Video Games, Speech Recognition Hold Promise as Ed Tech
Video Games, Speech Recognition Hold Promise as Ed Tech
Video Games, Speech Recognition Hold Promise as Ed Tech
February 16,2022
By Brandon Paykamian
Summary
Researchers at the University of Missouri are using $12 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Education to harness game-based learning and speech recognition tools to teach science and literacy.
According to a news release from the university, James Laffey, a professor emeritus in the College of Education and Human Development, will use $8 million to develop Mission HydroSci, a video game that sends players on a "Virtual journey" to learn about topics such as water flow, groundwater, atmospheric water and water contamination, then challenges them to use that knowledge to complete missions.
Building upon the game's early success, the research team now plans to expand the game to more than 60 middle schools across the country for further testing, in partnership with the Missouri Research and Education Network and the professional development nonprofit eMINTS National Center, which will provide tech support for educators to implement the game in their courses.
"I think games have that capacity to engage kids, and to engage kids that don't usually succeed with what classroom activities are usually like."SPEECH RECOGNITION. Betsy Baker, also a professor in the university's College of Education and Human Development, will use $4 million to study how elementary school teachers can make the most out of speech recognition programs on mobile devices to improve students' reading and literacy skills.
"We're purposely targeting second grade to make sure we can get them prepared to read independently by the end of third grade, using help from speech recognition apps," Baker said, drawing off previous research that found students who are proficient readers by third grade are more likely to finish high school and become employed.
Since much of the speech recognition technology available today is "Notoriously inaccurate" and often unable to recognize certain words and vernaculars, Baker said, the technology could encourage classroom discussions about phonics and vocabulary lessons built to improve reading comprehension.
"We think we can facilitate the ability for teachers to harness the potential while mitigating the challenges of speech recognition."
Reference
Paykamian, B. (2022, February 16). Video games, speech recognition hold promise as ed tech. Retrieved March 7, 2022, from https://www.govtech.com/education/higher-ed/video-games-speech-recognition-hold-promise-as-ed-tech