AI teaching tool used at 32 colleges raises $1.1M to expand, boost student engagement

An artificial intelligence platform aimed at assisting educators with various tasks has raised $1.1 million to scale its operations across the U.S.

“CampusKnot’s AI-powered tools simplify participation, provide real-time feedback, and eliminate the manual effort of tracking engagement, making every classroom more interactive and efficient,” according to the platform’s website.

It is “already used in 32 universities, helps educators generate classroom questions, track participation, and automate grading and feedback,” according to EdTech Innovation Hub.

Additionally, it can summarize class discussions, providing a clear view of which students are engaging and which may be falling behind.

However, the platform has sparked controversy amid growing concerns about AI literacy among both faculty and students.

Author and speaker Kay Rubacek told The College Fix, “AI literacy is not just about learning how to use it, but also how AI uses you.”

When asked about how AI works in the classroom and research settings, Rubacek said it is not unbiased or authoritative. 

However, “it comes across with such neutral language that it leads us to forget that it’s not actually neutral.”

What’s more, Rubacek believes that schools are not preparing students or teachers well enough for the digital age. “If the people developing them don’t know the trajectory of where it’s heading, how is it possible for the public to teach themselves? It’s impossible,” she said. 

However, Rubacek said she also has faith in the good that AI platforms such as CampusKnot are able to do when used correctly.

“CampusKnot is specifically designed for teachers and educators to do work more efficiently, as well as to help students use these tools in technology,” Rubacek told The Fix.

She said that AI in general is programmed to learn persuasion. “AI gives us this perception of confidence and authority even when it doesn’t have a human ability to have confidence,” she said.

She advised that teachers, students, and parents “really understand that it’s not about learning how to use AI, it’s learning how AI uses you.”

Despite these concerns, some experts say AI tools like CampusKnot could play a role in addressing broader challenges facing higher education.

Spokesperson for the Alliance for Secure AI, Peyton Hornberger, told The Fix that CampusKnot provides a unique opportunity for teachers to refocus their teaching when used correctly.

“CampusKnot’s AI-powered teaching assistant platform could, ideally, free up time for teachers to increase engagement between students,” Hornberger said.

She said that for this platform to succeed, human teachers would still need to facilitate that participation in the classroom, requiring thoughtfulness from all parties involved.

However, Hornberger warned that as students become more adaptable to AI than their educators, they could “offload their thinking to AI tools, rather than learning how to think critically.”

This danger has been realized in recent years, as up to 90 percent of students have openly admitted to using OpenAI’s ChatGPT for help with homework.

This is one of the many obstacles that Hornberger warns against with the use of AI, noting that this technology is “still inaccurate with information recall and are known to fabricate facts.”

Hornberger told The Fix that the usage of artificial intelligence platforms requires transparency, adding that “AI should be used to enhance a student’s learning experience, not take away from it.”

CampusKnot CEO Rahul Gopal stated the company aims “to make teaching more effortless and fun,” according to EdTech Innovation Hub.

“Students are looking for community, quick feedback, and genuine connections with their professors. But professors often lack the time, resources, or instructional support to make that happen,” he said. 

Gopal also said the platform acts as an intelligent teaching assistant that helps instructors make those connections.

“AI has changed how information is created and shared, but its real value is how it enhances the human experience of learning. We help professors address everyday classroom needs with practical, responsible, and measurable ways to use AI for teaching and engagement,” he said. 

The Fix reached out to CampusKnot for comments on its expansion. The company declined to comment.