Featuring original research and analysis on mobile and open learning published as Open Educational Resources (OERs) by professional educators enrolled in the University of British Columbia's Master of Educational Technology (MET) program. Browse and be inspired!
Posted in (A3) Mobile Forum, KNOWLEDGE MILL, Mobile Culture, Mobile Education, and Mobile Technologies
Hi everyone,
This video presents my forecasting concept: a Voice-Building AI Companion designed to support students in developing confidence, voice, and critical thinking through guided mobile interaction. Thanks!
The voice demo was too long to include in the main video, so this is the full, uncut interaction for those who would like to explore it further. This version is presented at normal speed.
Thank you!
Rachel
Rachel L. is a high school English teacher in BC, completing her 9th and 10th courses in the UBC MET program. She is interested in how the broad spectrum of mobile technologies could reshape assessment, engagement, and identity in future classrooms.
View more postsYou must be logged in to post a comment.
I also liked how you positioned your project around supporting the early stages of thinking, not just the final performance. A lot of existing AI tools, as you mentioned, focus narrowly on speaking skills or pronunciation, but they do not help students form the reasoning behind their ideas. Your focus on guided brainstorming, reflective dialogue, and helping students articulate their thinking aloud seems genuinely valuable for anxious speakers. The way the AI summarizes the conversation in the student’s own words is a clever way to help them see how their thinking has developed.
The example you included with the “no phone policy” brainstorming was helpful for visualizing how the tool works in practice. It showed how the AI could sustain the conversation and keep ideas flowing without pressuring the student. I also appreciated how you connected the concept to dialogic learning research, especially the idea that speech shapes thinking, not just expresses it.
Amazing Rachel !
I really enjoyed your concept of a Voice-Building AI Companion, it feels like such a meaningful way to support students who struggle with confidence or finding their voice. The guided prompts and reflective structure you designed make the interaction feel supportive rather than scripted, which is a big strength.
The extended voice demo was really helpful too. It gave a clearer sense of how the tool adapts and responds in real time, and I can see how this could build students’ comfort with speaking over time. One thing I’m curious about is how you imagine balancing guidance with open-ended exploration, so it doesn’t feel too directed.
Overall, a thoughtful and well-presented forecast, thanks for sharing it!
Rachel, your concept is thoughtful and practical, and you present it with clarity. The focus on building student voice and confidence through a mobile AI companion feels relevant and useful for real classrooms. The demo shows strong potential for guided reflection and skill development, and the mobile format makes it accessible for students and teachers. I appreciate how your design supports individualized learning while still keeping the experience simple to navigate. The extended voice interaction is helpful for understanding how students might engage with the tool. Overall, this is a promising and usable idea with strong educational value.
Very cool idea Rachel!
I’ve also noticed this shift of social anxiety/over-awareness in students post 2020. Working with secondary ELL students, many of them struggle to get started on their work. As translation has become their clutch, they have lost confidence in themselves. Even though they can discuss the idea verbally, they struggle to communicate it in writing because they fear that they’ve made mistakes in their grammar, sentence structure, and vocabulary. It’s almost like there is this wave of perfectionism that has them avoiding environments and subjects that they can make errors.
However, your AI companion could really help students move from feeling stuck, to learn how to bounce ideas around. I can see this especially useful for our students with difficulties in written communication and output as well as social discomforts! I think this tool would be even more helpful if it had the ability to share updates to the teacher to see that students are on topic, understand concepts, or are developing this ideas appropriately.
Your project highlighted the risk of learners relying too heavily on AI’s judgment instead of developing their own critical voice. That is an important point, and your framing shows a strong awareness of how AI can both support and unintentionally hinder learning. At the same time, I also think AI has potential to build learners’ confidence, especially when it can recognize, affirm, and encourage their ideas. As an ELL learner, I always struggle between say more and say the right thing, the feeling of anxiety and hinder me to express my thoughts more freely. Therefore, I agree with your suggest which also aligns with the scaffolding strategies, that could also gradually build independence of the learners and express their voice freely.
This is a really thoughtful and much needed tool. I teach University students and our faculty have noted that post-pandemic students entering University are showing a significant increase in all the challenges you speak to here. And I can’t imagine how challenging it must be to deal with the issues that the pandemic has brought to the classroom. This seems like a tool that cold have broad use and could potentially help a lot of students develop confidence in speaking — for presentations, in-class participation, simply conversations. Thank you for such a thoughtful perspective.
This was a thoughtful presentation, and it tackled a problem that I suspect many teachers are noticing right now: students being way more hesitant to speak up. I appreciate how you connect this to the anxiety that students are facing and how easy it is for them to hide behind their screens. The idea of a “thinking buddy” sounds very practical and genuinely supportive.
I liked how you pointed out the gap in existing AI tools. Existing technologies might tend to focus on how students speak, and not as much on helping them actually develop their thinking. I’m glad you included a demo! I find the presentations that include actual examples of their ideas in action much more engaging and understandable.
I enjoy how this was presented with both video and audio. The format was engaging and I thought you forecasted your technology quite well. I feel that this would be most effective for ELL students, especially in situations where one teacher may be working with a larger group. ELL students need significant support and your idea would meet the needs of many new language learners. Beyond an elementary classroom, I could see this being useful for adults learning a new language as well.
Thank you for sharing this thoughtful reflection!
I really like how your idea of a conversational AI companion focuses on helping students from the very start of their thinking—not just correcting speech, but encouraging deeper reflection and confidence in their own ideas. Guiding students through brainstorming, summarizing their thoughts, and then supporting their presentations feels like a great way to gently bring them back into conversation and critical thinking.
Hi Rachel,
I see a lot of potential for your idea for English Language Learners (i.e., new English speakers). This tool would allow them to not only practice their conversation skill in a safe environment, but also build their confidence as they respond to the AI. Since a lot of AI has the ability to translate languages, this would have the added benefit of helping students learn English. In your opinion, should teachers have opportunities to review the conversation between the student and the Chatbot, or would a summarized trend be adequate to protect the student’s privacy?
I really appreciate the focus on dialogic learning here, because the idea of using AI to build confidence rather than replace thinking feels like the right direction. At the same time, I keep thinking about how we can strengthen this concept so it doesn’t create new forms of dependency. Recent findings from the APA (2025)* show that young people are increasingly relying on technology not just for learning, but for emotional regulation and social connection, which can quietly erode real-world interpersonal skills. This makes the design challenge even more important.
If we want an AI companion to help students articulate their ideas, we also need intentional guardrails that push them back into human interactions—structured handoff moments, limits on continuous prompting, or built-in nudges toward peer dialogue. Pairing dialogic AI with routines that gradually fade support could make the tool both empowering and safer for long-term learning. In that sense, the project has the potential not only to boost confidence, but also to model healthier relationships with technology overall.
*https://www.apa.org/monitor/2025/10/technology-youth-friendships
Hi Rachel,
I really enjoyed viewing your project and can see strong potential for it. I teach high school English, and I notice how difficult it is for many students to share their ideas aloud. I often hear from the same few voices while the rest sit quietly behind their computers. They all have thoughtful insights, but so many are anxious about speaking up. The tool you presented feels like a meaningful way to support them in building confidence at their own pace. It can be challenging for teachers to spend enough one-on-one time prompting students individually, especially in a class of 30 or more students. Your approach gives students a space to practice without fear of judgment, allowing them to build their skills independently while still feeling supported.