is basically a virtual Devon. It helps him feel included, and realise that he still has to go to school the same as any other child. The only thing that's different is Devon is not in the classroom. He's required to do everything every other kid does in the class. He doesn't get any special treatment, because he has to be treated just the same as everybody else."
Using the VGo robot, Devon is able to attend classes, interact with his fellow students and teachers and roll around the hallways of Winchester Elementary School in West Seneca, New York.
At home, he has a workspace set up so that he can do his schoolwork just as though he were there in the classroom. His head and shoulders appear in the robot's screen, while a camera streams the robot's view back to him at home via Wi-Fi.
"The only thing that's different is Devon is not in the classroom," his mother, René Darrow, told Buffalo News. "He's required to do everything every other kid does in the class." His Mum says that the equipment helps him feel included and realise that he still has to go to school the same as anyone else.
When Devon began using VGo in January, he was among the first students in the nation to utilize the special mobile technology that was envisioned as a way for business leaders to keep track of inventory remotely. Now the innovation is quickly attracting the attention of educators. Districts in Colorado, Arkansas and the Pittsburgh area are also now putting the $5,000 robot to use, assisting students who have special needs so they can participate in the classroom with fellow students.
"It's not called 'VGo' in the school - it's 'Devon,'?" said his mother, René Carrow, who lauds Winchester's faculty, staff and students for their eagerness to make Devon a part of their school community. "The only thing that's different is Devon is not in the classroom. He's required to do everything every other kid does in the class.
Devon has his own desk in the classroom, belonging to the "Bullfrogs" four-student pod in Voelker's class. He's required to be present and attentive when the other kids are at their desks. There is a high-definition camera on his computer at his home desk and on the top of the VGo machine, which stands at about the height of an elementary student and is on wheels, making it mobile, much like a Segway.
The family had not heard of the VGo until local education bosses suggested the newly-developed technology as a possibility when Devon was due to start school this year.
Devon has his own desk in the classroom, belonging to the "Bullfrogs" four-student pod in Voelker's class. He's required to be present and attentive when the other kids are at their desks. There is a high-definition camera on his computer at his home desk and on the top of the VGo machine, which stands at about the height of an elementary student and is on wheels, making it mobile, much like a Segway.
The family had not heard of the VGo until local education bosses suggested the newly-developed technology as a possibility when Devon was due to start school this year.
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