虚拟教师

浙江 江 丽

虚拟教师是未来教育的方向吗？一起来看看本文中由奥克兰能源公司Vector和人工智能公司Soul Machines合作开发的虚拟教师吧。

体裁：新闻报道文章词数：331建议用时：6分钟

While the start of a new school year is always exciting, this year was even more so for some elementary school students in Auckland,New Zealand.They became the world's first kids to be“taught”by a digital teacher, Will. Will is just an avatar (用户头像) that ap⁃pears on the students' desktop, tablet, or smartphone screen, not a human⁃like robot walk⁃ing around the classroom.

Auckland energy company Vector and AI company Soul Machines worked together to develop Will, which has been modeled af⁃ter the human brain and nervous system, al⁃lowing it to perform human⁃like behavior. The digital teacher is currently teaching Vector's“Be sustainable with energy”,a free program for Auckland elementary schools.

Just like the humans it replaced, Will is able to instantly react to the students' re⁃sponses to the topic. Thanks to a webcam (网络摄像头) and microphone, the avatar not only responds to questions the kids may have,but also picks up non⁃verbal cues(非口头提示). For instance, if a student smiles at Will, he responds by smiling back.This two⁃way interaction not only helps capture the students'attention,but also allows the program's developers to monitor their participation,and make changes if needed.

Vector's Chief Digital Officer, Nikhil Ravishankar says,“What was fascinating to me was the reaction of the children to Will. The way they look at the world is so creative and different,and Will really captured their attention.”

Will, in place since August 2018, has been a great success so far. However, regard⁃less of how popular it becomes,Will is unlikely to replace human educators any time soon.For one thing, the avatar's knowledge base is severely restricted. For another, even the smartest digital avatars could never predict and react to all the unexpected situations that educators have to deal with on a daily basis. However, it could come in handy as a“per⁃sonal tutor”,providing kids with one⁃on⁃one help on specific subjects or even topics.

Reading Check

1.What can Will do in class?

A.Think like humans.

B.Satisfy all kids'needs.

C.Interact with the students.

D.Monitor students'participation.

2.What's Nikhil Ravishankar's attitude to Will?

A.Positive. B.Tolerant. C.Doubtful. D.Indifferent.

3.What does the last paragraph mainly talk about?

A.Will's popularity. B.Will's limitations.

C.Will's applications. D.Will's convenience.

Language Study

Sentence for writing

This two⁃way interaction not only helps capture the students'attention,but also allows the program's developers to monitor their participation, and make changes if needed. 这种双向的互动不仅有助于吸引学生的注意力，而且还能让项目的开发人员监测学生们的参与情况，并在需要时做出改变。

【信息提取】not only...but also...意为“不但……而且……”。

【句式仿写】他不但读了这本书，而且还记得所读的内容。

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