Microsoft teams up with Khan Academy to make the Khanmigo AI teaching assistant free

Microsoft and non-profit educational organization Khan Academy have formed a partnership that will allow all K-12 educators in the US to access the pilot version of Khanmigo for Teachers at no cost. Khanmigo is an AI-powered teaching assistant that can help teachers find ways to make lessons more fun and engaging. it will also recommend assignments, display information on a student's performance so that teachers can assess their progress and provide resources educators can use to refresh their knowledge.

The tool can also quickly create lesson plans and suggest student groups for team activities. Khan Academy says Khanmigo can save teachers an average of five working hours every week. The service previously cost educators $4 a month, but Khan Academy has dropped those fees since its Microsoft partnership allows it to use the Azure OpenAI Service to power Khanmigo for free. 

As part of their collaboration, Khan Academy will also help Microsoft train the company's Phi-3 small language models (SLMs) and develop its AI-powered math tutoring capabilities. The organization will give the company access to explanatory educational materials it can feed Phi-3, such as step-by-step guides on how to solve math problems. Khan Academy is hoping that SLMs like Phi-3, which can run locally on devices, will eventually be able to provide teaching help and tutoring for teachers and students in resource-strapped regions. Microsoft will also add more content from Khan Academy to Copilot and Teams for Education so that more people can access the organization's educational library. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-teams-up-with-khan-academy-to-make-the-khanmigo-ai-teaching-assistant-free-153008848.html?src=rss

Microsoft’s tool for AI reading lessons is now a standalone app

Microsoft is rolling out Reading Coach as a standalone app, which will expand its tools for educators in Microsoft Teams. The new app will be part of its Reading Progress suite designed to help students improve literacy in the classroom and at home. The tool will use artificial intelligence to provide users with personalized feedback on how to improve reading scores as well as specific suggestions for how to improve things like pronunciation. It will be free to any users that have a Microsoft account.

With prolonged use, the AI tool will flag specific words that a reader frequently mispronounces or misunderstands during reading sessions. To keep students engaged, the program will also ask a reader to choose prompts that can change a storyline as they progress.

Microsoft says teachers can integrate its program in classrooms through learning platforms starting in the Spring. But the tool is available to educators this month in preview. Teachers will be able to track how student’s feel about assignments using the Reflect tool within the program. This kind of feedback might help an educator determine what assignments students feel most excited about and which lessons might not be working. Beyond tracking student performance, the new features for Microsoft’s Teams for Education suite will help teachers generate content for lessons, such as passages and assignments for a student to engage with.

Microsoft also introduced new features for its Teams for Education app, which is designed to help educators tailor content for digital learning platforms. The Classwork tool will use AI to emphasize particular messages in an assignment’s instructions, according to an educator's particular goals for that lesson. The Assignments tool will use AI to streamline the rubric generating process. Outlines can be tailored by a teacher based on grade level, evaluation scale or other factors.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-tool-for-ai-reading-lessons-is-now-a-standalone-app-230520756.html?src=rss

Microsoft’s tool for AI reading lessons is now a standalone app

Microsoft is rolling out Reading Coach as a standalone app, which will expand its tools for educators in Microsoft Teams. The new app will be part of its Reading Progress suite designed to help students improve literacy in the classroom and at home. The tool will use artificial intelligence to provide users with personalized feedback on how to improve reading scores as well as specific suggestions for how to improve things like pronunciation. It will be free to any users that have a Microsoft account.

With prolonged use, the AI tool will flag specific words that a reader frequently mispronounces or misunderstands during reading sessions. To keep students engaged, the program will also ask a reader to choose prompts that can change a storyline as they progress.

Microsoft says teachers can integrate its program in classrooms through learning platforms starting in the Spring. But the tool is available to educators this month in preview. Teachers will be able to track how student’s feel about assignments using the Reflect tool within the program. This kind of feedback might help an educator determine what assignments students feel most excited about and which lessons might not be working. Beyond tracking student performance, the new features for Microsoft’s Teams for Education suite will help teachers generate content for lessons, such as passages and assignments for a student to engage with.

Microsoft also introduced new features for its Teams for Education app, which is designed to help educators tailor content for digital learning platforms. The Classwork tool will use AI to emphasize particular messages in an assignment’s instructions, according to an educator's particular goals for that lesson. The Assignments tool will use AI to streamline the rubric generating process. Outlines can be tailored by a teacher based on grade level, evaluation scale or other factors.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-tool-for-ai-reading-lessons-is-now-a-standalone-app-230520756.html?src=rss