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Launch HN: Bloomy (YC S26) – AI-powered mastery learning for K-12

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Re: Launch HN: Bloomy (YC S26) – AI-powered mastery learning for K-12

#51

Post by theodorewiles »

theodorewiles wrote: post #48

I am here to tell you HELL YES and TAKE MY MONEY. I am such a fan of the idea of using AI to help give personalized and structured AI lessons in the hands of students and let them cook! - It looks like you are gating family access to K-3 for now and I think that's right. I wouldn't really be comfortable giving my first-grader a live chatbot. Maybe I would think about whether there are other non-persona modalities tha…

Other thoughts:

- I think the other mistake I see here is trying to over-engineer a deterministic learner path instead of giving the AI more free reign on best next interaction and a set of goals it needs to accomplish through the session; it can feel more responsive and free-form that way from the learner's POV. - If you had voice here you could also make the screen optional. In my experience typing out long answers to questions can take a while too - so a voice mode might be helpful for learners. It would also be cool if people could take a 'photo of their work' for e.g. math equations done by hand. - To the earlier point on family end-market, an interesting idea is modeling bloomy - have some grown-up oriented courses so you can learn with / side-by-side with your child? Just an idea.

Re: Launch HN: Bloomy (YC S26) – AI-powered mastery learning for K-12

#52

Post by alexsouthmayd »

theodorewiles wrote: post #48

I am here to tell you HELL YES and TAKE MY MONEY. I am such a fan of the idea of using AI to help give personalized and structured AI lessons in the hands of students and let them cook! - It looks like you are gating family access to K-3 for now and I think that's right. I wouldn't really be comfortable giving my first-grader a live chatbot. Maybe I would think about whether there are other non-persona modalities tha…

Thanks for the support!

On motivation: we have something called Bloomy Bucks. Kids earn these for getting questions right, mastering skills, and being consistent. They can then redeem them for privileges that the teacher/school/parent sets (e.g., homework pass, game time, whatever). This is part of the effortful dopamine that I, personally, think is the right approach to motivation. A lot of people will disagree with me on this, but I think that some amount of extrinsic motivation (something we've already been doing for quite a long time with letter grades) can cultivate intrinsic motivation. One specific application of this is that students can earn up to 1 Bloomy Buck for a meaningful interaction with BloomyBot on a given question.

On assessments: imagine if we could get rid of assessments and just have live diagnosis happen all the time? With enough data from practice and mastery, that should be possible.

We have an offering for homeschoolers, indeed. Bloomy is reimbursable in ~15 states right now through ESA-type scholarships. Great ideas!

Re: Launch HN: Bloomy (YC S26) – AI-powered mastery learning for K-12

#53

Post by alexsouthmayd »

theodorewiles wrote: post #51
theodorewiles wrote: post #48

I am here to tell you HELL YES and TAKE MY MONEY. I am such a fan of the idea of using AI to help give personalized and structured AI lessons in the hands of students and let them cook! - It looks like you are gating family access to K-3 for now and I think that's right. I wouldn't really be comfortable giving my first-grader a live chatbot. Maybe I would think about whether there are other non-persona modalities tha…

Other thoughts: - I think the other mistake I see here is trying to over-engineer a deterministic learner path instead of giving the AI more free reign on best next interaction and a set of goals it needs to accomplish through the session; it can feel more responsive and free-form that way from the learner's POV. - If you had voice here you could also make the screen optional. In my experience typing out long answers…

Funny you say that. We actually just released a voice mode that allows students to engage, interrupt, and even switch languages.

I'd love to design this to a greater extent throughout the experience so Bloomy becomes voice-first (where applicable).

Re: Launch HN: Bloomy (YC S26) – AI-powered mastery learning for K-12

#56

Post by tekne »

cynicalpeace wrote: post #39

The fastest, most surefire way to nuke your child's brain is to give them a screen. There is certainly room for software to design a curriculum for the parent or teacher to use. We have tried (and failed) to find such a thing for our homeschool curriculum. But giving the kid a screen? If you're even a midge honest with yourself, a screen will de-educate your child, leading to the opposite of the intended consequence.

Eh.

On one hand -- phones are evil, and the world is no longer 2004.

On the other hand, I would not be the same person if I didn't get that laptop.

Re: Launch HN: Bloomy (YC S26) – AI-powered mastery learning for K-12

#58

Post by alexsouthmayd »

383toast wrote: post #54

Great idea and execution but the design language seems like general llm-generated tailwind. I think you guys are missing a huge opportunity to make the design reinforce the product positioning.

This is interesting, can you say more?

Re: Launch HN: Bloomy (YC S26) – AI-powered mastery learning for K-12

#59

Post by alexsouthmayd »

orsenthil wrote: post #55

For education, isn't the problem we are trying to solve the one with motivation, values and emotional handling? The tools, play a part, but it is engulfed by the real problem mentioned before. How are you going to deal with it?

There are many problems to solve within education! To say there’s only 1 aspect would be a massive disservice to the ~2 decades the average person spends going through a school system. Some studies estimate the average American is at a middle school reading level. That’s one problem (of many) we can aim to solve with something like Bloomy.

Re: Launch HN: Bloomy (YC S26) – AI-powered mastery learning for K-12

#60

Post by 2arrs2ells »

orsenthil wrote: post #55

For education, isn't the problem we are trying to solve the one with motivation, values and emotional handling? The tools, play a part, but it is engulfed by the real problem mentioned before. How are you going to deal with it?

When AI can handle the content, teachers get to focus on motivation, values and emotions.

I started my career as a teacher and spent > 8 hrs a day lesson planning, delivering content & grading. If I could have handed that off to a great program like Bloomy, I could have built far better relationships & my students would have been so much better off.

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