“Perhaps they only needed 10 seconds from a teacher, but they did not get it”

Students can spend much of a lesson waiting for help, even when they need only a few seconds from their teacher. That is the classroom problem behind Alfa Kennsla, an Icelandic educational technology project.

In a class of more than 20 pupils, students may ask for help with entirely different problems. Harald Jón Friðriksson, one of the app’s founders, says teachers can struggle to reach everyone, even when an individual student’s difficulty is minor. “Perhaps the students only needed 10 seconds from a teacher, but they did not get it,” he says.

The challenge is not limited to students who need immediate assistance. Some pupils want continued help, which can take time away from others. At the same time, weaknesses in basic skills may not be identified early enough. Students continue moving up through the grades even when they have not fully mastered the material.

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Perhaps the students only needed 10 seconds from a teacher, but they did not get it.

Alfa Kennsla is designed to respond by giving students explanations adapted to their level of understanding. Sindri Freyr Jóhannsson, the other founder, says the artificial intelligence can break an idea down to the meaning of a number when a student is struggling. Two pupils in the same class can therefore receive different explanations of the same subject.

The founders say the app is not meant to replace teachers. Better information about where students are struggling should help teachers see which concepts need attention and intervene when their support is genuinely required. The project recently received a grant from Iceland’s Rannís Technology Development Fund.

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If you just say, ‘I don’t know, I don’t know,’ it goes right down with you until it explains what a number is.