cocohub

Creating a virtual teaching assistant template to reshape the spoken English learning process for both educators & students.

TIMELINE

2021-2022

RESPONSIBILITIES

User experience User interface Product management

SITE

about.cocohub.ai

THE COMPANY

Cocohub is the world’s first end-to-end platform that enables a no-code, self-creation of conversational virtual humans.
Virtual humans can converse about almost anything, reply in context, and can be used through video, phone & text.

My role

In this project I had executed a full-scale design cycle, from the education market research to hand-off, and later managed the development sprints of the virtual teacher template and it’s following features.

awards and recognition

Winner of the GESA Edtech start-up of the year competition.
SEL challenge finalists.
A pilot with the Israeli Ministry of Education, the platform was intended to take part in the 2023 school curriculum in schools nationwide.

The challenge of modern English education

Average speaking time in class is less than 5 minutes per week.

A severe shortage of teachers leads to large classes. Teachers are sruggling to find time for each individual student. Students have limited opportunities to speak English and so they feel anxious about participating during lessons and outside of class. As a result, their speaking skills are poor.

The opportunity in education

Recent advancements in conversational AI and 3D animation, and rapid adaptation of video and metaverse platforms such as Zoom, Facetime, Roblox can be leveraged to help students improve their confidence in speaking English and presenting before an audience.

User research

Time-saving for teachers and engaging for the students

The team interviewed dozens of teachers and students to map their needs for a better experience in learning spoken English.

Teachers

Most teachers were excited about the concept of a digital assistant that their students could practice with voluntarily for unlimited periods. They repored that if the assistant will already have some exercises built in, it would save them a lot of time.

Students

The sessions showed that students enjoy practicing with a human-like avatar because it has a gaming feel so it doesn’t seem like homework. In addition, it’s non-judgemental, and they could use it whenever they want.

Competitors

Conversational AI platforms and virtual human platforms are separate services and require integrations to work together.
Professionals are needed every step of the way to use them for education, which makes it pricey.
Education platforms offer teaching solutions for reading and writing but don’t address speaking or SEL (social-emotional learning) skills.

The product offers

A virtual teaching assistant template.  
Fully customizable & takes minutes to create.

The assistant comes with the ability to create customized “skills” and prefilled content:

Free-flowing conversations, small talk practice, chat on topics of personal interest
Quizzes on vocabulary, grammar, spelling, pronunciation, and listening comprehension – adaptable to any level
presentation practice
Social-Emotional Learning through English: role-play dialogues with the student as a mentor

Outcome

Saving teachers time while students enjoy parcticing with a “virtual friend”.

The virtual teaching assistants help educators automate student practice sessions. They give teachers and students actionable insights
into their progress.
Each student benefits from unlimited practice time, and can decide when and where they would practice.

The product is available in mobile and desktop versions on both the teacher and the student side, for maximum flexibility.

The virtual teaching assistant template awarded cocohub first place in the GESA Edtech start-up of the year competition, as well as placing us as SEL challenge finalists.
As part of a pilot with the Israeli Ministry of Education, the platform was intended to take part in the 2023 school curriculum in schools nationwide.

Reflection

Leading end-to-end product sprint.

The project holds a special place in my heart because I had full ownership from POC in the Education field to the development and refining stages that came later. I got the chance to conduct thorough user research, form a concept for a solution, and see it spark a smile on our users’ faces.

Most importantly, however, was the work methodology the R&D department and I have developed, and team bonding.

Cocohub | No-code virtual assistant building platform

Making conversational bots easy to create, friendly to use, and more human-like in order to increase business efficiency.

Forever curious, eager to learn new things and how they work.
I believe that by understanding it first, any complex system can get an elegant and simple design.

Cocohub