EdTechnical
Hosted by EdTechnical co-founders Libby Hills (CEO) and Owen Henkel (Research Director), the EdTechnical podcast explores AI in education through a research-grounded lens.
Each episode, Libby and Owen ask experts to help educators sift the useful insights from the AI hype. They ask questions like: how does this actually help students and teachers? What do we actually know about this technology, and what is just speculation? And (importantly!) when we say AI, what are we actually talking about?
Beyond the podcast, EdTechnical also invests in promising AI edtech companies and conducts applied research to inform real-world product and investment decisions.
EdTechnical
How Revolutionary is Alpha School?
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In this episode of EdTechnical, Libby and Owen look at Alpha School, a model that started as a micro-school in Austin, Texas, and is now expanding. At its core, Alpha condenses academic learning into a morning block where students work largely independently using software, supported by guides rather than traditional teachers. Afternoons are reserved for enrichment and life skills.
Libby and Owen discuss the appeal of this approach , the evidence behind mastery-based learning, and the big questions about scalability and cost. Is this a breakthrough for education or just a well-designed version of ideas we’ve seen before? Join them for a brief dive into Alpha School’s model and what it could signal for future learning models.
Links:
- Alpha School’s white paper
- A parent review of Alpha School
- A Wired article about Alpha School
- EdTechnical’s forecasting competition
Join us on social media:
- BOLD (@BOLD_insights), Libby Hills (@Libbylhhills) and Owen Henkel (@owen_henkel)
- Listen to all episodes of EdTechnical here: https://bold.expert/ed-technical
- Subscribe to BOLD’s newsletter: https://bold.expert/newsletter
- Stay up to date with all the latest research on child development and learning: https://bold.expert
Credits: Sarah Myles for production support; Josie Hills for graphic design; Anabel Altenburg for content production.