Today, Microsoft released Reading Tutor, an AI-powered tool that gives students individualized reading practice, to all Microsoft account holders for free.

Reading Coach is available in preview form on the web as of this morning; a Windows client will follow. Additionally, Microsoft adds that Reading Coach will interface with learning management systems like Canva soon, in late spring.

According to research, reading is fundamental to a student’s scholastic achievement. Fluent readers are four times more likely to graduate from high school and land better employment, according to Microsoft. “We have the chance to offer learners personalized, captivating, and life-changing reading experiences with the newest AI technology.”

Building on Reading Progress, a plug-in for Teams for Education, Microsoft Teams’ education-focused version, Reading Coach assists teachers in helping students develop reading fluency. Microsoft introduced Reading Coach in 2022 as a part of Teams for Education and Immersive Reader, the company’s cross-platform assistive service for language and reading comprehension. The company was inspired by the success of Reading Progress.

Reading Coach operates by having students identify the words they find most difficult, and then providing them with resources to help with autonomous, customized practice. The tools offered can include graphic dictionaries, syllable breaking, and text-to-speech, depending on the preferences of an educator.

Teachers can examine a student’s work after they have practiced using Reading Coach. This includes the words the students practiced, the number of attempts they made, and the tools they utilized. If they so want, educators can also provide pupils with this knowledge.

A recent update to Reading Coach allows students to utilize AI to create their narrative journey through the “choose your own story” feature, which Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service powers.

Reading Coach’s “choose your own story” tool works similarly to the AI-generated story tool on the Amazon Echo Show. Students pick a character, setting, and reading level, and the AI then creates material based on these choices and the words that are most difficult for them. Story content is regulated and screened, according to Microsoft, for factors like “quality, safety, and age appropriateness.”

In addition to listening to the student read the story and offering pronunciation corrections, Reading Coach also grants badges that, as the student advances, unlock new scenes and characters.

If students would rather not write their narrative, they can choose from carefully chosen sections in ReadWorks, a collection of reading comprehension materials.

According to Microsoft, “Reading Coach intrinsically motivates learners to continue advancing their skills in several ways.” “We think personalized learning at scale is achievable with the impactful, safe, and responsible use of AI.”

It’s important to remember that not all instructors share Microsoft’s optimistic vision of AI as a tool for teaching reading comprehension. Experts claim that there isn’t a perfect instrument available for evaluating comprehension, which includes figuring out what pupils already know, how strong their vocabulary is, and whether or not they can pronounce and sound out words. Pupils may accidentally alter assessments by accidentally clicking on the incorrect button. Alternatively, individuals could lose interest in a task that a tool is offering them because they are bored, which would result in a low score.

Having said that, educators believe that resources such as Reading Coach are beneficial. According to a recent EdWeek Research Centre survey, 44% of educators believe that adaptive technology accurately assesses a student’s reading ability more so than pen-and-paper methods or non-adaptive software.

SOURCE: https://techcrunch.com/2024/01/18/microsoft-makes-its-ai-powered-reading-tutor-free/