Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become the talk of the town, thanks to the chatbot named ChatGPT. Microsoft has unveiled ambitious plans for it in the Bing search engine and Edge browser. However, Microsoft is looking to deploy AI in classrooms to make it easier for kids to learn better and give teachers additional tools.
For public speaking and presentation skills
In a blog post, Microsoft said that two of its tools — Speaker Progress and Speaker Coach — can help improve student speaking and presentation skills. The tools allow students to practice independently and provide real-time coaching to assist in improving and building their confidence as presenters.
What Speaker Coach does is that it evaluates and provides real-time feedback on student pacing and pitch, inclusiveness, use of filler words, and more. Speaker Coach allows students to practice privately and provides tips on developing a persuasive presentation, helping to build confidence, ease presentation anxiety, and utilise critical thinking skills.
Speaker Coach is built into Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Teams, and LinkedIn. Speaker Progress will be available in Microsoft Teams Assignments.
Speaker Progress, on the other hand, is a new tool that saves teachers time by streamlining the process of creating, reviewing, and analysing speaking and presentation assignments for students, groups, and classrooms. Teachers and students can see a summary of key presentation skill areas and areas for improvement, according to Microsoft. Speaker Progress will be available in preview within Teams for Education the 2023-2024 school year.

For better math skills
Like with speaking, Microsoft has Math Progress and Math Coach tools which provide students with additional practice, real-time feedback, and helpful tips and help teachers create assignments and streamline the review process for individual students and classrooms.
What Math Coach does is that it breaks down each part of a problem – with text explanations for each step and operation in more detail – to help students think more critically about how and why they arrived at a particular solution.
On the other hand, Math Progress assists teachers in generating practice questions, identifying which concepts challenged students, and providing feedback and personalised support more efficiently. “The tools work in tandem, as Math Coach generates additional practice problems for students based on teacher input and insights gathered from their previous Math Progress assignments,” said Microsoft in a blog post.
Both Math Progress and Math Coach will be available within Microsoft Teams for Education in preview in the 2023-2024 school year.