Austin Scholar #65: How generative AI will transform education

& The best AI tools for education you’ve never heard of

Hey, y'all!

This week from Austin Scholar...

1. Austin’s Anecdote: How Alpha students are already using generative AI

2. How generative AI will transform education

3. Scholar’s Sources: The best AI tools for education you’ve never heard of

This week, I received the opportunity to have a booth and present at the Woman’s Way Awards. Absolutely incredible experience. It was so inspiring to be in a room with hundreds of powerful, accomplished women–and getting to meet and learn from them. I’m so grateful that this newsletter has opened these doors for me and am so grateful for each and every one of y’all :)

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Austin’s Anecdote: How Alpha students are already using generative AI

Ever since generative AI and ChatGPT were first announced, Alpha has taken advantage of these tools.

The key to Alpha and not having teachers is to be able to “learn to learn.” Recently, Alpha created an “Alpha Tutor” AI bot for the K-8 kids that pops up to give kids coaching if it realizes they’re stuck on a question.

I’m not going to lie: most kids actually prefer asking an AI bot for help than a human. It feels so much more comfortable and can be great practice for kids to learn how to ask the right questions to uncover the right answers.

At the high school level, Alpha has been using generative AI tools to help us superpower our Masterpiece projects. 

We’ve had “prompt-engineering” workshops and “ethical AI in education” seminars. Every single Alpha High kid is learning how to transform their life and potential through generative AI.

Personally, I’ve been using Poe to create a growth plan for Twitter and to help me generate content ideas. I use Consensus to find educational papers to back up my claims. I’m learning how to take advantage of these terrifying tools, not just ignore them out of fear.

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How generative AI will transform education

In order to show you the incredible capabilities and potential of these generative AI technologies, I thought I’d show y’all, not just tell.

I used this AI tool, Mini-Course Generator, to create a quick, five-minute course on why and how parents can use AI tools to unlock their kids’ full learning potential. Click here to take it (it’s short–I promise).

Creating that course took me fifteen minutes. Generative AI did most of the work.

Honestly, at this point, I’m getting worried that I’ll be replaced :)

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Scholar’s Sources: The best AI tools for education you’ve never heard of

Now, because Mini-Course Generator did all of the hard work convincing y’all why you should be using these tools, I’m going to provide a list of my favorites and how you can use them yourself:

1. Speaking Club AI

If you want your kid to practice a new language, you definitely need to check out this AI app. Your kid can respond to questions from the bot–which will also correct their responses so they can learn from them. Here’s my conversation in German:

2. Story Wizard

The key insight about generative AI tools is that they make all traditional educational content obsolete. Students don’t have to rely on bland textbooks to learn things. They don’t even have to learn to read from those same, copy-and-paste Bob Books that everyone has grown up reading. Instead, they can use tools like Story Wizard to put themselves in the story. Now, it’s them who’s going on daring adventures and meeting animals who talk. As soon as the story’s about them, every kid loves to read.

Here’s the first page of my story:

3. Quiz Whiz

Quiz Whiz is the perfect tool to help your kid actively learn as they read a textbook or passage. All they have to do is copy-and-paste content and it will generate full quizzes. This is a great way to practice before an exam. Here’s an example using a passage from my US History study guide:

4. Nolej AI

Nolej AI is absolutely remarkable. This AI tool will create an entire lesson based on a video or piece of text. Here’s an example using a YouTube video of a 4th-grade fractions review:

All you have to do is copy-and-paste the URL into Nolej AI, and it will turn the video into flashcards, summaries, reviews, and quizzes. Whenever your kid is struggling with a concept, help them find a good review video and have Nolej AI create a lesson to help them understand it. This is the perfect way to personalize learning.

5. Essay Grader

Essay Grader does exactly what you think I’d do: grade essays. Your kid can pick the type of essay and level it should be graded at, then all they have to do to get feedback is copy-and-paste their essay into the AI. This is a great tool for kids just starting to write essays, as they will be able to get personalized feedback on what an essay truly is (something that most teachers don’t have the bandwidth to do for each kid), which can build the foundation for their future academic success. Here’s an example of an essay I wrote:

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Finally, If you want to find an AI to do any task for you, look it up on Futurepedia.

Use an AI to find other AIs.

The world is changing, so make sure you help your kid change with it.

And, if you want to learn how to create an entire year’s worth of curriculum (learning modules, quizzes, and explanations included) using only AI, check out my Twitter thread on it :)

I also have a full newsletter on using ChatGPT, so check that out if you’re just starting with AI.

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Thanks for reading. Go crush the week! See y'all on Sunday.