Introduction
In the ever-evolving educational landscape, K-12 education often appears stagnant amidst rapid advancements. Online tutoring, offering greater flexibility and wider access to educational resources, still faces affordability, personalization, and quality challenges.
Startups are introducing gamified education methods, proposing them as alternatives to traditional schooling, yet these are not always feasible for many families. Mentorus recognizes the opportunity to develop a digital AI tutoring platform that complements school learning. This article delves into the real worth of personal tutoring and how generative AI is set to reshape the educational landscape.
The Current State of Personal Tutoring
Personal tutoring has been a popular method for enhancing education, providing students with individualized attention and theoretically a more customized learning experience. However, this system is not free from shortcomings.
Key Problem 1: Inconsistent Teaching Quality and Doubtful Personalization in Tutoring
The idea of personalization in 1:1 tutoring often fails to live up to its name. True personalization requires a deep, ongoing understanding of a student's distinct learning style, pace, strengths, and weaknesses. Traditional methods typically fall short, relying on shallow and biased indicators like recent exam results and students’ perceptions for guidance. Moreover, the quality of personal tutors varies greatly, affected by factors such as their workload and experience.
Our survey of over 100 students and parents highlights a troubling trend: the acceptance of mediocre teaching due to the mere physical presence of a tutor, fostering a view of learning as a tedious task rather than an inspiring activity.
Key Problem 2: Affordability of Personal Tutoring
The financial burden on families is significant in places like Hong Kong, where personal tutoring can cost between $200 and $1000 HKD per hour. This high cost often makes personal tutoring inaccessible to many, raising questions about its overall worth. In contrast, AI tutoring is cost-effective, offering a more affordable and accessible educational alternative.
AI Tutoring: Personalization at Its Best
The strength of AI tutoring lies in its capacity to tailor the educational experience to each student's individual needs. The advent of Large Language Models (LLMs) has further enhanced this capability. AI's adaptive learning algorithms effectively cater to various learning styles, making education more engaging and effective. Despite these advantages, AI tutoring must balance AI and human elements to ensure successful integration.
Mentorus: A Human Approach to AI
At Mentorus, we hold the human element in education as sacred. We aim to create a tool that supports teachers, tutors, parents, and students in delivering personalized education and active learning. We believe this approach can assist all types of students. Looking forward, our focus is on developing and refining our AI tutoring solutions to maximize their impact and accessibility.
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