How AI Could Help Learners Thrive
With guest Dr. Babak Mostaghimi
The backlash against screens (and technology in school broadly) is growing, and with good reason. In this episode of Future Fluent, Betsy and Jeremy explore with Dr. Babak Mostaghimi of Learner Studio what it takes to build technology, including AI-based tutors, that bring people together rather than isolating them. The bottomline question: Learning should help people thrive: How could AI be designed to do that?
Dr. Babak Mostaghimi
Dr. Babak Mostaghimi, a Founding Partner at LearnerStudio, is an educator and systems leader dedicated to ensuring that every young person is inspired and prepared for their future in the age of AI. At LearnerStudio, Babak focuses on systems transformation, artificial intelligence, and the future of learning. He previously served as an Assistant Superintendent in Gwinnett County Public Schools where he developed and led critical initiatives including an embedded PK-12 AI and future readiness learning model, multiple innovative school designs, and a birth to age 5 county-wide early learning ecosystem. Babak began his education career as a 5th-grade teacher in Shelby, Mississippi, where he was the 2008 District Teacher of the Year. He holds a Doctorate in Education Leadership (Ed.L.D.) and a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard, and a Bachelor’s Degree from Johns Hopkins.
Further Exploration
Oh, it’s hard to be human these days! Start with reading all about it.
Babak Mostaghimi is part of the Learner Studio team. The team published a collection of pieces (including one by Betsy!) called “Bringing the Future Into Focus.” And check out Mostaghimi’s piece, “How can AI be used as tool for learning, beyond more efficiency toward current outcomes?”
Michelle Culver created The Rithm Project, a nonprofit, to “think out loud about what it means to be human–together–in an AI age.” Her substack is here.
Julia Freeland Fisher, director of education research at the Christensen Institute, has written extensively on the value of networks. Check out this report: Students’ hidden networks: Relationship mapping as a strategy to build asset-based pathways.
We talked about the work going on at OKO Labs in teaching math. And the work reimagining robots that’s going on at IDEO.
McKinsey Global has been reporting on the future of work here: “Jobs lost, jobs gained: What the future of work will mean for jobs, skills, and wages.” The World Economic Forum has this set of stories about the role Artificial Intelligence may play in the world here.
Dan Meyer (see Season 1, Episode 4), who never pulls his punches, put up this challenge in his Substack: “I’d like to see from everyone engaged in this discourse: one (1) stationary video of a full classroom session.” The challenge is on!
