Students at nine Palm Beach County high schools now have a new group of tutors available through their computers to assist them with their classwork.
The district is implementing a virtual assistant powered by artificial intelligence that guides students through their assignments.
With a teacher in a classroom of more than 20 students, it can be difficult to connect with everyone during a class period. But now, with the help of this artificial intelligence tool, students receive more individualized tutoring without replacing that human interaction.
Catalina Toledo enjoys the additional group of instructors in her 10th-grade reading class at Santaluces Community High School.
“It’s a great help because it reinforces everything I’ve taught them. And then it allows them to go back and forth over it,” Toledo said.
It’s called Khanmigo, an AI-powered tool through Khan Academy, a secure and supplemental educational program the district was already using.
“It’s the advancement of technology, guys. We’re living it,” said student Tiffany Chioffe.
Students like Chioffe are among the first to use this virtual tutoring program, giving her one-on-one attention.
“It doesn’t give any answers,” Chioffe said. “Actually, right now, it’s asking me questions about the story. And it’s like, ‘Oh, what would happen next?’ And instead of giving me the answer, it’s like, let’s figure it out together.”
Toledo said diving into the world of AI can be scary and overwhelming at first. She’s not worried about a computer taking her job, but she knows it’s part of the future, so it’s better to use it in a controlled setting.
“Kids are going to use the things that exist. So I feel like if they can use them with us, then it will be better because we can monitor them,” Toledo said.
Toledo added that Khanmigo can also give more confidence to students who may not feel comfortable raising their hand in class.
“It helps me answer different questions that worry me,” said student Kayla Porter. “And if I’m worried about how to spell a certain thing or how to do a certain thing, it will respond right away, instead of having to wait for your teacher when they’re busy with other students.”
The Palm Beach County School District plans to implement the Khanmigo program in all district high schools next year. Nothing has been decided yet about expanding it to middle schools.
The nine Palm Beach County schools using Khanmigo are Boca Raton Community High School, Boynton Beach Community High School, Glades Central Community High School, Jupiter Community High School, Palm Beach Central High School, Santaluces Community High School, Seminole Ridge Community High School, Suncoast High School, and Wellington Community High School.
The implementation of the Khanmigo program is funded in partnership with the Stiles-Nicholson Foundation, a local nonprofit organization that supports education.
The foundation will provide up to $2 million for the use of the platform through June 2025.
This is another example of how the Palm Beach County School District is incorporating artificial intelligence into its curriculum. Last month, it was announced that the district’s first artificial intelligence course was offered at Palm Beach Gardens Community High School.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the district launched a similar online tutoring platform using the Paper app. Paper also allowed students to communicate with tutors one-on-one, but on the other end was a person instead of artificial intelligence. The district said its contract with Paper ends at the end of this school year.
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