SILT Research
Produces evidence and insight by studying learning science, human-AI interaction, project-based learning, assessment, personalization, and learning infrastructure.
What makes Flowst different
SILT is building Flowst with teenagers in mind. Finishing a lesson or getting an answer right doesn’t always show how each learner is thinking. We want to help young people explain their understanding and teachers interpret that evidence, with a community where learners, parents, and educators can ask questions, explore ideas, and keep learning alongside one another.
About SILT
Research in Education for an AI-embedded world.
SILT (Systems for Integrated Learning Technologies) is an interdisciplinary research-led team dedicated to improving how people learn in preparation for an AI-embedded world.
Through SILT Research and SILT Labs, the explores learning science, human-AI interaction, and learning infrastructure to support and strengthen existing education systems.
SILT is developing practical applications of this work through Flowst, its multi-agent learning platform, and Pebbles, its network of immersive and experiential learning initiatives.
SILT Labs
Turns research questions into experiments and prototypes that can inform Flowst and Pebbles over time.
Flowst
Builds AI-supported learning systems, teacher tools, learning agents, assessment, and personalization across School, Home, Canvas, and Projects,beginning with personalized feedback at scale.
Pebbles
Creates real-world learning networks and experiences through planned and emerging initiatives such as Pebbles Network, Studios, Club, Experiences, Farms, and WeArePebbles.
Human enhancement
AI extends human capability; people retain oversight and authority over consequential decisions.
Infrastructure partnerships
SILT works through existing education, community, and sector infrastructure.
Built from the Global South
Built in Nigeria with Africa in mind while developing approaches relevant across the Global South.
Our mission
Build intelligent systems that are a safe and supportive part of learning.
Our mission is to explore how AI can be implemented and orchestrated safely, responsibly, and age-appropriately as a supportive layer for junior and senior secondary education and lifelong learning. We aim to strengthen existing educational structures, educators, institutions, and human judgment as people prepare for an AI-embedded world.
More information is not the same as more understanding.
People can read, watch, and recognize an answer without being able to explain or use the idea. Flowst is built to help knowledge become something a learner can recall, reason with, and apply.
Adaptation should respond to a learner, not define them.
Flowst responds to what someone recalls, explains, applies, and needs help with. A difficult moment can shape the next experience, but it should never become a permanent label about who that learner is.
Teachers should gain reach without giving away authority.
In Flowst School, teachers choose the curriculum and objectives, review what students receive, and decide what happens next. AI can help prepare and adapt; the teacher continues to govern.
A score does not show the whole learning process.
Recall, explanation, reasoning, application, misconceptions, and the support a learner used can tell a richer story of progress. That evidence should help people make a better next decision, not sort learners into boxes.
AI should support human judgment.
Flowst gives each agent a specific responsibility and clear boundaries. Consequential decisions remain with the learner, teacher, school, guardian, or community that should hold them.
Learning data should stay private and limited to its purpose.
Academic evidence should not become public entertainment. Flowst keeps private learning records and Canvas creations bounded by purpose, consent, and what each experience genuinely needs.
Learning should continue when the setting changes.
Learning can continue beyond a lesson through questions, conversation, creative work, and playful exploration. Flowst is being built to connect that learning with a community where learners, parents, and educators can explore ideas alongside one another, with more agent-guided features introduced over time.
The founder story
It began with the gap between recognition and explanation.
SILT grew from Esther Bawo Tsotso's experiences across teaching, media, software engineering, and learning technology. As a computer tutor and classroom teacher, she saw how differently people build understanding; years in broadcasting showed her what it takes to translate complex information clearly; and returning to technology as a learner, engineer, and product builder gave her a new vantage point on how digital tools shape the way people think, learn, and work. As AI became increasingly capable, those experiences converged around a larger question: how should our learning systems evolve so that human capability grows alongside the technologies we create?
Built from NigeriaEsther is a Nigerian software engineer, former educator, and media professional, finishing a Software Engineering degree at Miva Open University.
Built by a learnerFlowst grew from firsthand experience with self-directed learning, active explanation, and the need for a more supportive path.
Built by a former teacherPast classroom experience shapes Flowst's goals: help young people explain their thinking, give teachers useful evidence of understanding, and make continued learning part of a supportive community.
The experiential arm
Make learning joyful now and memorable for life.
Pebbles is SILT's experiential learning arm. Its planned and emerging initiatives are intended to create formative learning memories and help the next generation associate learning with curiosity, connection, and joyful discovery.
01Learn deeply02Build with confidence03Grow alongside others
Get occasional updates about the expanded learning experiences, product progress, and first opportunities to participate.
Follow Flowst as the vision becomes real.
