KOME: rehearse tomorrow's lesson tonight.
Most teachers meet their pupils' misconceptions for the first time in front of the class, with no chance to practise how to respond. KOME gives teachers a rehearsal space: they teach a short lesson to three simulated pupils, each holding one common misconception, and receive a short, evidence-based feedback card in a few minutes. It runs on WhatsApp voice notes and on a mobile web page, in English and Urdu, so it fits the phones and the time teachers already have.
The problem
Responding well to a pupil's wrong idea is a core teaching skill, but it is rarely practised before the lesson. Classroom simulators exist, but they usually need special software, a computer and a booked session, which puts them out of reach for most teachers, especially in low-resource and multilingual classrooms.
The solution
A rehearsal in a chat. The teacher names tomorrow's lesson, teaches by voice or text, and three pupils react the way real children do: they ask questions, push back, and only change their minds when the teacher really addresses their idea.
How a rehearsal works
- The teacher agrees to take part and chooses English or Urdu.
- They name the lesson ("Class 4, fractions"). KOME sets up three pupils, each with a different, common misconception.
- They teach. Pupils react to what the teacher says and reveal their mistakes. A pupil only changes their mind when the teacher addresses their idea, and that judgement must quote the teacher's own words.
- When they say "stop", they get a feedback card: one strength, one change, and the first question to ask the real class tomorrow, under 80 words.
Why it can be trusted
- For fractions, pupils' misconceptions come from a fixed bank of well-known fraction mistakes, checked by the project lead. Review by practising teachers is planned for the pilot.
- For other topics, one AI model writes likely misconceptions and a second model must approve each one. Teachers are told when this happens.
- Every pupil line is checked before it is sent: still wrong in the intended way, child-like, short and safe.
- The feedback card is checked by a second model and may only mention what happened in the rehearsal.
Built for reach
- WhatsApp voice notes, or a web page that works on any phone. No app to install.
- English and Urdu, including mixed Urdu-English, the way teachers really speak.
- Any topic, with fractions as the reviewed starting point.
- Low running cost per rehearsal, with hard spending caps built in.
Privacy by design
- No pupil data, ever: only the teacher's voice and simulated pupils.
- Phone numbers are scrambled (hashed) before they are stored.
- Voice recordings are deleted after 7 days.
Stage and next steps
KOME is a working prototype, built for the MIT Solve 2027 Global Learning Challenge. A full rehearsal with voices costs about $0.10 in AI and voice fees, and a typed one about $0.05. Next is a pilot with practising teachers to measure whether rehearsal changes how they open the next day’s lesson, using card ratings, a “did you ask it?” check-in and short interviews.