U of I using robots to help train agricultural educators

Having an artificial intelligence-assisted robot as a teacher’s aid has its perks.

Kaycie Thuerer, a University of Idaho agricultural education major, often asked her robot, called an M2 unit, to set a timer for classroom activities while student teaching in spring 2026 at Mackay High School in Idaho’s Lost River Valley. Her M2’s access to knowledge also helped Thuerer nail down details about incubating emu eggs for a lesson.

But classroom assistance is a secondary benefit of the technology. The primary reason U of I’s Department of Agricultural Education, Leadership and Communications (AELC) acquired a pair of the robots was to observe student teachers in action and give them data-informed feedback to help them improve their teaching performance. While M2s have been used in United States classrooms for a couple of years as teaching aids, AELC is among the first programs in the country to pilot them as tools for observing, evaluating and training aspiring teachers.

Manufactured by Swivl, the M2 robots stand about 2.5 feet tall and feature an anthropomorphized display screen with blinking digital eyes mounted on a mobile stand. The units record high-quality audio and video and autonomously follow the movements of the teacher who wears a small tracking device. Beyond recording lessons, the robots can display text for visual learners, translate instructions into several languages, divide a class into small groups, assign writing prompts and monitor classroom engagement to flag when student attention begins to wane, among countless other functions.

The robots are preprogrammed with a body of teaching knowledge, and AELC has updated them with its own program content and standards, enabling M2s to offer similar feedback as department instructors. The robots have been trained to emphasize the importance of hands-on activities, which are the hallmark of agricultural education.

“They offer additional help and support that’s very similar to us being there,” said Kasee Smith, an associate professor in AELC. “And the recording quality is wonderful, so it allows us to virtually join classrooms rather than having to be there in person.”

Travel savings made possible by relying on M2s are significant, given that the program places student teachers in schools throughout the West. Prior to using the robots, AELC faculty traveled twice per semester to observe each student teacher in person. The M2s now cover one of the observation periods.

“If we can use a robot for one of those visits and keep that relationship with the student intact during the other visit, I think it really helps a young teacher feel like someone has looked out for them,” Smith said. “Is this a good enough solution?’ That’s the question we’re asking ourselves. I personally prefer to be on site, but this has impressed me more than I thought it would.”

The department purchased the robots in 2025 and spent the fall calibrating their functionality. AELC used them as teaching assistants for fall courses to allow agricultural education students to become familiar with the technology before using it in classrooms. The first eight AELC students to use M2s as teachers aids and for classroom observations recently concluded their student teaching assignments. Thuerer found her M2’s observations on her teaching performance to be extremely helpful.

“I liked the feedback because I have a really hard time with self-analyzing,” Thuerer said. “I remember reading some of its reflections and thinking, ‘This thing is right.’”

Thuerer was less impressed by M2’s contributions as a teacher’s assistant, finding its suggestions were vague and did more to distract the class than advance the lesson.

In regard to M2s placed at schools with limited bandwidth, AELC students reported connectivity challenges.

In addition to M2s, AELC has developed an AI chatbot, called Ag Ed Expert, designed to help student teachers develop curriculum and to answer their course-related questions.

Smith considers M2s to be a physical embodiment of the chatbot.

“Our hope is to find funding for additional robots,” Smith said. “We do think they make a difference.”