protégé

The student is the teacher.

Gloam is confused about your lesson. Your students explain it, in their own words, until it gets it. They learn by teaching, and you see exactly what they understand.

Free for every school, for Windows and Mac. It runs on one teacher laptop, AI included, and nothing about your students ever leaves it.

It starts out wrong.

Confidently. Every lesson begins with Gloam believing the mistakes your students really make, so they have something to fix.

Students set it straight.

In their own words. Gloam asks questions, pushes back, and slowly comes around. It never gives the answer away: it's the one learning.

Then it clicks.

You taught Gloam the tilt.

No quiz. No marks. When an idea finally makes sense, Gloam's lantern lights up, and the whole valley with it.

Your turn.

Why does a metal spoon feel colder than a wooden one in the same room? Gloam's theory: “metal is a cold material. it was born that way.”

In class, Gloam reads whatever students write, with the AI on your school's computer. This preview uses written answers.

Nope. Earth is tilted. In June our half leans toward the sun, so the light hits us more directly and the days are longer. That's summer.

Zero grading. A clear picture of every student.

Bring your own lesson

Upload your notes, slides, a PDF or a Word file. Gloam drafts the lesson on your computer: the key ideas, the mistakes students usually make, and the questions it will ask.

You approve it

Read Gloam's draft, change anything, and approve it. Students only ever see a lesson you approved.

Watch the candles light up

Each student's candles show which ideas they explained well, and where they're stuck. "What the class thinks" shows the mistakes many students said out loud. Candles are Gloam's estimate, never a mark, and you can correct any of them.

My notes: why we have seasons

Earth's axis is tilted 23.5°. When a hemisphere leans toward the sun, sunlight is more direct and days are longer: summer. Common mix-up: summer is when Earth is closest to the sun (it isn't!).

Gloam's draft

  1. The tilt
  2. Direct light
  3. Day length
  4. Hemispheres

Gloam starts out thinking: summer is when Earth is closest to the sun.

The teacher's lesson page: the title, grade and language, and Gloam's wrong theory, ready to edit and approve.
Pretend students and their candles
StudentThe tiltDirect lightDay lengthHemispheres
Moss Otter
Comet
Pixel Fern
Bluejay
Quiet Storm
Noodle

What the class thinks: 9 students said Earth is closer to the sun in summer.

Kindergarten to grade 2 A sunny storybook meadow, tiny words, big buttons, and read-aloud on from the start.
Grades 3 to 5 A mushroom forest, and a cheeky Gloam who gets things wrong on purpose. Mostly.
Grades 6 to 8 Windy sea cliffs at twilight, and a goofy, very dramatic Gloam in a scarf.
Grades 9 to 12 A night valley, and a dry, deadpan Gloam who really hates being wrong.

One idea, every grade.

The class's grade picks the world, the words and the Gloam. Nothing feels too babyish, or too hard.

Nothing leaves the laptop.

“nothing leaves the laptop. i checked. i'm very nosy.” Gloam

  • Protégé, its AI and voice typing all run on one school computer. Its makers never receive anything about anyone.
  • Nicknames, not names. No emails, birthdays or photos. Students sign in with secret pictures.
  • Students are told Gloam is an AI, and who can read what they write.
  • No trackers, ads or analytics, in Protégé or on this website.
  • Deleted on your school board's schedule, with tools to see, correct or delete one student's information.
Privacy, in plain words
the internet the school laptop

Every student can play.

Every student screen has "Ways to play". Try them: they change this preview the way they change Protégé.

Also: talk instead of typing (turned into words on the school's computer, never saved), less motion, and full keyboard and screen reader support, in English and French. The settings follow each student to any Chromebook.

How accessibility was checked

wait. so the spoon is stealing my heat?

Explain it to Gloam…Teach

Wake Gloam up on your laptop.

One download. No accounts with anyone, no credit card, nothing to pay, ever.

For Windows 10 and 11, and Mac. Then Gloam's brain downloads by itself (a few GB, once).

  1. Open the installer. If Windows says it "protected your PC", choose More info, then Run anyway. (Protégé is free, so it isn't paid-signed.)Drag Protégé into Applications. The first time, open it from System Settings, Privacy & Security, then Open Anyway.
  2. Gloam wakes up. Protégé opens in your browser and sets itself up while you make your account.
  3. Make a class. Students join from their Chromebooks with a short code. Nothing to install for them.

Other downloads: Windows installer, Mac, and for school IT, the portable Windows zip and Mac zip. The setup guide has everything else.

For school boards

Everything a privacy officer, IT department or principal needs to say yes. Built for Ontario's laws first, and the strictest rules worldwide.