AirMaths motivates students with AI predictions to personalize learning

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Former London state school pupil Michael Olagunju started AirMaths three years ago to help disadvantaged students access better maths tutoring. Today the site attracts 1.5 million students a year and offers a mix of interactive learning materials and bespoke online tutoring.

Now Michael is taking AirMaths to the next level, making use of AI to motivate students with individual goals based on an understanding of their personal learning journeys. The service offers cash rewards to subscribers in return for data that makes its AI predictions more accurate.

“We believe that personalization can empower people to control their own individual outcomes,” says Michael, a West London born entrepreneur who found himself struggling at maths during A levels.

Unable to afford a tutor, he found a YouTube channel called ExamSolutions, which offered free videos by teaching guru, Stuart Sidders. This was a turning point for Michael, who used it as his main revision tool and earned an A in his A levels and a First Class Honours degree in Mathematics.

Michael is convinced that used correctly, AI will make a significant difference to students’ performance: “By predicting the grade that a student is likely to achieve, we’re able to set a realistic milestone, which is to achieve the next grade up. This provides a level of focus and motivation that is difficult to create without accurate predictions. The data shows that predictions have a net positive effect on performance.”

AirMaths uses a subscription model to enhance its free content. Subscribers benefit from learning plans tailored to their individual needs and reporting that compares their attainment to national standards.

“Throughout the process the student is fully aware of what work needs to be done to go from a B to an A. For parents who are on limited budgets, the platform tells them exactly how much they need to spend to get their child there – and how long that will take,” says Michael. “For parents, it’s important to know how much it will cost for their child to achieve a certain result.”

Michael is part of the latest cohort at the incubator Satoshi Block Dojo, which encourages startups to build on Bitcoin SV, taking advantage of its ability to make micropayments. “BSV allows us to reward our students in a cost-effective way,” he says, “although to them, it’ll just be a small payment in their local currency.”

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CoinGeek followed the inside story of Block Dojo’s first cohort for a CoinGeek Originals film, How to Build a BSV Business.