Teachers at South Windsor High School started using Magic School, an AI (artificial intelligence) program, with their students in the fall and they saw high student engagement during this first school year.
“It’s like their own personal tutor that they can access 24/7,” said Kevin Snyder, a computer science teacher at South Windsor High.
It’s a personal tutor that can help students brainstorm, give them feedback and even quiz them before a big test.
Jennifer Necci, a teacher for 19 years, has found success in this first year of using the program with her students.
Necci said she can see the benefits from college prep classes to honors classes.
“Sometimes the needs for one person in the room are just so great. So, AI has really allowed students to kind of take control of their own learning,” said Necci.
It’s like their own personal tutor that they can access 24/7.
Kevin Snyder, South Windsor High School computer science teacher
One of the main differences between this program and other AI programs out there is that teachers have full control over how it’s used and can design their own chatbots.
“I often instruct the ChatBot to be a Socratic tutor, meaning not to offer the answers right away, to challenge the students, especially in an honors class. You want to challenge their thinking and their perspectives,” said Necci.
Teachers can see everything a student asks the bots, track a student’s growth and see an area where a student may be struggling.
“If I get bogged down helping one or two, they can at least go out and ask a question and maybe get started and not sit there and wait for me to get around the room. That’s been super helpful,” Snyder said.
There is a concern that students could become too reliant on this technology, which is why the teachers said they are being very purposeful about how it’s used in the classroom, limiting its use in certain areas and monitoring it to make sure it is being used the way it was intended.
“This is a game changer for students,” said Ed Duclos, a tech coach at South Windsor High. “Personalized learning is what this is all about.”
Duclos helped spearhead the use of AI in the school and said students have embraced this so much that out of all 4,000 schools that use Magic School, South Windsor is the third highest in student engagement.
