Virtual Assistants as a Tool for Motivation and Autonomous Learning

Abstract

Teachers have many resources at their disposal to improve the teaching process. Technology, if properly integrated, not only improves teaching, but also motivates students (Flores-Vivar & García-Peñalvo, 2023). The aim of this study is to identify whether the use of voice-enabled virtual assistants such as Alexa, Google Assistant or Siri improves the teaching-learning process. The participants in this study were 267 4th grade primary school pupils. Of these, 67 were part of a control group. As support for the information search and doubt resolution phase, the students in the study group (200) had different voice assistants at their disposal compared to the control group, which only had the textbook at their disposal. After carrying out the dynamics, it was observed that there were no significant differences between the marks obtained by the study group and the control group. About the use of the voice assistant, 87.3% of students chose to use it as their first option when searching for specific information and 91.4% chose it as their first option to resolve their doubts. In terms of response capacity, of the total of 2172 questions asked to the voice assistants, only 62.3% were answered satisfactorily. It can be concluded that voice assistants are a resource that motivates students and develops their autonomy. Despite this, these resources have limitations in terms of interaction and knowledge, which prevents them from being relevant in improving the teaching-learning process.



Author Information
Miguel Lázaro Alcalde, Universidad Internacional de La Rioja, Spain

Paper Information
Conference: ECE2023
Stream: Learning Experiences

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Posted by James Alexander Gordon