Classroom Use and Efficacy of an Automated Reading Tutor that Listens

该项目将研究一种创新的、技术支持的小学阅读方法——一种自动阅读家教，它可以在电脑屏幕上显示故事，听孩子们大声朗读，并帮助他们学习阅读。在一所城市小学的实验使用提供了初步的证据，证明阅读导师有能力让学生参与持续的辅助阅读。在一项为期四个月的对照研究中，使用阅读导师的孩子在阅读理解方面的收获明显高于那些花同样时间参加常规活动的同学。该项目解决的主要问题是阅读导师在实际课堂中使用的有效性。实验包括评估阅读导师对学生进步的纵向影响，将其与商业软件和真人导师进行比较。预期的结果包括展示语音识别在建立和评估阅读技能方面的有效性，并确定有多少不同类型的学习者、问题和技能集受益于这种帮助。可持续性和可扩展性将通过分析和解决影响系统使用量的技术和教室之间界面的关键因素来解决。在商用计算机上运行的阅读导师的连续原型的实验将为它和其他教育软件的转变奠定研究基础，使其成为可负担得起的、有效的、可扩展的干预措施，从而真正改变儿童的教育。

This project will investigate an innovative, technology-enabled approach to elementary reading - an automated reading tutor that displays stories on a computer screen, listens to children read aloud, and helps them learn to read. Experimental use in an urban elementary school has provided initial evidence of the Reading Tutor's ability to engage students in sustained assisted reading. In a four-month controlled study, children who used the Reading Tutor gained significantly more in reading comprehension than classmates who spent the same time in regular activities. The main question addressed by the project is the efficacy of the Reading Tutor when used in real classrooms. The experiments include an evaluation of the Reading Tutor's longitudinal effects on student progress, compared to commercial software and to human tutors. Expected outcomes include demonstrating the effectiveness of speech-recognition-enabled assistance in building and assessing reading skills, and establishing how much various type so learners, problems, and skill sets benefit from such assistance.Sustainability and scalability will be addressed by analyzing and addressing key factors at the interface between technology and the classroom that affect the amount of usage of the system. Experiments with successive prototypes of a Reading Tutor that runs on commercially available computers will lay research foundations for transition of it and other educational software into affordable, effective, scalable interventions that can make a real difference in children's education.