Alexa in Education

Amazon Alexa is ushering in a new era of technology. One where students, educators, and parents can use their voice to interact with technology that deepens learning, provides access to critical information, and saves time. With Alexa, students can track upcoming events on their calendar, get study resources, or make an appointment with a guidance counselor – all without having to open their computer. Teachers can use Alexa to prepare for upcoming lessons, while administrators can quickly access important information like enrollment statistics.

Watch how Amazon Alexa is changing how students live and learn.

Lancaster University in the UK is using Alexa to make it easier for students to navigate their academic and university life. They recently launched Ask L.U., an Alexa skill that lets students book a free pod at the library, get the latest campus news, check in on their grades, and more – all with their voice. Hear more about how they are using Alexa to improve the student experience on campus and beyond.

Saint Louis University (SLU) will become the first university to bring virtual personal assistants into every student residence on its campus and to equip them with a private, SLU-specific skill through Alexa for Business. This fall, SLU plans to place more than 2,300 Amazon Echo Dots in residence hall rooms and student apartments.

Ada, Bolton College’s chatbot, has been supporting students since April 2017, answering a broad range of questions about the College and its services. Recently, the college launched its staff-facing chatbot, which responds to questions from teachers and support teams regarding campus services, student progress, and more. Through the voice-first Alexa Skill, students, teachers, and support teams can get information about the College, their studies, and their work through their Echo smart speakers or via their Alexa smartphone app.

School district administrators deal with several daily questions: How many substitutes did my district have yesterday? What was the number of lost educational hours resulting from absences? How many open positions must be filled in my district?

With AWS and Amazon Alexa, Frontline Education is able to serve the answers to these questions and more. The new Frontline skill provides easy, on-demand access to critical data and actionable insights. Through Alexa-enabled devices, education leaders can interact with data to make informed decisions about their organizations on topics ranging from attracting, engaging, growing and retaining educators to managing day-to-day operations like absences and substitute teacher fill rates.

At the University of Oklahoma, we asked ourselves: Can Amazon Alexa help engage college students and enhance their educational experience? How will students utilize voice technology as they graduate and move into their careers?

Within the University of Oklahoma IT department, we aim to affect the student experience on campus in more ways than just delivering technology. We have found that the more a student is engaged on campus, the more likely they are to graduate. Technology innovation, like Alexa, will play a major role in that mission.

Aim is to enhance engineering students’ experience while preparing them to become leaders in voice-technology development