Alexa, the virtual assistant developed by Amazon, is omnipresent in homes today. At the ongoing ISTE conference that will be concluded today, several organizations including nonprofits, Ed-tech gaming companies, and even teachers have showcased the different “Skills” they have developed to make more use of Alexa in classrooms.
“Skills” are built-in capabilities in Alexa. Amazon has provided a developer kit for users to build Skills for their needs. This has allowed people like Alli Flowers, who is a technology coach in Alabama schools, to develop their own Skills. Her particular project helps the teacher to grade papers across subjects and classes.
If Flowers helps teachers, then Frontline Education has announced the launch of “Frontline Education Skill”, which will allow school administrators with recruitment and engagement of teachers. As they are a leading supplier of management software to K-12 organizations, this skill will be an excellent addition to their portfolio.
It was in early June 2019 when a lawsuit was filed in Seattle against Alexa. Allegedly, Alexa was recording the children without consent. There are ongoing debates over security and privacy issues associated with the usage of voice-activated virtual assistants in classrooms.
Even so, there is also a significant number of people who believe that Alexa can prove to be an invaluable tool for educating students.
Kahoot, the gaming platform that claims inclusivity as one of their core values has developed an Alexa Skill that takes particular care of the visually and physically impaired players. The company hopes that players will be able to study and retain information while having fun with trivia quizzes.
“This will not only bring fun family contests in the living room but see a tremendous application for revisions and mastery of subjects at home by students,” commented Leslie Fisher, Chief Geek at LeslieFisher.com
Alexa is not limiting its reach to K-12 institutes. At Lancaster University, “Ask LU Alexa” skill is making student life easier by helping them book a pod in the library, check their grades and so on.
If the enthusiasm at ISTE is anything to go by, more Alexa Skills are on the horizon with customized skills that will create innovative learning environments.
“Alexa, How was your day at school?”
