Learning Technology Grant

Program Overview, Design & Intent

Using various data and completed student surveys, our needs’ assessment highlights how too many students feel disconnected from school. Chronic absenteeism rates across the district and most notably at the high school are excessive, equating to a lot of missed learning and personal growth opportunities.  Similarly, survey data reveals many students looking for educational opportunities that are relevant and personalized.  Finally, certain twenty-first century skills and mindsets, including resilience, grit, leadership and hope for the future are lacking in too many students.  Though many VVS students thrive, too many of them are struggling as reflected by this data.  As educators, we realize  we can better serve our students by supplementing their experience with new digital tools. 

Our proposal includes the purchase of 50 licenses for edX.  We will target eleventh and twelfth grade students who qualify as low-income students for these opportunities due to their above average rates of chronic absenteeism.  Students will use their edX accounts to access and complete coursework that we could not otherwise provide.  Certificates of completion are given to students who successfully pass the course.  We aspire to have each student in this program complete a course. Students can better personalize their instructional program by choosing and taking courses in engineering, law, education, medicine, and among many other fields, data science.  Not only will these opportunities fortify what is currently offered to our students, they will address a desire many of them have – greater student agency.  Our goals then for the deployment of edX are to better personalize learning for our students thereby more strongly connecting them to school, improving their attendance and participation in school and renewing our commitment to provide more unique pathways to all students.  Such pathways are a cornerstone of NYSED’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Graduation Measures. Invariably we also hope to forge a more hopeful future for our students. 

Our proposal also includes the tentative purchase of Khanmigo and Magic School Enterprise for 1300 students for year two and 1300 students for year three of the program.  Both deploy AI Tools that were initially conceptualized and envisioned with the following capabilities: 

“What might it be like if every student on the planet had access to an artificially intelligent personal tutor: an AI capable of writing alongside the student; an AI that students could debate any topic with; an AI that fine-tuned a student’s inherent strengths and augmented any gaps in learning; an AI that engaged students in new and powerful ways of understanding science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; an AI that gave students new ways of experiencing art and unlocking their own creativity; an AI that allowed for students to engage with history and literature like never before?” (Khan, 2024) 

Such AI tools for students are no longer a dream – they have arrived, and we are extremely excited by their potential to positively change the trajectory of our students.  For example, the most important feature of Khanmigo is its ability to scaffold and guide students in a Socratic dialogue-like manner.  Providing each student in grades 3-12 with an AI tutor through Khanmigo will address the challenges of learning loss whether residual from the Covid period or due to chronic absenteeism.  However, we also believe that consistent access to and use of AI tools will better draw students to school by personalizing learning and tailoring it to elevate their strengths while mitigating their learning gaps.  Magic School Enterprise, for example, has close to 40 AI tools (i.e., idea generator; language learning tutor; rap battle; make it relevant; etc.) that will make learning more relevant to our students. Both platforms also allow teachers to review and monitor student exchanges taking place; such exploration will allow teachers to better pinpoint the learning challenges and successes students are having with certain skills or content.  Taken together, Khanmigo and Magic School Enterprise provide for each student a relatable AI tutor, AI tools to make learning relevant, and to the teacher, an AI teacher assistant, providing immediate student learning feedback.  Again, both features provide immediate checks for understanding and feedback for both student and teacher.  Based on John Hattie’s (2017) study of 250+ influences on student achievement, feedback has an effect size of .70, which has the potential to considerably accelerate student achievement.  Finally, through consultations with the vendors of Khanmigo and Magic School Enterprise, and the understanding of our own students, we felt third grade was the earliest grade level for students to productively engage with such technology.  Our goals then are to better personalize learning through AI-assisted tools and tailored feedback, thereby better connecting students to their learning and improving their attendance and participation in school.  We also seek to provide structure and purpose to our students in using this powerful and emerging digital tool productively.  Every day, everywhere, AI is gaining in popularity: an increasing number of students are specializing in it and in 2020 American AI startups raised $38 billion in funding, while their Asian and European counterparts raised $25 and $8 billion respectively (Kissinger et al., 2021).