The French government intends to move up a gear in terms of artificial intelligence in the field of education. During a press conference this Tuesday, December 5, 2023, the Minister of National Education, Gabriel Attal, formalized the introduction of a new tool powered by AI called MIA Second. The objective is simple: to support second year students in French and mathematics from the start of the 2024 school year.
MIA Second, what is it?
MIA Première, an acronym for “Adaptive Interactive Modules”, is a new tool powered by artificial intelligence for high school students. Developed by the company EvidenceB, it takes the form of an application.
Available to 200,000 second-year students at the start of 2024, then generalized in September, this solution offers 20,000 adaptive exercises in mathematics and French divided into 24 modules.
How the application works
When MIA Secondary opens, students will have to complete a positioning test by answering various questions relating to French and mathematics. It is also possible to enter your positioning test result carried out in class, compulsory for all high school students when they enter second year.
After that, the application will offer exercises in both subjects to the student. For its part, artificial intelligence comes into play in terms of progression thanks to a “reinforcement algorithm“.
Thierry de Vulpillières, co-founder of EvidenceB, explained in an interview with BFM Tech&Co: “When a student has completed an exercise, the algorithm will then present them with the exercise that it deems most relevant to their progress, without it necessarily being linear. A student will never have the same sequence of exercises as another”.
In addition to evaluating the student, the AI is also evaluated through a machine learning process. The objective being to determine whether the exercises proposed helped the student progress more quickly. We also learn that the data from all the students will make it possible to automatically refine the algorithm’s recommendations.
In addition to the mode based on artificial intelligence — Solo AI — MIA Seconde offers traditional tools such as video tutorials, a duo mode for working in pairs or even a workshop mode that can be set up by the teacher in class.
Finally, teachers will be able to view a dashboard to monitor the progress of their different students.
Gabriel Attal clarified to BFM Tech&Co that MIA Secondary would not be compulsory for second year students.
Other announcements from Gabriel Attal
Other announcements were made during the press conference held by Gabriel Attal: new programs will be introduced for the 2024 school year in CP/CE1/CE2 and in 2025 for CMI and CM2. It is also emphasized that teachers will now have the last word regarding grade repetition, and not families.
In middle school, level groups for French and mathematics will be set up for 6th and 5th grades at the start of the 2024 school year, and at the start of the 2025 school year for 4th and 3rd grades. The objective being to “give everyone what they need” thanks to personalized support.
Finally, the Minister of National Education announced that the certificate would become essential to enter high school.from the 2025 session”. We learn in passing that the proportion of the test/continuous assessment has been modified, going to 60%/40%, and that a “high school prep” retake should be taken by middle school students who have failed their certificate in order to allow them to enter the high school.