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How Our New AI Tool EMILIA is Teaching Valuable Soft Skills to Students

Steve Waddell • October 16, 2024

Here at CTeLearning we are always seeking new ways to help teachers ensure their students succeed, both in the classroom and the real world. It is also the way we show that we are not trying to replace them with software and AI tools. Today, we are excited to introduce a new AI tool called EMILIA that will help students improve their communication skills. Over the next few weeks, EMILIA will be rolled out in all of our courses including our most popular ones–Web Design, Web and Mobile Video Game Design, and Web and Computer Animation.

Background

As many of our teachers know, we have been integrating Virtual Internship/Work-Based Experiences into our courses for over 20 years. We have continued to hone these products and expand them. We have fun creating immersive experiences that reinforce the technical skills the students are learning and give them the chance to apply the soft skills they will need in their future careers.

However, we always had a single frustration: no matter how hard we tried, we were never able to give the students (interns) the chance to have an authentic exchange with their “client.” That all changed recently, as we deployed EMILIA, an AI tool that allows your students to have a chat and ask questions of their client. Through the power of AI, students will be able to interact with their client by asking questions and receiving answers to better understand the client and project–just like the way it works in the real world.

EMILIA Overview

EMILIA is being rolled out in the Virtual Internship feature of our courses. The Virtual Internship, also referred to as the Practicum, allows students to get an idea of what it is like to work in the professional world by simulating the experience of working with a client as, for example, a new web designer. For example, students in the Web Design course are tasked with creating a website for a client. In order to build the best possible website for the client, students need to understand client needs, desires, interests and more.

The tool allows students to ask questions and receive responses from the client through email, enabling an ongoing dialogue that helps the student better understand the client and improve the website they have been tasked with creating. Not only does EMILIA allow students to interact with the client in real time, but it also provides them with immediate feedback on their communication skills. When students email their client, they will receive a score out of 10 that assesses their written communication as well as offers pointers for improvement. Criteria for the grade include spelling, grammar, punctuation, overall professionalism and more. Teachers also receive reports for each student based on their communications.

EMILIA is integrated into the project-based learning (PBL), which means that the students can engage with their simulated clients as part of the natural flow of the project and in context with their work–just like how it works in the real-world. By incorporating EMILIA we are giving the students enhanced opportunities to learn what it is like to “meet” a client, understand their goals and pain points, and create a better product for them. This equips students with the soft skills that are so essential in today’s economy and prepares them for their futures–whether they enter the workforce directly after high school or pursue higher education. Our teachers who have seen EMILIA in action expressed enthusiasm for how it can help improve the learning experience for students and free up time for teachers.

We have to be more clever to engage today’s learner. Integrating EMILIA gives us the opportunity to offer an open, genuine conversation with the client that is curated and helps to keep students and their projects pointed in the right direction. Through the process, students build a portfolio and a personal story of real world success they can share with teachers, parents, friends and future employers.

We are incorporating more AI tools in the classroom to enhance teaching and learning experiences. Every teacher faces challenges in providing students with real work-based learning opportunities. At the same time, live internships are harder to secure, and teachers are dealing with larger class sizes and increased preparation demands. Our goal is to ensure that our project-based learning curricula make things easier for teachers. One great advantage our teachers love is the Virtual Internship approach, which provides career readiness education through simulated work-based experiences. This allows every student, regardless of local industry support, the opportunity to have an internship, test drive a career pathway and experience the thrill of their future.

Your School Could Be Next

Interested in learning more about how we are harnessing the power of AI to improve STEM education with tools like EMILIA? Click here or call us at 913-764-4272 to schedule a free 20-minute demo of any of our courses and certifications.

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