alt Hacker NewsShocking that a well executed AI tutor improves outcomes.
Hasn't computer assisted interactive learning already been proven for years? Why does there seem to be so much skepticism about enhancing it with AI?
Is this just something like, astoundingly slow adoption or poor execution? Being held back by paper textbook makers? Teachers unions dragging their feet?
How can interactive AI driven individually paced learning _not_ be obviously dramatically more effective?
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Lots of people in education will happily tell you how the past 15 years of tech integration has been a net negative.
There ARE technologies that have improved things, but so much high-cost useless tech has been shoved into every level of education that many educators are incredibly leery of new tech.
The issue is that while the underlying technology is useful, the way it gets integrated is frequently not. An administrator cuts a deal for a product they never have to use to an ed-tech giant for a huge amount. Because the ink is dry and a huge sum of money has been spent admins pressure educators to use the technology as much as possible regardless of outcome.
In that context it makes a lot more sense why there is pushback and FUD among educators.
its like anything else. benifits students that are already motivated to learn.
very few are actually motivated to learn and are just there to get a job or its just next thing that they have to do in life.
Selection effects are extremely important in education. Dartmouth students have already had a large selection effect. If you try to apply this more broadly then it might not work.
Motivation is also a huge part of the problem. I'm wondering if the novelty of the AI tutoring gets more people to try it and whether it would wear off?
It's surprising to me that many students at Dartmouth don't read the textbook. You'd think college admissions would select for that?
It seems promising but, as they say, more research needed.