Operation Saberwing!

Hi, human, In this newsletter, we are going to look at what will be one of the more interesting educational experiments that some media outlets reported this week - Operation Sabrewing. I want to talk about what this is, in as partial way as I can, and offer a bit of a commentary on it afterwards.

🤖 Industry updates

Operation Sabrewing is pilot alternative programme of study for those who will be doing their GCSE (exams done at the age of 16 for international reader) at David Game College, a private school in London. This programme of study will not be delivered by teachers instead there will be learning coaches (one coach for every seven students). The reason for this, as I am sure you have guessed, is because the courses will be delivered by ‘AI-driven Adaptive Learning Platforms’.

The GCSEs on offer are:

1. Mathematics

2. English Language

3. Biology

4. Chemistry

5. Physics

6. Computer Science

7. Geography or History

Pupils who participate in Sabrewing will need to study at least five of the above. However, they will not be left to their own devices (if you pardon the pun).

Pupils will still need to be on site. This means that they will get the socialisation benefits of feeling belonging and being part of a wider-community. Importantly, it also means that their day will be structured. Pupils will have certain blocks of time in which they need to study the subject that they are studying. This will support them in making sure that the recommended time spent on each subject is followed - though they are recommending that three hours of study is plentiful. As for the learning mentors, they will be expected to ‘…monitor academic progress but also provide personalised feedback, guidance, and mentoring.’

So why are the school doing this? They claim that traditional teaching, while effective for many students, can ‘overlook a student’s specific cognitive learning blacks and conceptual misunderstandings…’. This AI-driven adaptive learning systems will not, allegedly make these errors as they offer the following advantages (note that these are advantages the school is reporting, not me):

1. ‘AI-driven adaptive learning systems can also boost students' confidence and improve student wellbeing, empowering students who thrive outside of traditional learning environments to achieve mastery in their subjects while mitigating psychological barriers that often affect learning, such as fear of failure, embarrassment and stereotyping.’

2. ‘AI-driven adaptive learning allows each student to accelerate their learning, while still learning at their own pace and aiming to achieve mastery in the topics they encounter.’

3. ‘Adaptive learning ensures that students are always studying exactly the right material to meet their needs, based on regular assessments of both their prior knowledge as well as any new learning.’ 

As this is a private school, there is a fee of £27,000 per academic year. This includes additional activities and school trips as well as access to other school resources.

More information about this programme can be found on the school’s website. All italicised content above came from the school information page.

So what are my thoughts? It is fair to say that I am incredibly dubious about this on technological and ethical grounds.

On ethics, at the end of the days these are children. This is a giant paradigm shift in the way education will be delivered to the pupils who will be enrolled on this pilot programme. And to top it all off, you need to pay for the pleasure. This is not to say that we should not be looking to see if education can be delivered in this way, its just that this feels like the final hurdle rather than the gentle dipping the toe in the water that this needs to be treated with.

Coupled with the above, but more of a technological viewpoint, is that I am not aware of any ‘AI-drive adaptive learning system’ that can deliver what has been promised. Given that they are relying on using this technology for the delivery of the content, it seems bizarre just how short of detail they provide. There is no mention of what AI-drive adaptive learning systems that they are using, nor are there any references to support any of the claims they make as to the benefits of these systems are.

The saving-grace here is that this in an ‘opt-'in’ scenario, and it would be a brave parent, who, when given so little detail, decides to gamble £27,000.

What are your thoughts?

As ever, thanks for reading and keep on prompting! Mr A 🦾