Boys & Girls Club of the Big Country uses AI tool to enhance summer learning

ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – The Boys & Girls Club of the Big Country is utilizing an Artificial Intelligence App to help children in its summer program advance their reading abilities.

While artificial intelligence may have once sounded like something out of a science fiction novel, it is now rapidly becoming an essential tool in education. The latest tool in AI learning is an app called “Edsoma,” which assesses students’ current reading skills and tailors a custom plan to help them advance those skills. Noe Espinoza, Chief Operating Officer for the Boys and Girls Club of the Big Country, spoke about how a generous donation had enabled their organization to acquire this new learning tool.

“The CEO for Edsoma reached out to us and said, ‘Hey, I’ve got some funders that are going to help pay for your entire club.’ So, this summer is the first summer we’re running it, and it’s very exciting for all of our members,” Espinoza shared.

This AI learning tool not only helps assess where students stand with their abilities, but also offers several functions that support their reading, such as vocal word pronunciation, progress tracking, and a feature that some Boys & Girls Club learners are using to explore different languages.

One student explained, “We pushed the button to see what it sounds like and what it says. So that we say the same things.”

Another added, “I’m doing Spanish language with my friend over there, and we’ve been reading a lot of Spanish books, so we have not finished all of them, but I have finished two of them already.”

Another thing that the Boys & Girls Club says this new tool helps with is something known as “summer slide.” It’s a term that teachers will often use to describe the decline in academic skills and knowledge that many students experience during the summer break. However, Espinoza said this new AI learning tool is going a long way in helping their kids stay on top of their academic performance.

“They did a two-month study of our sister club, and they said that 86% of the kids who went in there two to three times a week had an increase in proficiency in reading. Some of the kids actually had over 200% increase in proficiency,” Espinoza shared.

The Edsoma app can be utilized either in the classroom or at home, and leaders of the Boys and Girls Club of the Big Country say that the program has quickly become a favorite pastime for their children.