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Alex Peng, of Think Academy, believes that AI technology could be used to revolutionize education. His company will release an AI-powered tablet at CES in 2025. It is affordable and is packed with technology geared toward helping young learners remain focused and motivated, while retaining more knowledge.
Alex Peng has had a varied career, starting as an Ivy League mathematician and moving on to consulting at McKenzie, strategy at Microsoft and now leading efforts in educational technology at one of the largest education groups in the world. Alex Peng is the President and Chief Financial Officer of TAL Education Group (NYSE:TAL), a NYSE-listed company from China that has decades of experience in the forefront of advanced education methods. Think Academy is a global education technology brand owned by the TAL Group.
TAL began as a tutoring service run by a graduate student at Peking University, which later expanded into hundreds of learning centres across China. TAL was a pioneer in online education and incorporating technology to learning. Think Academy has products and services in more than ten countries. But it is preparing to make a major push into the US market with its new AI-powered tablet, the Thinkpal. It will be on display at CES 2020.
Thinkpal, as Alex describes it, “leverages the experience we gained from AI-powered learning tablet in China to provide an entirely customized device for international market.” It is the first hardware from Think Academy that is available for the US, and its arrival coincides with a period of documented declines in education in the US and worldwide.
In recent years, a shortage of teachers and the impact of less time spent at school as well as supervised study have led to widespread learning losses. This is especially evident in the falling test scores for subjects like reading and math.
Thinkpal was created to address these problems with a product affordable and accessible to every student. The tablet uses a system powered by AI to guide students through their homework and studies. Thinkpal, a tablet with camera that can explain and read materials to students as they do their coursework, is designed for young learners between the ages of 4 and 12.
Thinkpal is not only a great educational tool, but it also has some truly innovative functions. The camera can follow students as they work on math problems and provide logical, step-bystep explanations, and guidance to solve the problem.
It also has features that are similar for reading and writing, such as interactive prompts and immediate feedback to boost confidence and creativity when writing. It also has tools such as “point-and discover” which allows students to explain words or sentences by simply pointing at them on the page.
Students can also ask questions verbally to the Thinkpal, which uses its AI system to have safe, motivational, and educational conversations. Alex says that the goal isn’t to replace parental guidance and tutoring, but rather to enhance it. “Their participation in the learning process is crucial, and our tablet can provide a useful tool in their hand.”
Alex, a true believer of the power of technology in education to enhance and equalize education, believes that AI technology used this way can achieve the “impossible triangular of effective education”which is both individual and large-scale and of superior quality. The technology and studies that prove its effectiveness are still in the works, as with everything AI. Think Academy has partnered with academic institutions to quantify the impact of technology on learning. The results so far have been encouraging in terms of increased motivation for studying and learning retention.
Alex believes that AI adoption in education is a highly meaningful process and not merely a way to get quick answers, as it is often used by the “adult world”.
Alex notes that “we believe the magic of AI is to encourage people ask smart questions, and to obtain insights quickly so they can be enlightened and think more”. “Thinkpal was created in this vision. It guides students in their thought process, allowing them to come up with their answer instead of just showing the right answers.”
With technology like this, all students, regardless of their background or economic status, will have equal access to better learning. We can all support this. Thinkpal will go on sale in early 2025 for $249 (or $339 with a keyboard). Sign up for 5 free monthly articles today !