Arizona's Getting an Online Charter School Taught Entirely By AI (techcrunch.com)
- Reference: 0175714827
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/12/20/2211207/arizonas-getting-an-online-charter-school-taught-entirely-by-ai
- Source link: https://techcrunch.com/2024/12/20/arizonas-getting-an-online-charter-school-taught-entirely-by-ai/
> The newest online-only school [1]greenlighted (PDF) by the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools comes with a twist: The academic curriculum will be [2]taught entirely by AI . Charter schools -- independently operated but publicly funded -- typically get greater autonomy compared to traditional public schools when it comes to how subjects are taught. But Unbound Academy's [3]application , which proposes an "AI-driven adaptive learning technology" that "condenses academic instruction into a two-hour window," is a first for the model. (Unbound's founders have been running a similar program at a "high-end private school" in Texas, which [4]appears to be in-person .)
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> Unbound's approach leans on edtech platforms like IXL and Khan Academy, and students engage with "interactive, AI-powered platforms that continuously adjust to their individual learning pace and style." There will be humans, just fewer of them, and maybe not actual accredited teachers: It will adopt a "human-in-the-loop" approach with "skilled guides" monitoring progress who can provide "targeted interventions" and coaching for each student. Academic instruction is whittled down to just two hours. The remainder of the students' day will include "life-skills workshops" covering areas such as critical thinking, creative problem-solving, financial literacy, public speaking, goal setting, and entrepreneurship. The online-only school targets students from fourth to eighth grades.
[1] https://asbcs.az.gov/sites/default/files/2024-12/December%202024%20Meeting%20Minutes%20(002)_VB%20redlined.docx.pdf
[2] https://techcrunch.com/2024/12/20/arizonas-getting-an-online-charter-school-taught-entirely-by-ai/
[3] https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uEzeZCe-GSjBGN1_xxpN-3zEq1TAkylY/view
[4] https://alpha.school/the-program/#learn
Online Charter (Score:2)
I thought Charter had changed their name to Spectrum.
Our education system continues to devolve (Score:3)
Our education system continues to devolve into a dystopian nightmare. It's going to get worse in the next few years before it ever gets better. :(
Re: (Score:1)
President Elon has steadily been winning the propaganda wars on Xitter with Grok. Do you think anyone can compete with his holy narcissism?
Own it, America. You voted to become North Korea.
Re: (Score:1)
> President Elon has steadily been winning the propaganda wars on Xitter with Grok. Do you think anyone can compete with his holy narcissism?
> Own it, America. You voted to become North Korea.
Ouch! Truth hurts.
k-12 student loans coming in the next X years (Score:3)
k-12 student loans coming in the next X years
Re: (Score:3)
Ah, but it is getting more profitable, and that is the only metric that matters.
Re: (Score:2)
Well here's the thing: an over-educated population is just as economically problematic as an under-educated one.
No need to draw your weapons, I am not saying that education is bad. But the economy doesn't moralize. There are only so many jobs available for educated people, and when there are way more educated people than education-requiring jobs, it causes serious problems. Salaries crash. People refuse to take jobs that they now think are beneath them, even though the need for those jobs is now very hi
This sounds like a scam (Score:4)
No parent in their right mind and few in there wrong minds would subject their kid to this.
There appears to be very little oversight over how public money is spent on private schooling in Arizona at the moment. It's so bad that they have a huge budget deficit. This is very much by design. From what I can tell the previous Republican governor Left this as a time bomb for the incoming Democrat governor.
Right now 95% of the public money going to private schools is going to wealthy students who were already going to private schools. It's basically just free money and a subsidy to the richest people in the state.
Eventually the hole in the budget combined with how obviously corrupt it is will catch up and the voters will shut it down but in the meantime it looks like several billion dollars is going to get handed to a bunch of rich people. And a bunch of public schools are going to get closed down for lack of funding.
Child Abuse (Score:2)
n/m
If it works... (Score:2)
...it works, regardless of what moral outrage or indignation it provokes in traditionalists. However, this, like many such schemes before, will most likely not produce the intended learning outcomes. This stuff goes around & comes around every few years & every time they say, "Ah but this time, it's different!"
The main concern I have is for the children who'll be let down by this highly risky & premature experiment, with curricula, methodologies, & classroom management based on what evide
weirdos (Score:2)
What is the end result for someone taught by AI if they don't have any classroom contact with peers?
Re: (Score:2)
Most likely you'll end up with a bunch of super-verbose, overly polite kids routinely lying and making shit up when they don't know what to say.
Re: (Score:2)
> Most likely you'll end up with a bunch of super-verbose, overly polite kids routinely lying and making shit up when they don't know what to say.
So... other than the "overly polite" part, no change. :-)
At least they'll all be ready for careers in politics.
Re: weirdos (Score:1)
So basically just like the Chinese higher education system?
Re: weirdos (Score:2)
Very poor social skills.
Re: (Score:1)
> What is the end result for someone taught by AI if they don't have any classroom contact with peers?
Fewer bullet holes.