The start of a new school year is always exciting. This year was even more so for some students at White Cloud Primary School. They became the world’s first kids to be “taught” by an electronic teacher. This electronic teacher is not a human-like robot walking around the classroom. Instead, he is a computer-created head that appears, when needed, on students’ computer or phone screens. His name is Bill.
Created by technology company Smart Machines, Bill is able to show human-like behavior. He is designed to teach a special program about environmental-friendly power created by the sun and wind. This program, started in 2005, used to be taught by human teachers.
Just like human teachers, Bill is able to immediately respond to the students’ questions and opinions about the topic quickly. Thanks to computer cameras, he is also able to see and react (反应) to students’ physical actions. For example, if a student smiles at Bill, he responds by smiling back. This two-way exchange helps get the students’ attention. More importantly, it allows the program developers to improve Bill’s behavior and knowledge base (库).
The program has been a great success, according to Smart Machines Spokesman Robert Frost. Frost says, “What is interesting to me is the children’s reaction to Bill. He really captures their attention.” Frost thinks kids don’t find the experience of being taught by smart machines as strange as older people because they have grown up in a time of computers and smart phones.
Maybe human educators will lose their jobs soon because of Bill. But his talking head’s knowledge base is not large. More importantly, even the smartest computer programs can’t guess and react to all the unexpected situations that educators face daily. Bill’s future might be providing kids with one on-one help for different subjects and topics.
【小题1】Bill is ________.| A．a student | B．a kind of computer game |
| C．a human-like robot | D．a computer-created head |
| A．It lets them correct students’ mistakes. |
| B．It helps Bill to reply more quickly. |
| C．It helps them know how to improve Bill. |
| D．It helps them study students’ body language. |
| A．getting students’ attention | B．understanding body language |
| C．replying to students’ questions | D．dealing with unexpected situations |
| A．work as human classroom teachers |
| B．encourage students’ interest in computers |
| C．give students personal help with different subjects |
| D．watch over the behavior of the students in the class room |
| A．Bill can show human-like behavior. |
| B．The experience of being taught by smart machines isn’t strange to kids. |
| C．Bill’s knowledge base is large enough. |
| D．If you smile at Bill, he will smile back. |
