Voice Assistants

Our spaces our filling with voice assistants, Google, Apple, and Amazon all have created an interface that allows users including young learners to interact without needing keyboards or even touch screens. I believe that we need to launch a serious effort to see what are the affordances and unintended consequences of these devices to learning as become increasingly ubiquitous.

While some research has begun, more common are anecdotal observations by parents researchers, and teachers. For example, earlier today in a conversation Ji Guo, a Doctoral Graduate and current colleague brought up the fact that his son was using google to ask questions as he was reading. His observation was that his son was leaning on google to clarify as a "while reading" strategy. Instead of stopping his reading to answer a quick question (e.g. how large is a Dolphin), he could ask and get a quick answer and keep on reading without getting any further distracted by the interaction with a screen. I love this example because it parallels the use of digital dictionaries embedded in digital texts. Both allow the reading to continue quickly and with minimal interruption while allowing the learner to collect further information.

The main danger described by parents is that students start relying exclusively on the assistant to supply information that students have yet to internalize, which is still important. The first example is multiplication. Google, Amazon, and Siri all can give quick answers, but understanding the concepts behind multiplication is a key numeracy skill that all students should acquire. In this case, the assistant can create false learning paths that will undermine the future development of learners. The answer of course is not to resist the use of devices but instead to think about the ways and times they can use it. This is especially true since many years ago we had the same discussion about the use of calculators in classrooms. 

I am excited to look for researchers looking into this new area for exploration!