Students in Cheryl Drakeford’s third-grade class in Newark are trying Khanmigo, a new A.I.-assisted tutoring bot.NEWARK, N.J. — On a recent morning, Cheryl Drakeford, a third grade teacher at First Avenue Elementary School in Newark, projected a challenging math question on her classroom’s whiteboard: “What fraction of the letters in the word MATHEMATICIAN are consonants?”
Newark has essentially volunteered to be a guinea pig for public schools across the country that are trying to distinguish the practical use of new AI-assisted tutoring bots from their marketing promises. Designed specifically for schools, the tutoring bot often takes students through the sequential steps needed to solve a problem.
Newark students began using Khan’s automated teaching aid in May. The reviews have so far been mixed. “That’s our biggest concern, that too much of the thinking work is going through Khanmigo,” said Alan Usherenko, the district’s special assistant for schools, including First Avenue, in Newark’s North Ward. The district did not want the bot to lead students through a problem step by step, he said, adding, “We want them to know how to tackle the problem themselves, to use their critical thinking skills.
On Wednesday, a reporter asked Khanmigo the same fraction question. In student mode, the tutoring bot explained the steps and then directly provided the answer: “the fraction of consonants in the word ‘MATHEMATICIAN’ is 7/13.”