Chat2Learn: Using Simple Conversation Prompts to Boost Early Childhood Development
Podcast: The Pie: An Economics PodcastPublished On: Tue Dec 09 2025
Description: Large gaps in language skills between children from different socioeconomic backgrounds emerge early and persist throughout schooling. In this episode, Ariel Kalil, Professor of Public Policy at UChicago's Harris School, discusses her research on "Chat2Learn," a technology intervention that sends open-ended conversation prompts to parents' phones. The low-cost behavioral nudge increases vocabulary, encourages back-and-forth conversation, and fosters curiosity in young children.
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