Microsoft has made its AI-powered tutor, Reading Coach, a standalone app and made it free to download for users who have a Microsoft account.
The application is now accessible on the web in preview, which suggests that a Windows app is coming soon. In the near future, the tech giant will also make Reading Coach integrate with learning management systems, including Canva.
In a blog post, the company said that it is well-known that reading is foundational to a student's academic success. It added that studies show that fluent readers are four times more likely to graduate from high school and get better jobs.
Microsoft noted that using the latest artificial intelligence technology, they have an opportunity to provide learners with personalized, engaging, and transformative reading experiences. The company's AI-powered tutor builds on Reading Progress, which is a plug-in for the education-focused version of Microsoft Teams, Teams for Education.
The former was designed to help teachers foster reading fluency in their students. Microsoft, inspired by the success of Reading Progress, launched Reading Coach in 2022 as part of Teams for Education and Immersive Reader, as per TechCrunch.
The latter is the tech giant's cross-platform assistive service for language and reading comprehension. Reading Coach works by having learners identify words that they have difficulties with the most and it then presents them with tools to support independent, individualized practice.
The tools available are based on an educator's preferences and could include text-to-speech, syllable breaking, and picture dictionaries. After a learner practices with the app, educators can then view the work, including which words the student practiced, how many attempts they made, and which tools they used.
Recently, the Microsoft app received an update in the form of a "choose your own story" feature, which is powered by the company's Azure OpenAI Service. It lets learners tap AI to generate their own narrative adventure.
AI-Powered Tutor
After prolonged use of the app, the AI tool will flag specific words that a reader frequently mispronounces or misunderstands during reading sessions. In order to keep learners engaged, the program will also ask a reader to choose prompts that can change a storyline as they progress through the lesson, according to Engadget.
Microsoft claims that instructors will be able to integrate the program in classrooms through learning platforms starting in the Spring. Educators will also be able to track how students feel about assignments using the Reflect tool within the program itself.
The particular type of feedback could be crucial for instructors to determine what assignments students feel the most excited about and those that they might not enjoy doing. On top of tracking student performance, the new feature for Reading Coach will help teachers generate content for lessons.
Due to how prone generative AI is to hallucinations, the tech giant implemented a set of guardrails, moderating the story that Reading Coach generates for quality, safety, and age appropriateness. These efforts were also made to make sure that the platform remains student-friendly, said ZDNet.
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