AI That Learns From You: The Future of Teachable Agents in Education with Adam Franklin

Feb 17, 2025

Adam Franklin, a former high school history teacher and edtech entrepreneur, discusses his transition from Nearpod to founding StudyBuds, a platform for AI-powered teachable agents. He highlights how these agents foster deeper engagement by allowing students to learn through teaching. Adam critiques traditional assessments and explains how AI can improve them. The conversation dives into the potential of AI to co-create with students, offering them a sense of agency. Lastly, he emphasizes the exciting role of venture studios in advancing AI technologies in education.

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ANECDOTE

Adam's EdTech Journey

Adam Franklin, a former history teacher, joined Nearpod and led content through its acquisition.
He then joined Teaching Lab Studio to build StudyBuds, an AI-powered teachable agent platform.

INSIGHT

Teachable Agents Enhance Learning

Teachable agents help students learn by teaching AI characters, revealing knowledge gaps.
This approach promotes deeper learning than traditional methods.

ANECDOTE

Betty's Brain Study

The "Betty's Brain" study explored teaching AI characters specific concepts like photosynthesis.
This revealed benefits like recursive feedback and the protege effect, where students invest more when teaching.

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In this special episode, Alex sits down with Adam Franklin, our very first guest on EdTech Insiders, who returns three years later with an exciting new venture.

Adam is a former high school history teacher turned edtech entrepreneur. He previously taught at YES Prep Brays Oaks HS in Houston, TX and coached the varsity soccer team. Adam earned a masters degree in Learning, Design, and Technology from Stanford GSE in 2016 where he also served as a researcher and writer for the Stanford History Education Group. In 2017, he joined Nearpod, then a Series A startup, to help lead the content arm of the business where he stayed through their $650M acquisition by Renaissance in 2021. In early 2024, Adam left Nearpod to join the Teaching Lab Studio as a fellow to build out innovative products at the intersection of AI and Education, with StudyBuds, a teachable agent practice platform, being his primary focus.

💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode:

How AI-powered teachable agents help students learn by teaching.
Why AI can boost engagement and deeper learning in classrooms.
The limitations of multiple-choice assessments and AI’s role in fixing them.
How AI can co-create with students instead of just giving answers.
Why venture studios like Teaching Lab Studio are investing in AI-powered learning.

✨ Episode Highlights:

[00:01:18] Adam Franklin’s journey from teacher to edtech founder.
[00:06:46] How teachable agents create interactive student practice.
[00:12:39] Training AI to “not know” and learn from students.
[00:16:56] The Pokémon effect—why students love training AI characters.
[00:22:57] Why students outsource thinking and how AI can change that.
[00:31:23] StudyBuds aligns with curricula to support teachers.
[00:37:20] Inside Teaching Lab Studio’s unique edtech venture model.
[00:44:48] The future of AI in education and multimodal learning.

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