Amazon Product Launch: Educational Gains?
Perhaps Alexa heard my latest “Voice in Education” flash briefing episode where I said I was feeling “meh” about the products because today I’m intrigued by the products currently being introduced in today’s product launch. But wowsers, what a list today! From wearables in the form of glasses and earbuds to microwaves and high quality speakers, Amazon is taking Alexa out of the home and out to roam!
And while I am very excited about the Echo Auto I installed in my car yesterday, I am MOST excited about the new features in the privacy hub! “You can view, hear, and delete your voice recordings at Alexa Privacy Settings or int he Alexa app at any time. To delete by voice, you can also say, “Alexa, delete what I just said” or “Alexa, delete everything I said today.” (https://www.amazon.com/Alexa-Privacy-Hub/b?ie=UTF8&node=19149155011_) I believe this is a game changer for using Alexa in the classroom because you can now manage voice recordings with voice! At the end of the day, have Alexa delete all voice recordings. The newest feature of transparency is “Alexa tell me what you heard?” Today, Dave Isbitski, Chief Evangelism Officer for Alexa, stated “In the last year, the Alexa wake word engine has gotten 50% more accurate.” Amazon is showing us they want this to be a safe, good user experience with these updates that address so many current concerns about privacy. Amazon is allowing customers to be in control of their content.
It was also announced that Alexa now has the ability to be bilingual in Spanish, French, and Hindi due to its advances in neural text to speech. Alexa is learning how to communicate with us better and better…each of us, thanks to AI. She will be showing “emotion”, allowing us to interact with the voice of Samuel Jackson, and picking up on our frustrations. Alexa grows smarter every day.
But you know me…I’m always looking for how Alexa can impact students, children, and learning. There is now an Alexa Education Skill API that will allow parents to know how students are doing in school, what’s the homework, schedules, etc. I’m immediately wanting to dig into this and create this opportunity for our families. Point me the right way!
One thing that I also found intriguing is that parents can now “white list” contacts for their children so they can communicate with them via “texting” or phone calls. I’m imagining this could possibly be a disruptor to the cell phone industry once families learn about how it could save them on big phone bills.
Many new products hit the market today, some only being available via invite (very bougie approach). I haven’t had much time to process yet but I wanted to give a shoutout to the things that immediately caught my attention. Alas, there was no announcement of truly addressing the educational market. We are still seeing educational opportunities for children in the hands of parents as far as Amazon is concerned. My next few days will be thinking on what can be done with what was shared today! Happy Alexa-ing!
