The different forms of telepresence in education, in distance learning, in student support, in the use of learning environments or even at the heart of robot systems, are developed in universities and higher education facilities specializing in professional training. They constitute opportunities to reform arguments and give rise to important questions: how should we think about the hierarchy of presence and absence in these techniques in order to make possible “the presence of the absent”? What is the effect on mediation processes? On the perception of the body and on identity? How does it transform collaborative work?

Telepresence in Training brings together research that attempts to answer these questions by using studies and practical supports from higher education, with regards to teacher training and telepresence robots in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Quebec.

Jean-Luc Rinaudo is Professor of the Science of Education at the University of Rouen-Normandy, France. His research focuses on education and training practices, covered by information and communication technology from a clinical, psychoanalytical perspective.