All About Bookiemonster: A New Software For Kids
A new software called the Bookiemonster has been released recently to coach and teach kids how to read. This software was developed by a team in Waikato University and it is called the repeated reading software since it uses computer-generated voices and speech recognition that kids can use. This was a project included in the Microsoft Imagine Cup, a competition geared to finding possible solutions to worldwide problems like poverty, illiteracy, and diseases.
Overview
- Children who use this software listen to texts that are read by the computer aloud. It follows the words as they are highlighted progressively on screen. It tells the words to the children as if they are listening to a karaoke. The computer reads the texts several times and after which the children will then speak to the computer through a microphone and repeat what the computer has said. The computer will then follow what they are saying and highlights the words on screen.
Advantages
- This software will definitely help children learn how to read to better prepare them in their future. It can be used in the comfort of their homes as well as in schools. In addition, it helps children develop speech recognition. It can greatly improve literacy rates on places where children could not go and attend school and their literacy rates are below 50%. Furthermore, this software can also be used to teach other languages like Spanish or French.
As of now, this software is being developed for a prototype to see its effectiveness in schools. Trials are conducted to numerous schools in order to see its expected results among children. Hopefully the trials come out good in order for the software to be available world wide. Once this software is already for good use, it can really help children learn how to read as early as they can. Do consider this software for your kids in the future if you want them to learn reading in an early age.
