Pip, the talking buddy

1. Math, Pre-K to Differential Equations. Pip teaches the idea, then takes the questions one at a time. It says what each question asks and waits. It never says the answer first. Press Teach it with me to start.
2. Science books. Pip sets the puzzle, waits for your child’s guess, then explains the pages in its own words.
3. Reading. Pip talks your child through the story, a page at a time, and never over the words. See Reading lessons.
4. The labs, the games and the academies. Math Lab, Science Lab, the Science Fair, Brain Gym, chess and the cube each have Pip as the coach.

Pip can always be paused, and it does not mark anything. A guess gets a reaction, not a score. Inside a lesson explains the I can’t do it button in math.

In the blue bar at the top of every page is a coral button, Talk / Chat to Pip. Your child taps it, then says what they want. Pip finds it on Cogito and opens it. On a phone the button is smaller: Pip’s face with a microphone, marked Pip.

1. Any up-to-date browser works: Safari on an iPhone or iPad, Chrome, Edge or Firefox, on a phone, tablet or computer. Nothing needs switching on in the device’s settings.
2. Tap the coral Talk / Chat to Pip button at the top of the page. The first time, the browser asks whether this page may use the microphone. A grown-up taps Allow.
3. Pip says “Hi there, this is Pip! How can I help you?”, and asks your child to say what they have in mind, or else their grade or age so it can find something that suits. The button changes to Listening…. Your child says one thing, in their own words.
4. Pip answers out loud and opens what was asked for. When there is a choice to make, Pip names a few, lists them all in its speech bubble, and listens for the answer: a name (“the Einstein one”, “the octopus”) or a place in the list (“the first one”).
5. If Pip did not understand, it says what it can do, and invites your child to say their grade or age so it can suggest something.
6. Pip’s bubble stays open, with the whole talk in it, until you close it, and Pip keeps listening while it is open, so your child just talks, as with a voice assistant: it waits while it talks or thinks, and rests its ears when it opens a film or a lesson, when your child taps Listening… tap to stop, or after five minutes with nobody speaking. Tap to talk starts it again. “Are you there, Pip?” gets a “Yes, I am here!”. Or type in the box under it and press Send: typed questions are answered the same way. The ✕ closes Pip and forgets the talk; Esc puts it away and keeps it. The talk is kept only in this browser tab, and is gone when the tab is closed.

Pip can also talk things through. Ask it a question, “what is the difference between area and perimeter?”, and Pip explains in a few sentences from Cogito’s own lessons, then offers to open the lesson and teach it with your child. “Tell me more” goes deeper, “what about volume?” carries on from what was said, and “yes” opens the lesson. Ask to watch or play something and Pip opens it. Pip answers only from what is on Cogito, and it never gives the answer to a lesson’s own questions. When nothing on Cogito covers the question, Pip says so.

Your child does not need exact words. These all work:

1. Films and stories. “Play a story” (Pip lists the stories and asks which), “amazing people”, “animals”, “my body”, “how things work”, or one film by name: “play the Einstein one”, “the crow story”. A film Pip opens plays straight through, told by the storyteller, with no questions.
2. While a film plays. “Pause”, “play”, “next” (the next film) and “stop” (back to the posters).
3. Tech explained. “Play the rockets film”, “show me how airplanes fly”, then “next chapter” to move through the topic.
4. Lessons. “Teach me fractions”, “find a lesson about volcanoes”. Pip names up to three lessons with their grades; your child says “the first one” or a word from the title. Pip opens it and starts the lesson’s buddy. In a reading lesson, “read to me” turns on Read to me.
5. Places. “Open chess”, “math lab”, “brain gym”, “the cube”, “go home”, “go back”.
6. Not sure what to do? “I’m bored” or “what can I do?” Pip asks your child’s grade or age (it is fine to say “skip”), suggests a few things, and talks your child through choosing a film.
7. Questions Pip does not answer. “What’s the weather?” Pip says it can only help with what is on Cogito Learning, and offers something to do instead.

Not sure what to say? In Pip’s bubble, What can I ask? lists things to try, and each one can be tapped instead of said: questions about Cogito itself (what is free, how to add a child), answered straight away, and things to say to Pip.

1. Nothing happens, or the microphone was blocked. Click the lock or settings icon beside the web address, set Microphone to Allow, and reload the page.
2. Pip says “Sorry, I didn’t catch that.” Speak a little closer and a little slower, one short sentence, after the button says Listening…. A noisy room or a car makes it harder.
3. Pip is talking and your child wants to speak. Pip cannot hear while it is talking (it would hear itself). Tap Talk / Chat to Pip: Pip stops at once and listens.
4. Pip says “Let me look on Cogito.” It is searching the whole site. On a slow connection it says “I’m still searching. Please wait a few seconds.” until the answer is ready.
5. A film opens but does not start. Some browsers want one tap on the page first; tap the film’s play button.
6. On an iPhone or iPad, Pip does not hear. When Safari asks to use the microphone, tap Allow. If you tapped Don’t Allow, tap the aA (or page menu) in the address bar, then Website Settings, and set Microphone to Allow.
7. Hey Pip, saying the name to start Pip with no tap, works only in Chrome and Edge. The button works everywhere.

See also When something goes wrong.

To pick something that suits, Pip may ask, “Can you tell me your grade, or how old you are?” It is always fine to say “skip”. An age is turned into a grade, such as “I think that’s about Grade 2.” The answer is remembered only for that visit, goes with Pip’s questions so the lesson it offers suits your child, and is not saved to your account.

A grown-up can let a child start Pip by saying “Hey Pip” instead of tapping. It is off until you turn it on, and it is set for each device.

1. Tap Talk / Chat to Pip, then What can I ask? in Pip’s bubble. The switch is at the foot of the list.
2. Under For grown-ups, tap the switch until it reads Hey Pip: On.
3. Some browsers first need their English speech pack, about 60 MB. The button says so before anything is downloaded.

While Hey Pip is on, the browser’s microphone light stays on, but only while a Cogito page is open and showing. Switch to another tab or app, or lock the screen, and it stops listening.

In a quiet room, or in a browser that cannot listen, type to Pip in the box in its bubble and press Send. Pip answers a typed question exactly as a spoken one, out loud. Inside a lesson, the tab marked How can I help you? is different: it gives hints for that one lesson, and Ask about this lesson at the foot is for grown-ups. Asking about a lesson explains both.