Over 100 high schools and colleges are adopting Nectir, a new AI tool that helps teachers create personalized learning assistants. These AI partners are trained on course materials, such as syllabi, textbooks, and assignments, and assist students with everything from course-related questions to essay writing and career advice. The company recently secured $4 million in seed funding, bringing its total to $6.3 million, which will be used to enhance features and expand the team.
With the ongoing teacher shortage, providing personalized feedback to every student has become more challenging. Kavitta Ghai, Nectir's founder, experienced this issue while studying at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She noted that many students no longer see the value in education and expressed concerns about the lack of preparation for career success. Ghai, who is autistic and has ADHD, also faced learning challenges, prompting her to create Nectir—a 24/7 chatbot that offers students constant support.
Nectir allows teachers to design AI assistants tailored to their needs, whether for individual classes, departments, or campuses. Teachers can set boundaries for the AI's interactions, such as limiting its scope to specific subjects or adjusting its tone to match their teaching style. For example, in a demonstration, Ghai showed how a Calculus AB assistant helps students with study tips and assignments using the Socratic method, guiding students to find answers independently rather than providing solutions.
Nectir’s key feature is the ability to control where the AI gathers information. Teachers can limit access to different knowledge sources, such as general information from ChatGPT or specific documents uploaded by the teacher. This reduces the risk of inaccurate answers, especially in fields like financial aid, where precision is crucial. Ghai claims that Nectir achieves over 95% accuracy.
The tool also allows teachers to monitor how students use the AI, ensuring that it provides support without enabling cheating. An analytics dashboard tracks usage patterns, such as which students use it most and when. In terms of privacy, Nectir complies with FERPA regulations, protecting student data by using a private endpoint for data storage and processing.
The company’s latest funding will support the development of new features, including sentiment analysis. This feature will assess student conversations to identify their strengths, weaknesses, and career paths, offering personalized recommendations for courses and potential careers. This feature is currently being tested and will be widely available soon.
Launched in May, Nectir is already being used by over 80,000 students across more than 100 institutions, including Boston University, Stanford Graduate School of Business, and UCSB.
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