How ChatGPT’s Screen Share is Transforming Learning
The way our children will learn has already changed.
Cast your mind back to when you tried to learn something recently. What did you do when you got stuck?
I found it quite difficult to ask for help myself. In a traditional setting, you would ask the teacher if you were in school or maybe your boss at work. Or perhaps you’d turn to Google or YouTube.
But what you often find is you’re either:
- Pulling someone away who is responsible for many, many other people (and sometimes doesn’t know the answer)
- Stumbling on a video that isn’t answering your question exactly
- Spending excessive time scrolling through long-form content that covers multiple topics
When OpenAI first demonstrated ChatGPT’s screen sharing capabilities over 10 months ago, they invited Sal Khan — founder of Khan Academy and author of “Brave New Words” — to showcase its potential. He brought his son Imran along to test how effectively the AI could tutor a real student through a challenging math problem.
If you’re not familiar, Khan Academy is a pioneering non-profit educational platform that provides free, world-class education through thousands of video lessons and interactive exercises.
What Happened in the Demo
In the demonstration, Sal begins by saying: “Hello there, I’m here with my son and I’d love you to tutor him on this math problem. But don’t give him the answer. You can ask questions and nudge him in the right direction, but I really want to make sure he understands it himself.”
What follows is remarkable:
- Personalised Guidance: The AI immediately focuses on helping Imran identify the different parts of a triangle (opposite, adjacent, and hypotenuse) relative to angle Alpha.
- Socratic Teaching Method: Rather than simply providing answers, the AI asks guiding questions: “Looking at the triangle, which side do you think is the hypotenuse?”
- Gentle Correction: When Imran hesitates and suggests “I think it might be this one but I really am not sure,” the AI offers a supportive correction: “You’re close! Actually, side AC is called the adjacent side to angle Alpha…”
- Building Understanding: The AI leads Imran through the problem step by step, helping him identify each side before applying the formula for finding the sine of an angle.
- Positive Reinforcement: Throughout the session, the AI offers encouragement with phrases like “exactly, well done,” “that’s absolutely correct,” and “excellent work.”
By the end of the short session, Imran successfully determines that sin Alpha equals 7/25, having been guided through the entire thought process without being given the answer.
What we’re witnessing is a transformation in the learning process:
- Personalised Learning at Scale: Every child can now have access to a patient tutor that adapts to their unique learning style and pace.
- Just-in-Time Learning: Help exactly when it’s needed, without waiting for office hours or finding the right YouTube timestamp.
- Guided Discovery: Instead of passive learning, children actively engage in solving problems with customised support.
- Safe Space for Questions: Children can express uncertainty (“I’m not totally sure”) without fear of judgment, as Imran demonstrated.
- Parent-Child Learning Partnership: Parents can participate in the learning process without needing to be subject matter experts themselves.
How to Use This Today
This isn’t some future technology, it’s available right now in the iOS ChatGPT app:
- Open the ChatGPT app (requires subscription to ChatGPT Plus)
- Tap the wave icon in the bottom right corner
- Select “Screen Share” and grant the necessary permissions
- Start by saying what you or your child is trying to learn
- Give specific instructions like Sal did: “Don’t give the answer. Ask questions and nudge in the right direction.”
This approach works for children of all ages.
The Bigger Picture
The ability to have an infinitely patient, knowledgeable tutor available 24/7 fundamentally changes the learning equation.
What Sal Khan demonstrated with his son mirrors what thousands of parents are discovering: AI can transform the learning experience by providing the scaffolding children need to build understanding, rather than simply providing answers.
What’s most exciting is that we’re just at the beginning of this transformation. As these tools improve, the gap between those who leverage them and those who don’t will only widen.
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