If Khan is saying these things publicly, I'm with you on the need for some data transparency on what's happening in student interactions with Khanmigo. If Khan is sincere about his mission, shouldn't he be publicizing what he's learning about the limits of his tutorbot, limits many of us have suspected from the get-go because we've seen the "personalized learning" train roll through schools a time or two before?
I worry about that question How do we personalize it? I began teaching in 1968. From there we went through zillions of attempts to "personalize education" and all of them failed. Why is that? It is because people like Sal Khan thinks that every single learner must be met with something that fits their exact learning profile? As both a classroom teacher and a math specialist I know this to be hogwash. Sure children all approach things differently....so...put them is small groups and let them talk to each other about what they think. A simplistic view of this is....give a group of 4 first graders a big pile of sun flower seeds and ask them to divide them equally between each in the group and then prove they all have the same amount. Typically (because I have done this many times) one starts off giving one to each person and one child in the group will quickly see that will take forever so ...get ready for this...he pushes them all back into the pile and begins to count out ten to each group. This goes on for a bit until someone notices the little cup I have put on the table and they say...Wait a minute! we could just fill the cup up to the top and give each person a cup. That would go faster (which is now the goal...forgetting a bit that they have to prove each person has the same amount at the end.)...So they push everything back together!! and begin to fill the cups until they end up with everyone having 4 cups and a partial cup left over....Oh what to do? So they push everything together again (because they must have made a mistake) and do it again ending up with that darn partial cup. BUT then one of the group says wait!!! lets give everyone 10 out of the cup. They do that up til they can't do even groups of 10 but now they see they can do 5 to each and then one to each with 2 left over (which they quickly eat). Happily they raise their hands for me to check. I come over and ask Do you all have the same amount?...Well they didn't keep track of their work so they could have said we each got 3 cups 4 sets of 10, 3 sets of 5 and 4 ones (being careful not to say they ate two) but they can't so they look a little sheepish and push them all together and start again. As I walk away I hear one say we should keep track of what we do. So no chat bot, no AI. Did I honor individual learning? of course and the individuals taught each other. My 5th graders could solve your % question in their groups without ever doing an arithmetic calculation...They got to be very good at figuring tax at a restaurant to surprise their parents. They didn't need chat bot or AI they just needed each other and the ability to talk out their thinking. By the way the kids see in 3rd grade that they can do long division the same way they did the sunflower seeds...figure it out.
That's a great lesson. I especially like how it's not about the "most efficient" way to get to a solution. If I had job where I was expected to divide a pile of sunflower seeds into four equal parts, and go do this repeatedly all day long, then I might care about efficiency.
I believe that "Do you like me" is preceded by "Do you know (anything about) me? Do you care to?" Everything that comes after can be traced back to that. Everything. There is a world where AI tools can selectively be used to enhance some instruction, though I'm not sure that chatbots are the thing, especially not while students are still concrete thinkers. Regardless of what that integration may look like, the answer to the first question will always be more important and more impactful long-term.
"Teaching Kids Not to Get Scammed" I started to wonder, after a few decades of teaching math, would we be better off replacing math with music in the curriculum? Too many students grow up to use math 'smarts' to steal from their fellow citizens. So many that I considered asking my students to take a pledge, like a jiu-jitsu student, that they will not use this knowledge to hurt/scam others!
If Khan is saying these things publicly, I'm with you on the need for some data transparency on what's happening in student interactions with Khanmigo. If Khan is sincere about his mission, shouldn't he be publicizing what he's learning about the limits of his tutorbot, limits many of us have suspected from the get-go because we've seen the "personalized learning" train roll through schools a time or two before?
I worry about that question How do we personalize it? I began teaching in 1968. From there we went through zillions of attempts to "personalize education" and all of them failed. Why is that? It is because people like Sal Khan thinks that every single learner must be met with something that fits their exact learning profile? As both a classroom teacher and a math specialist I know this to be hogwash. Sure children all approach things differently....so...put them is small groups and let them talk to each other about what they think. A simplistic view of this is....give a group of 4 first graders a big pile of sun flower seeds and ask them to divide them equally between each in the group and then prove they all have the same amount. Typically (because I have done this many times) one starts off giving one to each person and one child in the group will quickly see that will take forever so ...get ready for this...he pushes them all back into the pile and begins to count out ten to each group. This goes on for a bit until someone notices the little cup I have put on the table and they say...Wait a minute! we could just fill the cup up to the top and give each person a cup. That would go faster (which is now the goal...forgetting a bit that they have to prove each person has the same amount at the end.)...So they push everything back together!! and begin to fill the cups until they end up with everyone having 4 cups and a partial cup left over....Oh what to do? So they push everything together again (because they must have made a mistake) and do it again ending up with that darn partial cup. BUT then one of the group says wait!!! lets give everyone 10 out of the cup. They do that up til they can't do even groups of 10 but now they see they can do 5 to each and then one to each with 2 left over (which they quickly eat). Happily they raise their hands for me to check. I come over and ask Do you all have the same amount?...Well they didn't keep track of their work so they could have said we each got 3 cups 4 sets of 10, 3 sets of 5 and 4 ones (being careful not to say they ate two) but they can't so they look a little sheepish and push them all together and start again. As I walk away I hear one say we should keep track of what we do. So no chat bot, no AI. Did I honor individual learning? of course and the individuals taught each other. My 5th graders could solve your % question in their groups without ever doing an arithmetic calculation...They got to be very good at figuring tax at a restaurant to surprise their parents. They didn't need chat bot or AI they just needed each other and the ability to talk out their thinking. By the way the kids see in 3rd grade that they can do long division the same way they did the sunflower seeds...figure it out.
That's a great lesson. I especially like how it's not about the "most efficient" way to get to a solution. If I had job where I was expected to divide a pile of sunflower seeds into four equal parts, and go do this repeatedly all day long, then I might care about efficiency.
I believe that "Do you like me" is preceded by "Do you know (anything about) me? Do you care to?" Everything that comes after can be traced back to that. Everything. There is a world where AI tools can selectively be used to enhance some instruction, though I'm not sure that chatbots are the thing, especially not while students are still concrete thinkers. Regardless of what that integration may look like, the answer to the first question will always be more important and more impactful long-term.
"Teaching Kids Not to Get Scammed" I started to wonder, after a few decades of teaching math, would we be better off replacing math with music in the curriculum? Too many students grow up to use math 'smarts' to steal from their fellow citizens. So many that I considered asking my students to take a pledge, like a jiu-jitsu student, that they will not use this knowledge to hurt/scam others!
Sal Khan right now: https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExcXB4ODdqYTczbGNnanI3M2dkN2VhZnlxdjV3aGpkZndxYmZzNmpnOCZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/jUwpNzg9IcyrK/giphy.gif
[if the link doesn't work, that's supposed to be a gif of Homer Simpson retreating into the hedge]