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MathematicsMathsHigh schoolKey Stages 4 and 5

How to set up AI tutoring in your school

AI tutoring gives every student one-on-one help during class, the way research says tutoring works best. This guide gives three steps for setting it up in your school, and a free Algebra 1 tutor to start with.

Jemel Fanfan

Jemel Fanfan | Founding Member at Flint

Title card reading 'How to set up AI tutoring in your school', next to three students' cards from one Algebra 1 class: a basketball fan who saw rise and run on a graph, a music fan who solved a check problem with no hints, and a student Sparky flagged for the teacher after three wrong answers.

"We have rolled out Flint to our staff and students as their personal tutor. This has allowed students to gain additional support as well as provided teachers with “Additional hands” in the classroom."

Steve BuettnerSteve Buettner, Technology Integration Specialist at American Overseas School of Rome

Why this matters

In an Algebra 1 class of 30, the teacher can sit with two or three students during practice time. Hiring a tutor for every student, every day, costs more than any school budget allows. Everyone else raises a hand and waits or stops working, and the teacher finds out who was stuck when the homework comes back.

What makes AI tutoring work in a school

AI tutoring gives each student one-on-one help from an AI tutor in a chat. Stanford's National Student Support Accelerator describes high-impact tutoring as sessions during the school day, three or more times a week, one-on-one or in groups of no more than four, and in step with the school's curriculum (National Student Support Accelerator). An AI tutor used during class gives every student that one-on-one time in the school day, all at once.

  1. Tutor during class, not after school
  2. Start from what each student already knows
  3. Send the students who need a person to the teacher

A teacher can't sit one-on-one with 30 students in one period. Sparky, Flint's AI tutor, works with each student in their own chat and flags the students who need the teacher.

Two students get help from the same tutor at the same time

Both students are practicing slope in the same Algebra 1 class while the teacher works with a small group. They share one activity, and each has their own chat with Sparky.

Sparky uses the student's interestSparky starts from what the student already knows
J

Jordan

Interest: BasketballStarting point: Mixes up rise and run

Jordan

Slope through (2, 3) and (6, 11)? I got 4/8, so 1/2. Can you show me on a graph?

Sparky

Rise goes up, run goes across. Which one goes on top?
A graph Sparky drew in the chat, titled Finding Slope: Rise ÷ Run: the line through (2, 3) and (6, 11), with arrows marking run = 4 across and rise = 8 up.
GraphRise and run between two points

Jordan

Rise 8, run 4. So 2.

Understanding check

Your team has 5 points after minute 1 and 11 after minute 4. Points per minute?

Jordan

2 points per minute.

Saw his mistake on the graph, then got the check right

M

Maya

Interest: Making musicStarting point: Ready for harder problems

Maya

A song has 12,000 streams on day 3 and 32,000 on day 8. I got 4,000 streams a day. Can you graph it? Big labels please.

Sparky

Exactly right. No hints on this next one.
A graph Sparky drew in the chat: song streams by day, with points at (3, 12,000) and (8, 32,000) and dashed lines marking run = 5 and rise = 20,000.
GraphSong streams over time

Understanding check

Your track has 800 plays on day 2 and 2,000 on day 6. Plays per day?

Maya

300 plays per day.

Checked her answer on the graph, then got the check right

Sparky drew both graphs. The students and the rest of each chat are examples we wrote for this page.

See which students need the teacher

When a student keeps getting answers wrong, says they give up, or asks for the teacher, Sparky flags the chat under Needs attention on the activity page.

Flint's activity page for an activity called Algebra 1 Tutor. Needs attention shows a live alert that one student got three slope problems wrong and wrote 'i give up'. Activity analytics lists what the class does well, an area of improvement where 6 students flip rise and run, and a follow-up with a button to create a follow-up activity. The Sessions table shows two submitted students graded Proficient and one still in progress.

Example activity page

During an Algebra 1 class's slope practice

The school and students are made up for this page. One student needs the teacher now, and six still flip rise and run.

Set up the activity for free

  1. Open the Algebra 1 Tutor in Flint's public library and select Use activity. Flint is free for up to 80 users.
  2. Move it to a class. Every student gets their own chat with Sparky.
  3. To share it with every teacher, open its menu, select Publish to library, and choose School library.

To start students on this week's unit, add a line like this to Guidelines for Sparky:

Example guideline

This week the class is on slope and slope-intercept form. Start there unless the student brings a different problem.

See also Flint for math and Flint's AI tutor.

Start the activity for free

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