6 Questions for Julie Daniel Davis
#VoiceFirst sits at the head of the class for this teacher and EdTech trendwatcher…
1. You are something of a go-to EdTech guru at a private school in Tennessee, holding the title of Director of Instructional Technology and Innovation. Lately this has meant a turn toward #VoiceFirst solutions in the classroom. So, how did you end up in this space?
Julie Daniel Davis: The Alexa Conference (now known as Project Voice) takes place in my city, Chattanooga, TN. The first year it was here [2019], I had dabbled with the idea of using voice in the classroom and even tried the concept out a few times but held back due to privacy concerns. I asked Bradley Metrock, the event coordinator of the conference, if an educator could just sit in the back of the room and observe. I shared some of the blogposts I had written, about using Alexa, to explain my interest, and he not only invited me to take part but asked me to be a speaker at that first event. From there, I made connections in the VoiceFirst community. The path has chosen me, but I’ve decided it’s important for educators to speak to this new voice paradigm instead of sitting back and letting it simply happen to us.
I continue to share my ideas and concerns to anyone who will listen. I’ve now created help sheets, blog topics, and my weekly Alexa flash briefing, “Voice in Education,” because of the recurring questions I get from educators.
2. Alexa devices have been incorporated into hotels, like Marriott and Wynn Las Vegas. So indeed, why not schools? In fact you’ve written on exactly this subject for Edutopia.
In my brief research, I’ve noticed relatively wealthy northern states like Massachusetts and Wisconsin being more eager to adopt voice technology than southern states like Alabama. Have you observed any regional differences in the adoption of smart speakers or voice assistants by schools? Apart from that, what are your thoughts and concerns on #VoiceFirst in the classroom?
Julie Daniel Davis: I haven’t personally seen the issue being a regional one, but I would say the more innovative the district, the more likely they might adopt VoiceFirst.
I believe the biggest single issue in holding schools back from readily adopting voice in the classroom is student privacy issues. The concern (founded at times) about a device always listening scares us; to think we might be risking our students’ privacy. Schools strive to follow COPPA [Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act], CIPA, and FERPA laws, and are held accountable for doing so. At this point, I fear that the fast-paced nature of voice possibilities are being held back by federal laws that seem antiquated for the purpose they were written for.
My growing concern is how hard it is for educators to find quality skills/actions due to the lack of curation inside the search engines. I think this has to change if teachers are going to use voice more robustly.
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3. The idea of the visual learner, who learns by seeing something demonstrated, as opposed to reading about it, is a staple of pedagogical thought. How do conversational AI devices — which rely only on audio (save for something like the Amazon Echo Show) — figure into the debate over teaching styles?
Julie Daniel Davis: I believe the more ways we can reach a student, the better. The visual aspects of teaching will always be important. In this case, I think voice becomes yet another tool to tap into in the classroom but shouldn’t be the only way. These devices lend themselves to rote memorization of facts, reading with short answer responses, and adding another voice in the classroom to give directions while teachers work in small groups.
I don’t believe it should ever be the only tool, but I do believe voice has the ability to enhance learning when used specifically for what it seems to do best - dialogue in short bursts. I’ve also seen many educators use voice with a visual alongside - maybe it’s a diagram, a book, or a worksheet.
4. Here’s a question that’s not about #VoiceFirst(!): What are your thoughts on the educational outfits known as MOOCs, or Massive Online Open Courses?
Ok, ok…how does voice technology fit into the MOOC space, if at all?
Julie Daniel Davis: I think MOOCs only work if the learner is passionate about the subject before them. There are some really poorly digitally designed options out there, but YouTube, for instance, is a favorite place for students to go and learn how to do something on their own. My own daughter taught herself how to knit at age 16 using YouTube because she was looking for a cost efficient way to give Christmas gifts one day.
I do believe MOOCs have the potential of changing education as we know it but the quality of curriculum has to improve dramatically. Interestingly, I have been studying to take the CETL exam (an EdTech exam) and I created an Alexa Blueprint flash briefing to help myself memorize all the crazy acronyms in education. There’s value there for rote memorization, right now.
5. We’ve observed that people are often hesitant to utilize voice assistants in public because they’re shy. Who wants to air all of their queries to nearby strangers?
I would think that school-age children, who are especially prone to being concerned about judgement by peers, would be more reticent than even the typical adult user of a smartphone. Have you observed this in the classroom? How do children interact with voice assistants?
Julie Daniel Davis: Small children love talking to voice assistants. Immediate feedback and the novelty of it all is very intriguing to them. Perhaps the same kids that might be hesitant to ask questions in class are also hesitant to interact with voice assistants, but I have heard of teachers with ESL (English as a Second Language) students placing one in the room so that those students can go to the corner and clarify a word meaning at times. I also have teachers that use voice to help students with emotional support specifically. Voice doesn’t have to be the intrusive voice in the classroom. It can also be the quiet voice of aid in the corner of the room [emphasis added].
6. Which voice assistant is poised, over the long term, to bring the most value to #VoiceFirst in education? Alexa, Google Assistant, or Siri? Or to mention one close to my own heart (and work history), Bixby?
Perhaps none of the above?
Julie Daniel Davis: The fact that none of them are even speaking into the space scares the bejeebies out of me. Why not? Is it because they don’t think it’s safe for student privacy issues? At this point I think the closest is the Kids Edition Echo Dot using FreeTime. Amazon claims it is COPPA compliant. It filters inappropriate access and discussions. It allows teachers with no coding background to easily create Blueprint skills specifically for the learning in their classroom. The price point is good, but I continue to have growing concerns; after my one year of free FreeTime runs out, I realize that just to have the filtering I have to pay nearly the same cost of the device again for FreeTime every year.
I would be happy with any company to enter the space diligently and keep the price point at a place educators can feel comfortable with. I am not married to a brand or product; I am married to the concept that voice has the potential to create personalized learning informational pathways that can make remarkable differences for the students we reach.
