Bamboo Learning EDU “Comprehension Through Conversation" app

Bamboo Learning leverages patent-pending technology and research-backed instructional methodology to offer students a unique learning experience that emulates read-aloud experience integrated with free-form conversation centered on comprehension checkpoints.

The problems Bamboo Learning is aimed at addressing are:

1) Children develop comprehension skills through reading & listening to rich literature and having “serve & return” conversations about texts; but 30:1 student-teacher ratio does not leave much room for 1:1 interaction; and parents have limited availability and are faced with a variety of stress factors.

2) Recover, reinforce, and/or accelerate K–5 learning in reading with a unique voice-powered approach at school and at home. Specifically, the application aims to enable K–5 students to compensate for 2020-21 unfinished learning (estimated 55% of students lost 3-12 months so far, which will take years to address).

Therefore, by using a unique voice-powered approach, students can receive guided learning when adults are not available. The solution is also designed to level the playing field for at-risk children in marginalized communities who experience a much lower rate of interactive at-home learning and 1-to-1 support than children in affluent communities.

Bamboo Learning’s solution is a voice- and speech-enabled iPad application that mimics the dialogic reading experience. Research and current trends in educational technology point to voice technology as a leveller, with the potential to drive equity, scale assessments, and enable learners to interact with technology more independently. Our technology is based on a proprietary, platform-agnostic model that flexibly evaluates learner’s voice responses and provides immediate feedback via voice. 

Bamboo Learning is geared towards learners in grades K–5, and can be used for academic acceleration, intervention, and recovery purposes. Our voice-enabled solution does not require reading or keyboard fluency, therefore it is accessible to every learner, including emerging and struggling readers, ESL/ELL students, and children with learning differences.

As studies around the impact of school closures due to COVID-19 on students emerge, the initial trends paint a rather grim picture. The underlying finding in all the adverse consequences of school closures is that disadvantaged families are disproportionately affected, and are more vulnerable to dropping out of school, and experiencing reduced learning gains, as well as challenges in physical and mental wellbeing. Therefore, addressing equity and using technology as an equalizer are the core tenets driving Bamboo Learning’s mission. 

In terms of the impact of the solution, voice recognition is  identified as the next transformative step in personalized learning where learners can receive intervention, remediative/corrective, and enriched learning. Bamboo Learning’s “Comprehension through Conversation” application is unique in its flexibility while evaluating learners’ free-form voice responses to comprehension questions related to characters, setting, actions, behaviors, descriptive details, and more. In summary, students can achieve significant gains in language skills through a true conversational learning experience.

With decades of expertise in voice technology, curriculum development, and instruction, the Bamboo Learning team is rooted in innovation and well-positioned to fulfill its mission. Learning engineering is at the core of the company’s product and content philosophy – Bamboo Learning’s Co-Founder and Chief Content Officer, Irina Fine, oversees the curriculum and content development strategy for the products, and ensures that the learning solution supports pedagogical best practices and research. Ian Freed, Co-Founder and CEO of Bamboo Learning, serves as the technical leader for the development of the voice recognition model, and translates the desired learning outcomes for users into technical specifications for the product and engineering teams. 

Bamboo Learning has a learner-centered approach in the product development and implementation phases. In the product development phase, learners are involved in user-testing activities and participation in focus groups (with diverse representation of learners)  that help determine the placement of reading materials and literacy activities in the product.  

Content-wise, Bamboo Learning supports the development of the whole child by boosting critical skills such as listening, analytical thinking, and communication in learners.  In the reading comprehension activities, active and purposeful listening is emphasized. It can be shown that voice-enabled learning can further develop students’ communication capability and enhance their leadership and employability skills. The content curated through our partnership with Highlights for Children and Teacher Created Materials (TCM) ensures that activities represent diversity and are culturally responsive, thereby reinforcing social and emotional development as well. 

In the implementation phase, student choice and self-directed learning are incorporated in many ways on the Bamboo Learning platform. For example, Bamboo Learning offers students a choice of fun animal avatars during setup, they are also able to  choose a book they are interested in reading/listening to from a menu of grade-leveled fiction and nonfiction titles, or decide to continue with the book they have already started, in which case Bamboo Learning picks up where a student left off. Lastly, students can also use voice commands to guide their learning. Bamboo Learning’s Panda praises students and gently encourages them to try again when students don’t get the answer on the first try.  In summary, our team is working to build products that provide human narration, feedback, supportive hints, rewards for learning milestones, and more to revolutionize literacy instruction in the classroom, language learning at home,  and foster confidence and the love of learning in users. 

Bamboo Learning has a pioneering voice- and speech-enabled solution to build foundational literacy skills in learners. However, this is only scratching the surface of what Bamboo Learning –or voice technology – can do to revolutionize literacy instruction in the classroom and foster confidence and the love of learning in users. 

Therefore, Bamboo Learning is applying to Solve to gather resources (financial or otherwise), to conduct evaluation studies to further the evidence of learning outcomes. We would like to specifically conduct studies in partnership with marginalized populations our product aims to serve, such as under-funded school districts and Title I schools. 

Additionally, we hope that the objective of the studies will be twofold, where our team can continue accelerating product development based on feedback and advance Bamboo Learning’s product in the direction of machine learning-based intervention tools.  

Bamboo Learning’s  patent-pending technology offers students a unique learning experience that emulates read-aloud experience integrated with free-form conversation centered on comprehension checkpoints. Bamboo Learning’s literacy solution is the only digital application that enables students to verbally engage in thousands of literacy activities that help boost active listening, vocabulary, narrative, and other foundational literacy skills. 

Impact goals for the next year include developing a more robust product with reporting features that enable teachers to track student progress in the Bamboo Learning’s literacy app –this is essential for monitoring language gains and contributing to the body of research on the impact of voice technology on children’s literacy. These goals will be achieved through more partnerships with school districts to drive a revenue stream to fund product development and to gather user feedback which will help iterate on new product features. 

Impact goals for the next five years include scaling up Bamboo Learning’s “Comprehension Through Conversation” solution to a large number of school districts throughout the United States, as well as internationally; exploring additional platforms (e.g., web-based applications); and advancing Bamboo Learning’s mission to offer personalized learning by employing machine learning and other advanced technical capabilities. These goals will be achieved through expanding school and district partnerships and growing Bamboo Learning’s revenue base, as well as through collaborating with strategic for-profit and nonprofit organizations (e.g. YMCA, Boys and Girls Clubs, MetaMetrics) to drive product adoption and build the network effect. 

At this stage, Bamboo Learning’s key impact goals are qualitative, and our results further emphasize the potential of voice technology for learning, both in and out of the classroom.  

Goal 1: Accessibility 

During remote learning in Spring 2020, Bamboo Learning published an open letter to parents, inviting them to use Bamboo Learning’s voice-enabled language and math tools at no cost. These free resources from Bamboo Learning were also listed in multiple databases that offered supplemental resources for parents (e.g., The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA)’s Tech for Learners database, ISTE’s database).

Results: This permissionless exposure of our work and making the resources available for free to families in need helped in bridging the classroom and home more effectively. We also saw tremendous growth in our user base. 

Goal 2: Build high-quality research and evidence-based products 

Results: Bamboo Learning’s iOS application is ESSA Level IV certified, which shows that the tool has a clear pathway to accelerate learning in literacy for K–5 students. 

Bamboo Learning has also been recognized as a leader in the voice industry and won multiple awards: 2021 & 2020 Education Voice Developer of the Year; 2019 Best Multimodal Experience of the Year; Finalist for 2021 Amazon Alexa Developer of the Year and 2019 Best Conversational Design of the Year; 3-time Webby Honoree (2021 & 2020); 2022 Bronze Anthem Awards Winner for purpose and mission-driven work in Education Innovation.

Goal 3: Providing out-of-school-time/intervention/expanded learning resources

Bamboo Learning partnered with the Oakland-based Philanthropic Ventures Foundation (PVF) and received support from their “Voice-Based Education Initiative” in September 2020. The first pilot program with a California-based Boys and Girls Club was launched, where Alexa devices were distributed to the BGCP families throughout Winter-Spring of 2021, and in-person training was provided in the Summer of 2021. This has been followed by another in-school pilot program at John Rex Charter School in Oklahoma City, where Bamboo Learning is working with teachers and students to contribute to quality educational opportunities JRCS offers to an economically and racially diverse group of students. 

Bamboo Learning’s Theory of Change is based on the following problem statement and logic model: Bamboo Learning EDU_Logic Model

Problem Statement: Students, especially in underserved communities, often experience a low rate of conversational, interactive learning as teachers may not have sufficient time to work with students one-on-one, and parents may not know how to engage in meaningful, dialogic reading. Current edtech literacy tools do not allow for such conversation through free response, which is critical to oral language, comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and other foundational literacy skills.

Bamboo Learning provides several inputs into the  program, including devices (i.e., iPads provided by schools/school districts/nonprofits); voice-enabled integrations that evaluate free-form responses; a library of high-interest, diverse, culturally responsive fiction and non-fiction texts; and content aligned to grade-level standards (e.g., comprehension questions, language arts activities). 

Using these program inputs, K–5 students, educators, and parents/guardians can engage with the Bamboo Learning platform through the following activities: 

• Students select books based on their interest and grade-level for a personalized learning experience

• Students use the application to listen to (and read along with) books and respond to CROWD prompts (i.e., completion, recall, open-ended, wh-, distancing*) in a conversational, free-form style

• Students can redeem earned tokens for special content*

• Bamboo Learning provides immediate verbal feedback and offers hints for incorrect responses

• Educators can monitor students progress in Bamboo Learning and offer off-platform support

• Parents learn how to engage in dialogic reading with their children

Bamboo Learning can examine the extent to which core activities were delivered and participants were reached by examining the following quantifiable outputs:

• number of books read/listened to

• number of questions answered (by prompt type)

• number of correct answers (by prompt type)

• number of hints needed

• number of tokens received*

• number of educator logins

• time spent in app daily (in school, out of school)

Lastly, the following short-term, intermediate, and long-term outcomes can be expected: 

In the short term

• educators will become aware of students’ literacy needs

• parents/guardians will become aware of the types of questions to ask in order to assess comprehension

• students – including emergent and struggling readers, English Language Learners, and students with learning difficulties – will have greater reading confidence, leading to greater reading interest and engagement, and greater engagement in independent reading

• students will also gain content knowledge and decoding skills

Intermediate outcomes include: 

•  educators personalizing their instruction to meet specific needs

• parents will become more engaged in their children’s literacy journey

• over time, students will have greater vocabulary, listening comprehension, reading comprehension, sentence structure, and oral language skills

Long-term outcomes include: 

• higher literacy achievement

• reduced literacy achievement gaps

• stronger communication and life skills that prepare students for life after K-12

Bamboo Learning EDU “Comprehension Through Conversation” solution is built on Bamboo Learning’s patent pending technology that allows flexibility in evaluating user voice responses. The learners can answer comprehension questions with a full sentence, a single word, or a phrase, using Bamboo Learning’s unique and proprietary voice recognition models. The application also ensures accuracy and speed that are critical to effective conversational learning. Currently, the Bamboo Learning solution is available on the Alexa platform (Bamboo Learning Alexa Skill) and iOS platform (Bamboo Learning EDU app).  

Outlined here is an example of user interaction with the Bamboo Learning’s current literacy

solution:

Learner selects a book from a library of fiction and nonfiction titles → Learner reads and listens

to narrated passages → Bamboo Learning prompts with a question → Learner responds via

voice (in some instances, touch response is offered on the iOS platform) → Bamboo Learning’s

engine evaluates the response → If response is incorrect, user is encouraged to try again

(feedback and hints are provided) → If the response is correct, the next prompt is provided or the next passage is narrated, and the flow continues.

Bamboo Learning embodies diversity, equity and inclusivity in the company mission and products. The team is made up of diverse individuals with different cultural and educational backgrounds. Bamboo Learning’s mission is to provide an equitable literacy solution with high-quality content to every learner in K–5, using cutting edge voice and speech recognition technology.  In terms of the product’s DEI lens, Bamboo Learning offers carefully curated, culturally responsive, high-interest fiction and nonfiction content that includes diverse protagonists and diverse narrators, giving students the opportunity to learn from different perspectives and hear a wide range of dialects.

The solution is targeted for use among K–5 students at school, home, or after school sites offering supplemental educational support. Therefore, two types of products are offered to make a bigger impact, distribute the product, and sustain growth in the marketplace: a consumer (B2C) subscription-based iOS app and a school-based (B2B) license per student per year app. 

The B2C app can be marketed through direct advertising, podcasts, and other advertising channels, whereas the B2B app is utilized by schools, school districts, non-profit and community-based organizations to reach high-priority students. Bamboo Learning is capitalizing on a B2B strategy aligned with American Rescue Plan (ARP) that allocates $22B to supplemental learning solutions and Out-of-School Time services through formalized contracts awarded via RFPs at various school districts, programs at charter school networks and after-school sites, and via other purchasing options.

1. Chicago Public Schools (CPS) 

 As of December 15th, 2021, Bamboo Learning is a Board-approved, pre-qualified vendor to provide educational technology products and services to CPS schools. The contract/Board’s master agreement will be executed in 1Q2022 and the term will be for three years, with one additional renewal year. Securing this opportunity at one of the largest urban school districts serving approximately 200,000 students in grades K through 8, in more than 400 elementary schools in Chicago, demonstrates Bamboo Learning’s high-quality product and a way forward to achieve financial sustainability.

2. John Rex Charter Elementary School, Oklahoma City

Bamboo Learning is currently piloting and overseeing an ESSA Level III evidence of effectiveness study with 40+ students at the school. In addition to gathering data to demonstrate the expected short-term and intermediate outcomes of using Bamboo Learning, this entry into the charter school network has opened doors into all Oklahoma public schools through a partnership with OPSRC (Oklahoma Public School Resource Center). 

3. Learn Anywhere Oklahoma (LAOK)

Bamboo Learning entered into a contract with OPSRC (Oklahoma Public School Resource Center) to be listed on Learn Anywhere Oklahoma (LAOK) statewide digital platform. Through the LAOK platform, all schools and school districts throughout the state of Oklahoma will have access to purchasing the Bamboo Learning EDU application, representing a 100,000+ student opportunity for Bamboo Learning.