Create an AI Tutor For Your WordPress LMS Website With Andy Jack From Training Spark

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In this LMScast episode, Andy Jack from Candle Digital explores the revolutionary potential of artificial intelligence in e-learning in the LMSCast episode.

He specializes in assisting subject matter experts in transforming their expertise into effective virtual learning environments. He highlights that we are in a new era with opportunities for personalization, virtual tutors, and reflection-driven learning by drawing a connection between the early internet and the current generative AI explosion.

AI-driven interview simulations that prepare users for real-life situations and scaffolded reflections that assist learners in articulating complicated ideas are just two examples of the useful use cases that Andy mentions that are now in place. For course developers, he presents the idea of creating a “Second Brain” a personalized AI driven by the voice and resources of an instructor.

He urges creators to use AI as a tool to expand their knowledge rather than as a replacement for it, emphasizing the value of concentrating on learner transformation rather than merely content delivery. Non-technical instructors may effectively incorporate AI with the use of tools like Google’s NotebookLM, custom GPTs, and the AI e-Learning Power Pack for WordPress. In the end, Andy promotes beginning small, getting to know your audience well, and utilizing AI to enhance high-impact, human-centered learning opportunities.

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Episode Transcript

Chris Badgett: You’ve come to the right place if you’re looking to create, launch, and scale a high value online training program. I’m your guide, Chris Badget. I’m the co-founder of lifter LMS, the most powerful learning management system for WordPress. State of the end, I’ve got something special for you. Enjoy the show.

Hello and welcome back to another episode of LMS Cast. We’re joined by a special guest. His name is Andy Jack. He’s from Candle Digital and Training Spark. We’re gonna be talking about artificial intelligence and E-Learning Candle. Digital is an agency, but they also have. Some WordPress tools over at training Spark, and one of the ones that really caught my eye was the AI e-Learning Power Pack.

We’ll get into all that, but first, welcome to the show, Andy. Thanks. Really 

Andy Jack: excited to talk through the conversation, you know, see what we’ve got to talk about. I think, um, just some really good topics to dig into today. 

Chris Badgett: Yeah, it’s a deep one. Tell us about the opportunity with artificial intelligence.

E-learning at a high level, like what’s going on? What’s the state of play and where are we going with all this? 

Andy Jack: Yeah. Well, I think back to when I started in All Things Web, so this was the late nineties and I dunno if it was the same in, uh, in the States as it was in the uk, but used to get these magazines.

They used to have the CDs, the CD ROMs on the front with like comper or a OL. I remember that first time when we got the, I think it was a 14 4K mode and plugged it into my 4 86 pc. And, and I got this, got this um, CD rom I installed, I think it was the CompuServe, um, browser system. I remember logging on for the first time, heard the, heard the mode were in a away, you know, that sound that, younger generations might not have a clue what is, and I just remember.

Being presented with the World Wide Web for the first time. It felt messy, but it felt new and it felt full of potential. I am, I think of where we are now in terms of the internet and, and AI and Gen AI specifically. And I feel like it’s, it’s a very similar vibe to me. It feels like there is a huge amount of opportunity to.

Learning terms to, to craft some of the opportunities that we’ve always wanted to, but never really had the chance to, or never had the tools to. So I’m really excited about things like personalization and for, um, scaffolded conversations and virtual tutors.

I just think we’ve finally been presented with a tool now, which we can do some really exciting stuff and actually create very high impactful experience led, master classes and courses and educational experiences. So I’m really excited by it. I think, I, I dunno if sometimes I’m in a bit of a bubble, so I’m a bit of a LinkedIn feed and if you, you look at my feed these days, it’s nothing but ai. So I wonder if I’m in a little bit of a bubble. Although the, the way I’m getting it at the moment is you could think about the, the, the Gartner height cycle.

I think over the last six months we’ve had this wow, this excitement. This is a really exciting place. I am starting to feel that. We’re starting to hit that, what was it called? The Tropper disillusionment, I think it’s called. We’re starting to hit that as some of the novelties wor off, some of the excitement’s wor off.

It’s actually, Hey, how can we, what are the actual use cases we need to drive out of this now to actually make this thing useful and work for us rather than it work for AI itself. So, yeah, I think really exciting times, but I think now it’s starting to really. Tease out where it actually adds value in educational experiences.

Chris Badgett: Yeah. That’s awesome. Yeah. It does feel like we’re kind of exiting the toddler years and we’re starting to grow up a little bit and, uh, well, which, which use case are you most excited about when it comes to e-learning and ai? 

Andy Jack: Yeah, there’s some really practical ones now that I, I’d say, I say in production and we can use straight away.

So I really like what we call scaffolded reflections. So some of the things that we believe are really important to an educational experience are practice feedback and reflection. Those are really important and we try and get away from knowledge acquisition. It’s all about transformation and practice.

Feedback and reflections are really, really important of that. I think the challenge with reflections is if you’re not from, if you’re not particularly academic or maybe education wasn’t your thing or maybe it’s just a new skill you’re trying to learn. So reflect on something can actually be quite hard, so if I know one of our clients is a, um, personal brand expert and she really wants her customers to really dig into their value set. Because that underpins what the, the personal brand that they’re gonna display. And if you ask people what their values are, you know, and you present them with a, with a, a blank screen, you know, it’s, it’s really hard to dig into that.

I really like the way that AI can prompt and cajole and provide a draft that can then be shaped. So it’s almost like, at the potter, at his wheel, it’s throwing the clay on the table. AI can throw that clay on the table and you can shape and mold it. For example, with the personal, the personal brand expert that we work with, Deborah Ogden, she asks several questions.

The way we’ve worked with her masterclass is it gets to understand that person and you know, their background, what their story is and it starts to squeeze out, well, given what you’ve already told us, here’s what we think your values may be. And then what they do is they take that, say, well, I don’t agree with this one.

I don’t agree with that one. Well actually this one’s really on point, and they can start to refine it. So that’s a very immediate, practical use of AI that we’re. We are baking with our client projects straight away and we’re just finding that it’s having a great impact. The other one as well for me that works very well is simulations of kind of virtual conversations.

So we work with a client who does a lot around, career development, and particularly around getting the job that you want. And a scary part of getting a job is the interv