Conversation Starter

[linhtphung]

When User wants to have suggestions on what they want to say next, they click on a hint/lightbulb button in the text input box. They will be given 3 sentence starters to choose from. Examples include:
Have you ever ...?
Yesterday, I saw ...
If only I was ...
If only I had ...
Would you rather ...
What would you feel if ...

[wcjord]

We might also think of this as "Conversation Starters" and broaden it out a bit. I've been thinking about a "Guess the Image Prompt" mini-game in which a user would prompt an image generation then other users would try to guess the prompt.

Flow:

1. User selects the lightbulb icon.
2. User selects "🎲 Play guess the image"
3. User writes a prompt in their L2 using the input box and IT/IGC as needed.
4. Image is generated for their prompt. They can send or start over.
5. Image appears in the chat with a special frame and "Play guess the image" written over it.
6. When another user clicks it, they are prompted to write what they think the prompt was. IT/IGC are again available.
7. Upon submitting their guess, we give them a score using a semantic similarity calculation.
8. The user who created the mini-game (and other users once they've guessed) can click the image to see displayed below it a list of submissions - avatar of who did it, score, and guess.

[wcjord]

From @linhtphung: This sounds good. It will qualify as a task that is generated by the learner. I imagine it can be expensive to generate but we can worry about the cost later.

[wcjord]

Yeah, definitely a cost here. My intended solution for that is that it's something you use an In-app currency to do.

[wcjord]

From @linhtphung: I also like the ideas of up-charging to pay for certain features: Download analytics, complete more exercises, increase the number of spaces/chats they can create

[wcjord]

Idea for generating "daily puzzles" based on grammar mistakes:

• Pick the most difficult sentence of some prior period and ask other members of the chat to correct it.
• If corrected message was already in the chat, then blank it out for the duration of that activity.
• Maybe a group chat admin can send this activity to the space level.

[wcjord]

Related, maybe the writer of a message can "challenge" their friends with the message.
Flow:

1. Sender or chat/space admin clicks the message. They have a challenge option alongside the audio and translate buttons.
2. Upon selection, the message goes to the space chat as a Grammar Challenge.
3. Other space users get a notification about the challenge.
4. Limited amount of time to complete it.
5. Users see incorrect version of the message and are challenged to correct it.

[wcjord]

From @linhtphung: I think let's separate doing language-focused exercises and minigames from conversation starters (giving people something to talk about).

[wcjord]

The plan is to have Momin define this idea bit further and present it to you and I. If we like it, he'll take the reins on implementing a prototype. I see this as addressing a few different needs, some of which overlap with the "conversation starter" feature, though I agree it's a different feature. We can move it to a new discussion ticket for sure.

Needs it potentially addresses are:

• Generating notifications and prompts to re-engage with the app (same as conversation starter)
• Practicing grammar related to a class's language use
• Others?

[wcjord]

From @linhtphung:
I think let's separate doing language-focused exercises and minigames from conversation starters (giving people something to talk about). I see this as two features:
Conversation Starters:

Help users think of something interesting to say to make the conversation more lively
Help learners start a game/task together that involves language use
Have the bot suggest something to engage with: a video, a song, a piece of news, a joke
Language-focused exercises and minigames generated from the messages

With the richness of the messages used in the chat, learners can request practice activities for everyone to do in the space. This is for asynchronous language practice mostly.
Activities may include: A gapfill activity with 10 sentences and 10 words to complete the sentences, 4 scrambled sentences that they have to unscrambled, a matching exercise with 6 words and six definitions, a listening activity where they have to listen to a message and record the exact message, a summary of the conversation in the chat with some misinformation in the summary and learners are challenged to correct that, ...

[wcjord]

The concept of "language learning objectives" is in our Activity Planner design. Examples are "compare and contrast", "express thanks," "give directions," etc. We are going to pass it to an LLM with topic, mode (ie story, game, discussion, etc) and language learning level for the generation of an activity.

Ex.
Activity 1: The Animal Adventure 🐒🦁🐢
Objective:
You will work together to create a simple story about animals going on an adventure. Use short sentences to describe the animals and compare and contrast their actions.

What you need to talk about:
Describe your animals (e.g., size, speed, color).
Tell a story about the animals going on a journey or solving a problem.
Compare and contrast the animals’ actions during the story.

Steps to follow:
Form a group of 2-3 students.
Choose one animal each (e.g., a tiger, a rabbit, a turtle).
Set the scene: Decide where the animals are (e.g., in a jungle, on a farm, in the sea).
Take turns adding to the story:
Student 1: Start the story by introducing your animal.
Student 2: Add another animal and what it does.
Student 3: Describe what happens next.
Use comparisons and contrasts as the story continues:
Talk about what the animals do and how they are different.
End the story together by solving a problem or completing the journey.

What kind of language to use:
Use short sentences to describe animals:
“The tiger is big. The rabbit is small.”
“The turtle is slow. The rabbit is fast.”
Use comparative phrases:
“The tiger is bigger than the rabbit.”
“The turtle is slower than the rabbit.”
Use contrasting phrases:
“The rabbit can run, but the turtle cannot.”
“The tiger is strong, but the rabbit is quick.”

I wonder if we can create "mini activities" within the paradigm of the Conversation Starter that will be more bitesize and with the possibility of more immediate/automatic feedback on the achievement of objectives.

Flow:

1. User selects the lightbulb icon and opens a menu of "conversation starters"
2. One kind of option, maybe indicated with a little target icon, gives an objective, perhaps slightly modified by an LLM for the context of the conversation.
3. The user writes a message with their "Communicative Objective" displayed about the input field. The IT/IGC endpoint is called as normal but, this time, the LLM prompts corrections with the additional context of the learner's chosen objective. In this case, suggestions for changes are not just driven by a L1/L2 distinction and grammatical correctness but also whether the intended communicative objective is achieved.

[Vlada3333]

interesting!