Microsoft Makes Its AI-Powered Learning Tool Free (Photo by BoliviaInteligente on Unsplash)
Tech giant Microsoft is all set to expand its artificial intelligence (AI) tools for education. On January 18, Microsoft announced that it is expanding Copilot for Microsoft 365 and Loop for Microsoft Education. The company has also expanded the Reading Coach feature, its AI-powered learning tool, to more individuals by making it free for anyone with a Microsoft account.
The Reading Coach feature was unveiled by Microsoft in 2022. Reading Coach provides learners with personalized reading practice. It also delivers instant feedback about pronunciation and fluency. It also gives insights back to educators. Reading Coach helps learners identify words they struggle with the most, and it also provides them with tools to support individualized practice. Microsoft says that with the latest AI technology, they have an opportunity to provide learners with personalized and transformative reading experiences. “Reading Coach, a Learning Accelerator now powered by generative AI, does just that,” said the company in a blog.
Reading Coach will permit learners to create their own AI-generated stories by selecting characters and settings from a collection of options. Microsoft says that the story content is moderated for quality, safety, and age-appropriateness. Learners will also be able to unlock new story settings and characters and earn badges that reward their efforts. They can see their pronunciation and fluency improvements in progress reports.
Microsoft says that Reading Coach will be “more broadly available than ever,” and learners can read on the device of their choice, at home or school. “It will be available on the web and as a Windows App, at no cost to anyone with a Microsoft account,” added the blog. Apart from this, Microsoft Loop, a flexible, AI-powered collaboration app, will be included in Microsoft 365 A3 and A5 plans.
Notably, more features are coming to Microsoft Teams for Education and Microsoft Reflect. Microsoft announced that it will be generally available later this year at no additional cost to all education customers. Microsoft Reflect is a tool that helps students identify and express how they feel in safe and fun ways, building their emotional vocabulary. It also provides insights for educators.
