The smart LMS in the future of eLearning can be found in what is called embedded AI (Artificial Intelligence). Much has been made of out-of-control AI (think the Terminator movies), but in reality AI is already making our lives easier and is a lot more benign than doubters make it out to be.
Voice recognition is a type of AI that can be found in Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home. Both are able to respond verbally to your voice command and deliver information. A friend demonstrated Google Home the other night and it was impressive.
“Google,” he said, waking up the cylinder with the Google spinning colors on top that indicated it was listening. “Play a Chicago Blues song by Buddy Guy.” Google Home responded by repeating the request then said it was hooking into Spotify and Sonos, and within two minutes, Buddy Guy’s song, “Slippin’ In” was punching through the speakers. “Google, lower the volume ,” and the volume lowered.
Guide to Google Home LEDs–a multi-coloured window on its listening/thinking
Granted, this was a simple display of machine learning. What came next, was an interesting display of Google Home’s linkage with other “smart” devices. “Google, how long will it take to drive to Brisbane from (location)?” Google responded quickly, “About one hour and thirty minutes following this (route),” which was then sent to an iPhone.
Now, comes the fun part. Let’s say you wanted to populate your Moodle or Totara platform with off-the-shelf compliance training on workplace safety. If your LMS sat in the cloud, or was an app on your phone, Google Home could theoretically populate your LMS with a workplace safety module. Your request could be even more specific. “Google, put a training video on evacuation protocols from a burning building onto my Learning Management System.”
Moodle’s speech recognition plug-in is a free download that can help your English language students.
The list is endless. Moodle already offers a speech recognition plug-in that:
Automatically records and grades student’s speech
Automatically generates reference audio
Presents student performance in standard Moodle Teacher interface
Allows creation of custom pronunciation activities in US and UK English for your class
AI recognises patterns in the way an individual student learns and can adapt design activities or games that can meet those individual needs. Theoretically, a student could ask a smart LMS to offer background information on the biology of octopi, and the smart LMS could populate that student’s customised learning system with videos on octopi behaviour, interactive games to identify the body structure of marine molluscs, and a history of what is known about octopi intelligence.
Follow the link if you want to learn more about embedded AI.
And here’s a good overview on AI and the eLearning.
Contact us for more information about incorporating AI into your content design.