Microsoft's tool for AI reading lessons is now a standalone app

Microsoft is rolling out Reading Coach as a standalone app, which will expand its tools for educators in Microsoft Teams. The new app will be part of its Reading Progress suite designed to help students improve literacy in the classroom and at home. The tool will use artificial intelligence to provide users with personalized feedback on how to improve reading scores as well as specific suggestions for how to improve things like pronunciation. It will be free to any users that have a Microsoft account.

With prolonged use, the AI tool will flag specific words that a reader frequently mispronounces or misunderstands during reading sessions. To keep students engaged, the program will also ask a reader to choose prompts that can change a storyline as they progress.

Microsoft says teachers can integrate its program in classrooms through learning platforms starting in the Spring. But the tool is available to educators this month in preview. Teachers will be able to track how student’s feel about assignments using the Reflect tool within the program. This kind of feedback might help an educator determine what assignments students feel most excited about and which lessons might not be working. Beyond tracking student performance, the new features for Microsoft’s Teams for Education suite will help teachers generate content for lessons, such as passages and assignments for a student to engage with.

Microsoft also introduced new features for its Teams for Education app, which is designed to help educators tailor content for digital learning platforms. The Classwork tool will use AI to emphasize particular messages in an assignment’s instructions, according to an educator’s particular goals for that lesson. The Assignments tool will use AI to streamline the rubric generating process. Outlines can be tailored by a teacher based on grade level, evaluation scale or other factors.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-tool-for-ai-reading-lessons-is-now-a-standalone-app-230520756.html?src=rss

The Army Is Refusing To Return The Remains Of 2 Native Boys

The Winnebago have sued to force the military to comply with a longstanding law requiring the U.S. government to return Native human remains to their tribes.

The Army Is Refusing To Return The Remains Of 2 Native Boys

The Winnebago have sued to force the military to comply with a longstanding law requiring the U.S. government to return Native human remains to their tribes.

The Army Is Refusing To Return The Remains Of 2 Native Boys

The Winnebago have sued to force the military to comply with a longstanding law requiring the U.S. government to return Native human remains to their tribes.

Ryan Coogler's Top Secret New Movie Could Team Michael B. Jordan With Vampires

Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan are getting ready to make their fifth movie together and, for the first time ever, this one is going to suck. That’s because it’s about vampires. Or so the rumors say.

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This $300 Heated Jacket Left Me Shivering but Cleaned My Glasses Perfectly

Uze, a brand that primarily makes power banks, sent me its first-ever graphene-heated jacket this winter. After wearing it for a couple of days, I’ll admit I was left wanting for way more.

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Fate of Japan's History-Making ‘Lunar Sniper’ in Doubt After Power Malfunction

Japan’s SLIM is on the Moon and sending data to Earth, in what is a monumental achievement for Japan—it’s now the fifth country to accomplish the feat. The successful soft landing notwithstanding, the situation looks grim; officials with Japanese space agency JAXA say the lander’s solar cell is not generating…

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What Happens When the Funko Pops Are Decimated?

Once upon a time, I became a meme and didn’t even know it. It was the summer of 2016 and I was hanging out with friends after a long day of work. A few drinks in, we’re joking around and my friend Mike said to me, in an odd, cheeky way I didn’t quite understand—almost like he didn’t want to mention it but the booze…

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How to Survive a Horror Movie Prom in 10 Easy Steps

After finding success with its 2021 Fear Street trilogy, Netflix is plotting its next R.L. Stine adaptation, taking on the prolific author’s 1992 YA release The Prom Queen. The book’s plot and setting evoke one of horror’s favorite traditions: turning high-school dances into bloodbaths.

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The Rabbit R1 will offer up-to-date answers powered by Perplexity's AI

The Rabbit R1 launch at CES left many questions unanswered, but earlier today, the brand finally shed light on which LLM (large language model) will be powering the device’s interaction with us mere mortals. The AI provider in question is none other than Perplexity, a San Francisco-based startup with ambitions to overtake Google in the AI space, which is no wonder that it has already received investments from the likes of NVIDIA and Jeff Bezos.

Perplexity will be providing up-to-date search results via Rabbit’s $199 orange brick — without the need of any subscription. That said, the first 100,000 R1 buyers will receive one year of Perplexity Pro subscription — normally costing $200 — for free. This advanced service adds file upload support, a daily quota of over 300 complex queries and the ability to switch to other AI models (GPT-4, Claude 2.1 or Gemini), though these don’t necessarily apply to the R1’s use case.

The Rabbit R1, designed by Teenage Engineering, features a 2.88-inch touchscreen, a scroll wheel, two mics, a speaker, a rotational camera and a “Push-to-Talk” button. By leveraging its Large Action Model (LAM), this dedicated gadget can perform tasks like booking rides, finding recipes based on the ingredients you have, identifying people and objects (including items in, say, your fridge), or just fact checking — which we now know will rely on Perplexity’s real-time search engine. The R1 is available for pre-order now ahead of shipment in March or April.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-rabbit-r1-will-offer-up-to-date-answers-powered-by-perplexitys-ai-031313883.html?src=rss