David
Dec 15, 2022
A talk with Alicia
Alicia Sheng is a champion learner who is also making big contributions to the development of Weelrn. Alicia is studying computer science and applied mathematics at Brandeis University. Through Weelrn’s partnership with the Tamid Group, Alicia is also leading a team of 19 students to build and refine elements of Weelrn’s instructor chatbot, student stream engine, and SQL database that creates models for analytics and transfer. Alicia is a talented, busy person! And she was nice enough to take time to help us understand her work. Together, Weelrn.
WEELRN:
How did you get interested in computing and software? Where do you see this taking you?
ALICIA:
I was always interested in the computer science field. I attended hackathons and took computer science courses to know more in the area. I found that people in computer science take advantage of their skills to build on the practical functions or applications in ways that actually make a real world impact and the problems in different fields instead of just the tech field. At the start of the pandemic I worked on campus food ordering apps and a recipe search app for people who were stuck at home. In this case we are building something to help the education field. The Weelrn concept is really awesome, and I have a passion for using my skills in ways that help real people. It’s fascinating and it meets my need for hope.
WEELRN:
Wow! Even with your mask on I can see the way you light up when you talk about it. Since you’ve been a student for many years, do you also rely on your experience in the classroom to improve Weelrn?
ALICIA:
Oh yes. I know what it’s like to wait for an answer from a busy teacher, and I’m really impressed by Weelrn’s automated e-learning cycle. There is another Weelrn team at Emory (University) that is working directly on data analytics, and I’m excited to help build the apps that are necessary to prepare for that stage. I have also sat through many lectures that teachers clearly wrote on their own without input or feedback. Weelrn gives educators insight that helps them improve and customize their presentations, as well as homework and assignments that help students master concepts and skills. Instructors share their ideas, students respond, and Weelrn helps them all document the learning cycle. We automatically transfer the data and present it in ways everyone understands. To me this is revolutionary. It will benefit the students very much.
WEELRN:
With all the issues facing teachers in today's classrooms, how do you think Weelrn will help them reach more students in ways that support understanding?
ALICIA:
The greatest advantage is that Weelrn will really save time and raise efficiency in class. There are a lot of minor things that the instructors don't need to take care of. The platform will automatically take charge of those tasks. Focusing on the best use of time and energy is very important in every field. Besides that, we are trying to develop an interactive posting environment so that the students can interact with each other. Their actions will affect how the stream engine reacts in the future. I think that will really stimulate the student interaction and will help the instructors to know more about them.
WEELRN:
AI and machine learning are hot topics. How do you and your team see AI? Are we talking about Skynet and robots taking over the world? Can you share some insight about artificial intelligence, and how you see Weelrn using this technology?
ALICIA:
People are overthinking these words. It’s not like robots or some kind of human-level intelligence computer taking charge of everything. That's actually not the meaning of the word. And in reality, machine learning and AI is already everywhere. For example, the ads people see every day are recommended by machine learning algorithms that decide what kind of message we will receive. Machine learning also drives the content you see in emails and anything that's connected to the internet and collects your data. Now, people may not like automated advertisements, but that’s a marketing problem and not a machine problem. I think machine learning is an advantage because all it really means is that we can automate systems for using digitized information. We can raise efficiency and improve people’s living and learning experiences.
WEELRN:
You make artificial intelligence sound like the Bellman Equation that enabled computers to refine software as it ran, based on the data that gets input. It sounds like a lot of trial and error with the idea being to focus on improvement. Am I getting that right?
ALICIA:
Yeah, that’s it. It's literally the machine learning. The machine learns what you tell it and then improves with the experiences that it had before.
WEELRN:
What are some potential uses that you see for Weelrn? It’s true that teachers are too busy - but every new technology makes the same promises, right? It will be more engaging, it will save time and labor, it will do all these things… But so many teachers look at that and think, “Oh man, here comes the next thing that's gonna cause me more work and do the same old thing as the textbook used to, except now it's on a screen.” How is Weelrn different?
ALICIA:
One very big advantage is that Weelrn integrates with tools that already exist. For example, many teachers and students already have experience with Google Chat and Google Classroom. I myself use group chat very often and this semester I'm taking a course on Google Classroom. Weelrn will make it so that instructors will only have to type in a few words from the Google chat and then it will automatically generate content and transfer it to Google Classroom. Weelrn is really optimizing the process of teachers using the platform.
WEELRN:
Well said. One last question: What are you and your team working on currently? What are you proudest of and what's next?
ALICIA:
This semester we finished the implementation of the first phase of the Weelrn chatbot. We are working on deploying that just for the task version. We are also working on the students’ stream engine where the instructor can post questions to the students, to elicit responses and reactions.
WEELRN:
Sounds exciting! Thank you for taking the time to share your insights and progress with the Weelrn community. We look forward to learning more from you!
ALICIA:
My pleasure! Together, Weelrn!