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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Learn Your Way is now available in Google Labs.
- Google’s education-centered AI models personalize material.
- AI companies continue to market study tools to younger users.
Google is introducing a new way to interact with textbooks, using gen AI to personalize your studying methods.
The experience, called Learn Your Way, uses LearnLM, Google’s education-specific models, to first personalize and then provide multiple representations of specific content to help users learn a topic, the company says. It is now available on Google Labs.
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According to Google, early reports of Learn Your Way assert that students using the technology scored 11 percentage points higher on exams than students using standard digital textbook readers.
How it works
The company says Learn Your Way is built on two pillars: generating multiple representations of specific content, and personalizing it to fit learners’ needs. In a blog post, Google references the dual coding theory, which suggests that creating connections between different representations of information strengthens our understanding of it.
Google also cites research asserting that students who engage with information in multiple formats have a firmer grasp of the topic. Thus, Google aims to offer students numerous ways to choose how they engage with specific material to improve motivation and deepen learning.
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Learn Your Way begins by asking about the user’s grade level and interests. Then, the learning material is modified to match the user’s grade level. The content is then appropriately adjusted to the user’s learning level and includes aspects of their personal interests.
As an example, let’s say the learning topic is Newton’s laws of motion, and the user, who is in the eleventh grade, chooses basketball as a personal interest. The content will use basketball as a metaphor to explain Newton’s laws, reference basketball when quizzing the user, and use a basketball to visually demonstrate the topic.
Learn Your Way’s teaching methods consist of five components: “immersive text” including digestible sections, generated images, and embedded questions, “section-level quizzes” to address knowledge gaps, “slides and narration” to mimic a lecture, “audio lesson” simulating conversations between an AI-powered teacher and student, and “mind map” to help students understand the entire lesson, Google said.
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According to Google, an AI-powered learning tool is useful only if it improves learning outcomes and is attractive to students. To test Learn Your Way’s effectiveness, the company tasked a 60-student control group with learning about adolescent brain development. Students were randomly assigned to understand the information either using Learn Your Way or a digital PDF reader.
Three to five days later, the students were given a retention test to assess their content comprehension. The results stated that students who used Learn Your Way scored 11% higher on the assessment given days later.
How to try it
You’ll have to join a waitlist to access the fully personalized version of Learn Your Way. However, Google has made a few topics available for users to try while they wait, including “An Overview of Economic Systems,” “What is Sociology?” and “Overview of Anatomy & Physiology,” which are set with predetermined interests like soccer and therefore won’t give you the same personalization experience. These topics are broadly categorized by middle school, high school, or undergraduate students.
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Still, Google Labs isn’t the only place to access AI-powered study tools. Some research shows students using AI chatbots for study help, either for problem-solving assistance, creating lesson plans, or analyzing data. Google is also offering its AI Pro plan free to students.
Other AI tools are optimized for student productivity, like Microsoft’s Copilot for Microsoft 356, which you can get for free. These tools can help students summarize Teams chats and meetings, help with comprehension in Microsoft Word, or interact with data in Excel. Other AI tools, like Grammarly for essay editing or Quizlet for study sessions, are also popular among teachers and students.