Free Teacher Tool powered by the IBM Foundation

As someone who has spent her entire adult life engaged with, and thinking a whole lot about, the role of technology in society—and as a mother of four young children—I can't think of many things more important than ensuring that all children, regardless of gender or zip code, are being adequately prepared for a future defined by breakthroughs in the STEM fields. 

It’s heartening to see the growing emphasis on STEM education throughout all grade levels, beginning with our youngest students. We know that they are the foundation for a strong and vibrant pipeline of future STEM leaders. IBM’s P-TECH six-year high schools with curriculums aligned to the STEM jobs of the future are a great example of this.

That said, faced with the pressures of limited time, diverse student needs, and the responsibility to teach many subjects across multiple grade levels - oftentimes without pre-existing expertise in a given subject area, such as mathematics - elementary school teachers need all the help they can get.

Our nation faces a skills crisis. There are currently 500,000 open technology jobs, but only about 50,000 computer science grads each year.

If we as a society want STEM disciplines to be an integral part of elementary education in this country, it’s critical that we support the women and men who are tasked with educating our future scientists, engineers, and tech innovators. We need to help them find the time and resources necessary to truly enhance elementary math and science instruction, given everything else on their crowded plates. Technology can help with this, but it needs to be leveraged thoughtfully and intentionally. 

I'm so excited that the IBM Foundation responded to this urgent need to support K-5 educators by creating Teacher Advisor With Watson: a free, online lesson planning and instructional support tool that uses IBM’s artificial intelligence technology to help teachers effectively teach K-5 math and improve student outcomes.

Since the beginning of the school year, elementary school teachers across the nation have begun using the tool to gain access to more than 2,000 high quality math lessons, top teaching strategies, and videos.  

There is a dedicated team of math experts, teachers and IBM technologists who have been building this tool over the past several years. The various features and user experience are really impressive and the team is constantly working on improvements and taking feedback. The interface is streamlined and intuitive, and there’s a grade-toggling feature that allows teachers to easily find topic-aligned resources for students both below and above grade level. Very cool. 

Our nation faces a skills crisis. There are currently 500,000 open technology jobs, but only about 50,000 computer science grads each year. For the sake of America’s global competitiveness and a strong 21st century economy, we must close that gap. A new generation of young people, armed with the best STEM education and training, beginning at the earliest grades, must lead the way. 

Essential to achieving this is better support for teachers. That is why I am so excited to help spread the word about TeacherAdvisor.org. Check it out, share it with a teacher friend, and let me know what you think.