Challenge
Apex Stellenbosch needed to create an effective blended learning environment that could serve 100+ students per classroom. Their vision was to combine traditional teaching with AI-powered support, but many students entered with limited technology exposure. They needed a solution that could both build digital literacy and provide personalized learning assistance (that was super intuitive for students to use) while maintaining strong teacher-student relationships.
How Blended Learning Works at Apex Stellenbosch with Mindjoy
The school has pioneered a blended learning model that thoughtfully integrates AI tutoring with classroom instruction. At its foundation is a comprehensive three-week technology onboarding that introduces students to basic computer skills, digital responsibility, and the role of technology in their education before advancing to more complex applications.
Apex deploys Mindjoy's AI tutors across core subjects, including mathematics, natural sciences, geography, and history, with multilingual support enabling students to learn in their preferred language at their own pace. The tutors are available to students before, during, and after school, providing continuous learning support. Students develop crucial AI literacy skills, learning to formulate effective questions, interpret AI responses, and apply AI-assisted insights to their coursework.
The platform's analytics deliver weekly insights to both educators and students, tracking not just academic progress but also the development of 21st-century skills. Educators can monitor patterns in student questioning that indicate growing critical thinking abilities, track how students apply concepts across different subjects, and identify emerging curiosity in specific topic areas. The system flags common misconceptions in real-time, allowing facilitators to provide immediate intervention while letting advanced students progress independently.
These insights help facilitators optimize their classroom support, moving flexibly to assist students facing challenges while ensuring all digital tools maintain alignment with CAPS curriculum requirements. The data also helps identify students who are developing advanced AI interaction skills, creative problem-solving approaches, and self-directed learning capabilities.
Impact
At Apex Stellenbosch, AI tutoring has catalyzed development of both academic and future-ready skills. Students engage in thousands of AI tutor interactions weekly, showing measurable growth in self-directed learning capabilities. Analytics reveal increasing sophistication in how students formulate questions, apply cross-subject knowledge, and leverage AI tools for learning. The platform tracks progression from basic digital literacy to advanced AI interaction skills, while measuring growth in critical thinking and problem-solving capabilities.
The AI system's bilingual features and analytics support personalized learning paths, adapting to each student's language preferences and pace. At 600R for school fees and 150R for connectivity, the program delivers affordable, technology-enabled education. Most importantly, data shows the AI enhances rather than replaces teacher-student relationships, with facilitators using real-time insights to provide more targeted, effective support.
