I Am Alexa, Your Virtual Tutor!: The Effects of Amazon Alexa's Text-to-Speech Voice Enthusiasm in a Multimedia Learning Environment

Autor/inn/en	Liew, Tze Wei; Tan, Su-Mae; Pang, Wei Ming; Khan, Mohammad Tariqul Islam; Kew, Si Na
Titel	I Am Alexa, Your Virtual Tutor!: The Effects of Amazon Alexa's Text-to-Speech Voice Enthusiasm in a Multimedia Learning Environment
Quelle	In: Education and Information Technologies, 28 (2023) 2, S.1455-1489 (35 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Liew, Tze Wei)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1360-2357
DOI	10.1007/s10639-022-11255-6
Schlagwörter	Artificial Intelligence; Audio Equipment; Assistive Technology; Speech Communication; Emotional Response; Multimedia Instruction; Cues; Foreign Countries; Cognitive Processes; Difficulty Level; Positive Attitudes; Asia + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Künstliche Intelligenz; Audio-CD; Emotionales Verhalten; Multimediales Lernen; Stichwort; Ausland; Cognitive process; Kognitiver Prozess; Schwierigkeitsgrad; Asien
Abstract	Modern text-to-speech voices can convey social cues ideal for narrating multimedia learning materials. Amazon Alexa has a unique feature among modern text-to-speech vocalizers as she can infuse enthusiasm cues into her synthetic voice. In this first study examining modern text-to-speech voice enthusiasm effects in a multimedia learning environment, a between-subjects online experiment was conducted where learners from a large Asian university (n = 244) listened to either Alexa's: (1) neutral voice, (2) low-enthusiastic voice, (3) medium-enthusiastic voice, or (4) high-enthusiastic voice, narrating a multimedia lesson on distributed denial-of-service attack. While Alexa's enthusiastic voices did not enhance persona ratings compared to Alexa's neutral voice, learners could infer more enthusiasm expressed by Alexa's medium-and high-enthusiastic voices than Alexa's neutral voice. Regarding cognitive load, Alexa's low-and high-enthusiastic voices decreased intrinsic and extraneous cognitive load ratings compared to Alexa's neutral voice. While Alexa's enthusiastic voices did not impact affective-motivational ratings differently from Alexa's neutral voice, learners reported a significant increase of positive emotions from their baseline positive emotions after listening to Alexa's medium-enthusiastic voice. Finally, Alexa's enthusiastic voices did not enhance the learning performance on immediate retention and transfer tests compared to Alexa's neutral voice. This study demonstrates that a modern text-to-speech voice enthusiasm can positively affect learners' emotions and cognitive load during multimedia learning. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed through the lens of the Cognitive Affective Model of E-learning, Integrated-Cognitive Affective Model of Learning with Multimedia, and Cognitive Load Theory. We further outline this study's limitations and recommendations for extending and widening the text-to-speech voice emotions research. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01