New AI tool is a ‘game changer’ for elementary school in Anderson County

POWELL, Tenn. (WATE) — A new piece of technology in Anderson County Schools is teaching kids to think, communicate, and reflect. Mirror by Swivl is an AI-powered reflection station for students and teachers.

“The kids were so excited, so of course, a new piece of technology is always an exciting thing, but the fact that then they got to get some feedback about how things were going when they answered questions made them even more excited,” said Jennifer Rodabaugh, an Academic Coach at Claxton Elementary School.

Rodabaugh was important in securing a Tennessee Valley Authority STEM grant to purchase the new technology for Claxton Elementary School.

“I think it’s going to be a game changer for our teachers because we have such great teachers in Anderson County, especially here at Claxton Elementary, who want to give more one-on-one time with their students but there are just not enough minutes in the day. With this technology, the teachers will be able to teach one group and then have some other reflections going on with small groups simultaneously. So, it’s going to be able to give them the support that they need to give that more immediate feedback that they don’t typically have time for,” said Rodabaugh.

The Mirror can be placed anywhere in the school, and within minutes, the experience can be customized to individual learners’ needs.

“I took it into a fourth-grade classroom we looked around at what the objective was for that day. I entered the objective in, and boom it gave some great reflection questions and the next second later I had kids coming over and logging in with their names and answering questions and getting feedback,” said Rodabaugh.

Teachers can use Mirror to reflect on what went well and not so well during the class. It provides personalized feedback almost immediately, so it’s easy to track progress over time.

“A couple of different things have come up so some of it has been places where they didn’t realize a student was struggling until they heard the student verbally try and talk through and answer so that highlighted a few things,” said Rodabaugh.

In the future, Rodabaugh is hopeful the insights generated by Mirror will allow teachers to better understand students’ mindsets and learning gaps and plan their next steps.

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