From 23 September 2024, David Game College will start the Sabrewing Programme – the UK’s first ‘teacherless’ teaching programme entirely driven by AI. The new teaching system is designed for no more than twenty GCSE students in each group. It has a comprehensive subject coverage which includes Mathematics, English, and the three branches of Science. Despite being ‘teacherless’, three dedicated learning coaches, one of them a former Latin teacher, are appointed to give support and supervise behaviour.
This could be good news given that England has had little luck in addressing years of teacher shortage especially Mathematics and Science. The success of this AI-driven programme could introduce a new form of alternative teaching nationwide and be a potential remedy to the shortage.
The success of this AI-driven programme could introduce a new form of alternative teaching nationwide and be a potential remedy to the shortage.
It’s easy to see how students may perform better with personalised care from AI by being able to learn topics at their own pace rather than in a bigger group. Technology is very welcomed when it acts as temporary relief to structural problems such as teacher shortage; AI can give unprecedented full attention to each student.
David Game College believes that AI-driven adaptive learning systems can boost students’ confidence by ‘empowering students who thrive outside of traditional learning environments to achieve mastery in their subjects while mitigating psychological barriers’. Fear of failure and embarrassment are listed as examples of such barriers.
Yet perhaps confronting such ‘embarrassment’ at aged 15 – 17 is the key learning experience aside from increasing academic knowledge, especially when the independent school will be getting £27,000 a year from each student.
