Have you ever heard of the Khan Academy? If so, you are one of about 160 million people worldwide who have not only heard of it but are also a registered user of the online service that helps viewers master multiple subjects. Sal Khan started using videos on a Yahoo! Doodle Pad to help tutor his younger cousins who were struggling with math in 2004. He was so encouraged by the results that he began a YouTube channel with videos of him teaching various topics. Eventually, with the help of Bill Gates as an investor, Khan left his job as a data analyst and created the Khan Academy, an online tutoring service for students looking for extra help in school. Since 2009, Khan devoted all of his focus on creating thousands of videos that helped millions of students over the last two decades. What is the next step in the evolution of Khan’s goals for educating the masses? The answer: generative AI. Before OpenAI made ChatGPT available to the world, they gave Khan and his academy a head start to use their generative AI technology to help students and teachers.
The process of fusing generative AI and Khan’s lesson plans was a long one. With the help of his team, Khan was able to slowly improve the accuracy of the AI while retraining ChatGPT for his tutoring platform. The final product is Khanmigo, a play on the Spanish word conmigo (meaning with me), a tutor that accompanies students at all times. Unlike ChatGPT, Khanmigo does not give answers. Instead, it helps the student understand the question and all the parts that lead up to the eventual answer. Khanmigo is intended to serve as a tutor. It wants you to understand the material, not simply complete the assignment. For example, if one were studying an algebraic question, the student can enter the steps to the answer along the way and use Khanmigo to guide them through to the final solution.
Khanmigo acts as a stepping stone for students to better understand the material they are studying rather than an academic concern. The tool can be used at home and in school. Instead of having one teacher in class, Khanmigo provides an extra 10-12 tutors helping the students get through a lesson plan, all while getting immediate feedback from the generative AI program. The cost is nominal compared to what a humantutor would be for the same role. For now, the cost to teachers is free in the US, but schools have to pay for the program. With the help of OpenAI and ChatGPT, Khanmigo is working towards improving efficiencies in student learning.
Khanmigo does not just help students; another role for the new generative AI technology is helping teachers educate their students more effectively. Lesson plans can be created with the assistance of Khanmigo. Instead of teachers spending weeks creating a directed lesson plan for students in a class, Khanmigo can generate a detailed lesson plan in a matter of minutes. This allows teachers to focus on teaching and assessing their students’ progress in class. Khanmigo can also track the progress of students as they work with the program over time. Teachers are able to identify areas of strength, in addition to areas for growth, based on what the students are inputting into the program. This real-time monitoring of student performance can serve as one of the many revolutions in generative AI-assisted education. This information can also assist teachers with the time consuming task of progress reports, and as a result, give teachers even more time to focus on their students. This new AI tool essentially creates multiple teacher’s assistants for educators to meet their students’ academic needs.
Some students are fortunate enough to have one-on-one tutoring, made possible by economic means, in order to succeed and get ahead in school. That academic success spells lifelong success for these students. The right tutoring means better grades, better performance on standardized tests, and overall improved chances of getting into competitive colleges. What if every student in the US had the luxury of having their own private tutor? Khanmigo aims to make that leg up a reality for all students, including those who cannot afford a private tutor, essentially leveling the playing field for everyone. Khanmigo is currently being tested in over 200 school districts in the US. So far, the program has received great feedback from students and teachers. Even though this new AI technology is still being tested, the potential appears limitless.
