Janice R. Andrews
Microsoft and Khan Academy have announced a ground-breaking agreement that will make Khanmigo, an AI-powered teaching assistant, free for all K–12 instructors in the United States. This is a big step toward improving the educational environment. Because to the integration of Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service, Khanmigo, which was previously offered to teachers at a cost of $4 per month, will now be accessible without charge.
Khanmigo: Educator Empowerment
With Khanmigo, educators can create more effective and interesting learning experiences with the help of a flexible and dynamic technology. With the use of AI, Khanmigo can:
- Make Lessons More Engaging: Khanmigo offers creative ideas for making educational sessions more enjoyable and participatory, which may draw students in and enhance their learning objectives.
- Recommend Assignments: Based on performance information and the needs of each individual student, the AI assistant makes customized assignment recommendations.
- Assess Student Progress: Khanmigo gives teachers the ability to track students’ progress and pinpoint areas that might need more focus by providing comprehensive information on each student’s performance.
- Resource Provision: Teachers may enhance their teaching techniques and update their expertise with a variety of materials provided by Khanmigo.
- Create Lesson Plans: Teachers may save a great deal of time and effort by using the tool to swiftly develop lesson plans.
- Suggest Student Groups: To promote collaborative learning settings, Khanmigo may suggest the best student groups for team activities.
According to Khan Academy, utilizing Khanmigo may save instructors five working hours a week on average, which is a big help in the hard and demanding field of teaching.
Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service’s Function
The Azure OpenAI Service is used by Microsoft and Khan Academy in conjunction to power Khanmigo. Thanks to this partnership, Khan Academy can now provide this cutting-edge AI technology without charging the $4 monthly charge. Because of Azure’s strong AI capabilities, Khanmigo can provide instructors with dependable, high-quality help.
Promoting Education and AI Together
In addition to facilitating access to Khanmigo, Microsoft and Khan Academy are working together to promote artificial intelligence (AI) in education. More specifically, Microsoft will use Khan Academy to help train its Phi-3 small language models (SLMs). Because these SLMs are made to operate locally on devices, they are especially useful for delivering instructional support in places where internet connectivity is scarce.
Microsoft will have access to a plethora of instructional resources from Khan Academy, including how-to tutorials for math difficulties. The goal of using this data is to improve Phi-3’s skills in order to create AI-powered tutoring programs that can help kids and instructors, particularly in areas with little resources.
Combining Microsoft Tools to Increase Educational Resources
Microsoft intends to include additional Khan Academy content into its current educational technologies, such as Copilot and Teams for Education, in addition to enhancing AI teaching capabilities. Through this connection, a wider audience will have access to Khan Academy’s vast instructional collection, enhancing the learning process for both instructors and students.
A Common Vision for Education’s Future
This collaboration highlights Microsoft and Khan Academy’s common goal of using technology to transform education. Their goal is to establish a more effective and equitable learning environment by improving AI teaching skills and making cutting-edge technologies like Khanmigo publicly available.
The creator of Khan Academy, Sal Khan, voiced his excitement about the collaboration by saying, “We are excited to work with Microsoft to expand the reach of Khanmigo among educators.” Through this partnership, we can greatly enhance student results and assist educators by utilizing the most recent advancements in AI technology.”
The significance of the partnership was also emphasized by Anthony Salcito, vice president of education at Microsoft, who stated, “At Microsoft, we believe in the transformative potential of technology in education. Our collaboration with Khan Academy is evidence of our dedication to giving teachers the resources they require for success and assisting students in realizing their full potential.”
An important step toward incorporating AI into education has been taken with Microsoft and Khan Academy’s agreement to offer Khanmigo free for all K–12 instructors in the US. This partnership seeks to improve educational results by saving instructors time and improving the learning experience for students by offering a robust, AI-driven teaching assistant at no cost. Initiatives like this will be vital in determining the direction of education in the future as AI develops, making sure that educators and learners alike have access to the tools and assistance they require to succeed.
