TULSA, Okla. — This fall, Tulsa will be home to a school like we’ve never seen: all AI, no traditional teachers.
Alpha is a Kindergarten through 8th-grade school set to open at 109 N. Detroit for 25-30 families.
Here’s how it works: four core classes on the computer in a two-hour time frame.
Guides, rather than teachers, monitor the class.
Co-founder Mackenzie Price calls it a one-on-one mastery-based tutoring experience.
“It meets them at the exact level and pace that they are at, and as a result, our students are able to do so well on their academics in a much shorter period of time,” said Price. “That frees up the rest of the school day to focus on developing life skills by doing group and project-based workshops.”
Those project-based workshops could be teaching anything from socialization and leadership to financial literacy and public speaking.
2 News Oklahoma asked whether AI works with the students if they are having trouble in a subject.
“From an academic perspective, we're using a learning platform that is powered by artificial intelligence, that is able to very precisely and accurately assess what a student knows and doesn't know, and then builds out a personalized lesson plan that's based on the same curriculum that students in a traditional classroom are getting, but it is then fed to a student at the level and pace that matches that student's ability,” said Price.
Price maintains this is not a substitute for human interaction.
“We are able to provide our students with more time to connect with each other, and more time to connect with the adults in the classroom, our guides,” said Price. “In fact, our students spend less time on computer screens than the average student in the United States is spending in a traditional classroom.”
The school comes at a cost: $40,000 a year, more than double the going rate of other Tulsa-area private schools.
According to Oklahoma Watch, Alpha is not eligible for Oklahoma’s private school tax credit program.
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