Amazon Echo: Emerging technology for formal or informal learning?
Abstract: As artificial intelligence (AI) devices continue to enter our society, it is important to explore how future teachers perceive the adoption of new technologies and their uses for teaching and learning. This innovative study examines the perceptions of preservice teachers at a large midwestern university about using emerging technologies such as the Amazon Echo for formal and informal learning. The perceptions of an Amazon Echo app developer who is using the device to review for the United States citizenship test are also explored. The comparison of these viewpoints yielded a variety of inferences, the most notable of which are: The AI tutor’s ability to learn from its audience; its ability to give swift up-to–date answers to inquiries, and user’s ability to create customized apps. This device received appreciation for its ability to input and output information solely with the use of voice, and for its potential for informal and formal learning.