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Sal Khan is pioneering innovation in education again

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Re: Sal Khan is pioneering innovation in education again

#361

Post by sumedh »

wisty wrote: post #37

> But drawing on his experience creating Khanmigo, an AI-powered tutor, Sal makes a compelling case that AI-powered technologies will be different. That’s because we finally have a way to give every student the kind of personalized learning, support, and guidance that’s historically been out of reach for most kids in most classrooms. As Sal puts it, “Getting every student a dedicated on-call human tutor is cost prohi…

> Classes work because the teacher can inspire (or at least push), and there's peer pressure to learn (or at least keep up with the herd).

You will have an AI friend soon to push/inspire you soon :)

Re: Sal Khan is pioneering innovation in education again

#362

Post by passion__desire »

7thpower wrote: post #275
spaceman_2020 wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Growing up, I had a strong aptitude for both math and literature. I loved writing and reading. Also loved doing math, especially algebra. But I grew up before YouTube or even broadband, and I had very limited access to quality math resources. Otoh, we had a pretty nicely stocked library at home and I could read all the literature I ever wanted to read. I ended up majoring in English. Although I now work in the tech f…

I do not think people understand or appreciate what a truly fundamental shift that access to zero marginal cost instruction has been (including YouTube, etc.). It is a tool that humanity still has not figured out how to take advantage of at scale, we’re in the early days and it will take time.

> It is a tool that humanity still has not figured out how to take advantage of at scale

I blame shitty recommendation system of Youtube for not making it easily available. They have high engagement sections like Gaming etc but not Education. Just goes on to show their priorities.

Re: Sal Khan is pioneering innovation in education again

#363

Post by cdrini »

peppertree wrote: post #232
seidleroni wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand the skepticism around AI in ed tech, and I think people have the right to be skeptical of this being portrayed as a "cure all". Saying that it is of no value because nobody will pay for it and the kids wont learn from it because they're hungry does not capture the whole picture. I was never a great student because I had trouble focusing in class, but if I had this to guide me through my homework, I belie…

If you have ever worked with children you will realize vast majority of them lack the willpower to learn new things and seek out answers. A good teacher can provide the social accountability and guide them, but it's not something you can put on auto pilot with AI.

At the same time, I think asking a person or a parent requires much more will power than asking a computer (for whatever reason -- but part of it is just that a teacher might not have as much time as a child needs/wants). I do agree the social accountability of a good one-on-one teacher is the most ideal -- for me I got that from my parents/siblings. But lots of folks don't have access to that, and school systems don't have the resources to supply that, so maybe AI might be a good middle ground.

Re: Sal Khan is pioneering innovation in education again

#364

Post by 7thpower »

squigz wrote: post #359
rramadass wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Each event by itself may not be uncommon (but some like learning mathematics from absolute basics to AI/ML requirements via just Khan Academy is well-nigh impossible) but all together happening to one person which led to the claimed outcome is very very highly improbable. Real life doesn't work that way; time, energy(i.e. effort), money are all finite and wax/wane with context/environment and defines success/failure.…

Out of curiosity, what "evidence" would you request of GP to convince you of their story?

I’m curious too. I kind of get it too though, sometimes it’s surprising for me too.

I may post my transcripts and khan academy badges to twitter later. My LinkedIn is pretty easy to find. I’ve still got my Home Depot aprons too.

Maybe if they believe this is possible they will believe it is worth spending time investing in others. My story is not unique.

Sadly, I threw away the air mattress long ago, so won’t be able to post that.

Re: Sal Khan is pioneering innovation in education again

#365

Post by poulpy123 »

wisty wrote: post #37

> But drawing on his experience creating Khanmigo, an AI-powered tutor, Sal makes a compelling case that AI-powered technologies will be different. That’s because we finally have a way to give every student the kind of personalized learning, support, and guidance that’s historically been out of reach for most kids in most classrooms. As Sal puts it, “Getting every student a dedicated on-call human tutor is cost prohi…

I totally agree, and it's not even an issue of motivation.: School gives the time, environement, motivation, support and syllabus for the children to learn. It may not be perfect for everyone, it may be improved, it is not egalitarian but it is the best way to give education to the children of a country.

AI like all other technologies that were supposed to revolutionize teaching and failed are a dead end to educate a country, even if they can be potentially useful for some people.

Re: Sal Khan is pioneering innovation in education again

#366

Post by rldjbpin »

having used his videos more than a decade ago, i recognize that he has been a trailblazer in his field. i appreciate how he applied emerging tech in the past for improving access to education.

at the same time, i see the limitations with this project in terms of what it wants to achieve.

tech alone is not the answer, AI or not. i had very positive experiences with teachers only using blackboards or whiteboards, and forgettable moments with those with the newest smartboards. to me, it is the teacher that brings out the value of these tools.

today's LLMs, no matter how large and expensive to run, do not capture the personal ingenuity that can replace teachers. this is not an old man shouting at the clouds opinion or any arrogance about humans being superior. critical thinking is a rare idea taught in schools, at least when i was growing up. these systems do not give an opportunity to do that.

i am happy to be proved wrong in the future but while i get the costs associated with researching and running the service, i feel it is unethical for them to be the ones charging for its access. it seems against the foundation's goals.

Re: Sal Khan is pioneering innovation in education again

#367

Post by gcanyon »

svnt wrote: post #305
gcanyon wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the point about clothes is exactly the point I was trying to make: everything you are alluding to that gives "value" to expensive clothes is an artificial construct. A fashionable jacket is fashionable because people agree that it is stylish. That doesn't make it "better" at being a jacket. More to the point, I can only feel a disparity between Mr. Gates and myself by convincing myself that style matters. His…

Don’t look too closely or you might realize that your value system is not universal, and that it is an artificial construct and depends on all sorts of other artificial constructs such as a market system. You can’t seriously believe that you can outperform 100,000 people, but that wasn’t my point. He has teams of people using among other things HPC to perform calculations that are both conceptually and computationall…

Oh goodness. I didn’t say that I could outperform 100,000 people. I said there are tasks where 100,000 people can’t make 100,000 times the result. Maybe an example would help?

When Bill Gates wants to have pizza for dinner, 100,000 people can’t deliver it in a fraction of a second. HA! Now, having typed that, I’m thinking of Bill Gates having… let’s say 1,000 chefs, who each night cook 1,000 meals, all so that there is a high probability that whatever he asks for will be ready the moment he asks for it.

To your point, of course there are tasks where 100k people can make a difference. But again, I didn’t say that wasn’t true.

I’m not sure why you think I can’t have billionaires over to my house? I’m pretty sure Warren Buffett has had Bill Gates over to his house, and Warren Buffett’s house is (comparatively) extremely modest.

Finally, of course I understand that my value system is unique. So is everyone’s. How does that change the fact that for the vast majority of people, if you ask them how well their smart phone works for them, they will not reply, “Well, my phone is okay I guess, but have you seen Bill Gates’s phone? That thing is amazing!”

Re: Sal Khan is pioneering innovation in education again

#368

Post by newtone »

wisty wrote: post #37

> But drawing on his experience creating Khanmigo, an AI-powered tutor, Sal makes a compelling case that AI-powered technologies will be different. That’s because we finally have a way to give every student the kind of personalized learning, support, and guidance that’s historically been out of reach for most kids in most classrooms. As Sal puts it, “Getting every student a dedicated on-call human tutor is cost prohi…

Although I am not completely on the 'people don't really want to learn' train, I acknowledge one of the biggest problem in education in aligning incentives. No one is able to answer an innocent question by a kid about why do they need to learn what they are learning in class, without sharing an abstract into-the-future explanation, that the kid cant relate to.

On the topic of AI tutors will change the education, it reminds of this book i recently read (https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262546065/teaching-machines/). People have been trying to sell similar ideas, in different packaging(technology) for decades now. Video technology had the same pitch for how schools suck, teachers dont want to teach and we will revolutionise the access and personalisation to education. While videos, Sal's or YT in general, have done a great job(specially at accessibility), our education stats are continuously deteriorating. Before the onset of LLMs we created an instant-tutoring service(https://askfilo.com/) that could very much connect students to teachers in real time. Thousands of tutoring session laters we are still learning what students want/need from a teacher, 'they want to learn' but not everything or every subject, 'they are very much capable of learning' but our assessment are built very rigidly.....learning to test well is a learning on it own. There is so much understanding we lack in terms of mass education and it is not because of lack of good content or tooling.

Re: Sal Khan is pioneering innovation in education again

#369

Post by domtoretto »

arresin wrote: post #45

I never found the Kahn academy videos good. His teaching style was just totally off. I found some videos by a company called The Teaching Company. Really old school, very early 2000s or late 90s. Incredibly high quality truly gifted teachers—-just less well known online.

[dead]

Re: Sal Khan is pioneering innovation in education again

#370

Post by datavirtue »

no_wizard wrote: post #263
7thpower wrote: post #19

I am a high school dropout and who learned math using Khan Academy after never having completed more than pre-algebra in middle school. Sal Khan’s work changed my life and allowed me to build a foundation in not only math, but also finance and economics, that allowed me to feel confident enough to go to college. I did not have a support system or people in my life who could teach me these things, but I had the intern…

> Every time I go to the grocery store to buy something and don’t have to worry about my card being declined, it feels like magic. Even years later. 100% with you here! Grew up in poverty, fought for myself and clawed my way out into a wonderful career as a software engineer. This one still hits every time, even for me, over a decade later. The other one for me is petty cash. I looked in my wallet the other day and I…

I used to have a site up that yielded about $100 a month from AdSense. That enabled me to make my house payment more than a few times.
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