by abilafredkb | 2025-06-24 10:27:39+00:00
I'm a college student who accidentally became an edtech founder, and I think we're approaching education technology all wrong.

The Breaking Point College was destroying me. Not academically – I was getting decent grades – but mentally. The pace was relentless, the teaching style didn't match how I think, and I watched classmates who were brilliant in conversation completely fail because they couldn't adapt to the one-size-fits-all approach.

I had an advantage: prior knowledge in my field. But my classmates starting from zero? They were drowning, and it wasn't their fault.

The moment I realized how broken things were: I built a personalized learning tool for myself, just to survive. It worked so well that a classmate offered to pay for it. In a country where people spend hours finding free alternatives rather than buy software.

That's when it hit me – if students are willing to pay for better learning tools in markets where they typically won't pay for anything, the problem is massive.

The Fundamental Problem with EdTech Most educational technology treats symptoms, not causes. We digitize textbooks, gamify flashcards, or make videos more interactive. But we're still forcing diverse minds into identical boxes.

The real issue isn't that students are lazy or unmotivated. It's that we've built an industrial education system optimized for efficiency, not effectiveness. One teacher, 30+ students, standardized curriculum, uniform pace. EdTech has mostly just digitized this broken model instead of reimagining it.

What I Think the Future Looks Like After building Studygraph and talking to hundreds of students, I believe we're heading toward:

Truly Adaptive Systems: Not just "adaptive learning" that adjusts difficulty, but platforms that fundamentally change how they present information based on individual cognitive patterns. Visual learners shouldn't just get more diagrams – they should get entirely different pedagogical approaches.

AI as Personal Tutors: Not chatbots that answer questions, but AI that understands your specific learning gaps, motivation patterns, and optimal challenge levels. Think of it as having a dedicated tutor who's studied you for months.

Micro-Personalization at Scale: Instead of building for "the average student" (who doesn't exist), we'll build systems that create unique learning paths for each individual. Mass customization, not mass production.

Learning Style Fluidity: Recognition that people don't have fixed "learning styles" but rather optimal approaches that vary by subject, mood, and context. The platform adapts in real-time.

The Hard Questions But this raises difficult questions:

How do we measure success when everyone's learning journey is different?

What happens to standardized testing and credentialing?

How do we prevent personalization from becoming isolation?

Can we afford truly personalized education, or will it remain a luxury?

What role do human teachers play when AI can provide unlimited individual attention?

My Controversial Take I think traditional classrooms will become obsolete within 20 years, not because of technology, but because we'll finally admit they were never optimal for learning. They were optimal for managing learning at scale.

The future isn't online versions of classrooms. It's learning environments designed around how humans actually think and grow.

Discussion For those building in education or thinking about it:

What's your experience with personalized learning?

Do you think we're too focused on content delivery vs. learning methodology?

How do we balance personalization with the social aspects of learning?

What would education look like if we designed it from scratch today?

I'm curious to hear from educators, students, parents, and anyone who's thought deeply about how we learn.