Press Release
Silicon Valley High School Announces Groundbreaking AI-Powered Platform and Online Curriculum for the 2023-2024 School Year
With Over 46,000 Students Enrolled to Date, and Curriculum of More Than 60 Video-Based Courses, SVHS Accelerates Growth with AI Tools and Capabilities;
Reinvents the Traditional Approach with a Blended Learning, Flipped Classroom Model at the Forefront of the Digital Education Revolution
Las Vegas, NV (August 2023)—Silicon Valley High School (SVHS), the accredited online high school with more than 46,000 students enrolled to date, today announced it is integrating a full spectrum of AI-based tools and capabilities into its proven platform that is already powering a digital revolution in education, combining blended learning to enable schools to migrate to a flipped classroom model. These new AI features will begin launching with the Fall 2023 school year (beginning this Fall) and into 2024.
“These new AI and software innovations enhance the learning experience for SVHS students and provide a route for schools across the country to quickly provide a compelling, AI-driven curriculum to students of their own.” said David Smith, CEO and founder of Silicon Valley High School. “Our AI enabled online curriculum can alleviate the workload currently burdening teachers, freeing them up to pay more attention to individual students and to do what they do best–teach.”
AI-Powered Capabilities Rolling Out In The 2023-24 School Year:
Enhancing its current curriculum of video-based, self-paced and teacher-assisted courses, these new interactive AI-powered capabilities will supercharge the educational experience. Some of these new tools include:
Personal AI Tutors: This tool ties into a student’s gradebook to track progress through a course. Like a dedicated teacher sitting beside the student, the AI Tutor is always available to answer questions on subject matter as well as provide overall guidance and tips to help the student complete course work and achieve their academic goals. Beyond answering questions, the AI Tutor takes the initiative to inform the student when he/she is behind schedule and help the student get back on track. To make the AI Tutor most effective, SVHS provides the bot with up-to-the-minute details of the student’s progress from the gradebook as well as the course syllabus and all incorporated activities, including videos and learning materials from the SVHS Learning Management System.
AI School Guidance Counselor: As SVHS has its own student information system tracking the credits a student has already earned, and identifying which credits are needed to graduate, the AI Guidance Counselor is able to provide students with advice on which courses they need to take, and in which order. As a good counselor would in a traditional school, beyond academic planning, the AI Guidance Counselor is directed to help students with other topics such as college and career counseling, personal and social development, standardized testing, financial aid and scholarships, goal setting and decision making, college, career exploration, etc.
AI Writing Assistant: Students write essays and other written submissions in a proprietary AI-driven text editor that acts like a dedicated personal tutor, sitting beside the student and advising them as they compose and edit their English prose. The writing assistant points out where they’re making mistakes and provides immediate contextual advice on how they can improve their writing
Mastery Chat Assessments: This AI chat bot interacts with students, asking them questions about the materials they have already covered in the course and assessing the student’s level of comprehension. For example, English 9 students are required to read the book Lord of the Flies. The chat bot asks students detailed questions about the characters, the storyline and symbolic meaning in the book in a real-time dialogue, which is used to make an assessment and recommended score that goes toward the student’s grade.
Historical Figures Bot: This tool enables students to chat with fictional and historical figures for deeper, immersive-style learning. For example, History students can chat with George Washington about his life, experiences and perspectives on the revolutionary war. The bot replies in the style of George Washington and draws upon substantial knowledge of his background and accomplishments to heighten engagement and learning retention.
Debate Chat: With this capability, students take one side on an issue and the bot assumes the opposing side in an interactive dialogue. The students present her position and the bot counters with an opposing argument to help them think through issues and refine their understanding.
AI-Powered Academic Integrity Tools: AI systems authenticate the identity of students, proctor the tests and prevent students from submitting plagiarized work. With this patent-pending technology, students taking tests are restricted to the screen containing the test itself. The AI Writing Assistant monitors each step in the construction of essays and other written work and identifies when students are trying to present submissions plagiarized from AI or other sources.
AI-Powered Curriculum Development Tools: AI bots help teachers to develop new courses and enhance existing courses. AI tools have been developed to find, analyze and categorize compelling educational videos and undertake quality control on courses. They help map curriculum to the various state and national standards.
AI Customer Service Assistants: This bot is trained on the knowledgebase of frequently asked questions and the thousands of tickets that have been processed by the SVHS customer service team over several years. It provides immediate answers to questions from students, schools and other website visitors.
AI Grading Assistants: Applying the grading rubric to assignments submitted by students, AI helps teachers provide more consistent, accurate grades and provides constructive feedback to students. The AI drafts recommended grades and detailed feedback, saving valuable time for teachers.
Private Labeled AI-Powered Curriculum and LMS for Schools
Under a private label model, schools will be able to adopt the SVHS AI-powered curriculum embedded in a learning management system that looks and feels like an extension of the school’s own website.
The SVHS AlwaysOnline Curriculum is a seamless path for all schools to become AI-powered in a relatively short time span–before the end of 2024. It provides a turnkey solution for schools and school districts, enabling them to make the most of their budgets, handle the growing teacher shortage, and empower their existing staff, while quickly leaping to the forefront of the emerging digital education revolution.
AI Powered Private Labeled Mobile Apps
Students will be provided with mobile apps so they can access the SVHS Always Online curriculum via smartphones and tablet devices.
About Silicon Valley High School
Formed in 2013, Silicon Valley High School (SVHS) is a software-driven accredited online school serving more than 45,000 students with a curriculum of more than 60 video-based, self-paced and teacher-supported courses covering Math, Sciences, Social Science, English, Art, Languages, and Electives. Students pay just $125 per course, which includes all the learning materials they need.
The AlwaysOnline Curriculum is made available to other schools under a private label model, where it is customized to look and feel like an extension of the school’s own website.
Founded by a former Apple executive and serial entrepreneur, SVHS has assembled a world-class team of educators and software engineers, with a chief technology officer who leverages his experience as program manager on Amazon’s Alexa, the pioneering AI assistant. The SVHS team is focused on transforming traditional teaching with an AI-powered platform that better empowers students and teachers alike.
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