Versatile Innovations in Affect, Behavior, and Learning Engineering (VIABLE) Lab
We build AI that teaches the way a teacher wants, and study how it helps in real classrooms.
A learner, adding fractions
One half plus one third.
The learner wrote: i got 2/5.
added the tops
and the bottoms
A model on its own
Not quite. You need a common denominator: 1/2 is 3/6 and 1/3 is 2/6, so the answer is 5/6.
gives the answer away
With VIABLE
Before it replies
They gave an answer. Find out how they got it.
May be behind it: adding tops and bottoms as whole numbers.
Nice try. How did you get the 5 on the bottom? What should stay the same when you add pieces?
finds out how they got it
Research areas
- AI, machine learning and LLMs
- Learning analytics and educational data mining
- Affect and behavior detection
- Causal inference and experimental design
- Software and pipeline development
- Cognitive science and learning engineering
Where technology meets learning
Founded in 2023 by Dr. Anthony Botelho, the VIABLE Lab at the University of Florida College of Education builds and deploys cutting-edge technology to study student learning across diverse educational contexts, combining cognitive science, AI, and data-driven methodology into solutions that genuinely work in classrooms.
Research focus
Combining education, cognitive psychology, AI, and computer science to advance learning technologies with real-world impact.
Innovation
Building cutting-edge educational tools that enhance student experiences, outcomes, and equity across diverse contexts.
Collaboration
Working alongside educators, researchers, and AI specialists worldwide to create solutions grounded in practice.
Impact
Driving meaningful contributions through data-driven insights, evidence-based approaches, and human-centered design.
Research systems, built to be used
Shared AI infrastructure and the learning tools it makes possible.
VIABLE Learning Platform
Where teachers say what they're teaching and get a course with an AI tutor that helps the way they want, and where learners join it with a link or a code.
VIABLE Developer Platform
Shared AI infrastructure for education and research: frontier and open-weight models, collaborative agent workflows, knowledge bases, VETTING, and traceable…
VIABLE Open Kit
The VIABLE Harness and VIABLE Engine in one MIT-licensed repository, for developers adding teaching to their own AI and for schools that run classes on their…
What's happening at VIABLE
All newsVETTING: Keeping Classroom AI Open to Questions, Accountable to Rules
Students do not always keep classroom chatbots on script. VETTING checks AI answers before students see them, with evidence from 151 middle school users and a Python implementation to try.
VIABLE Lab Welcomes Yeji Son for Fall 2026
VIABLE Lab Presents at Festival of Learning 2026 in Seoul
Research without borders
We advance educational-technology scholarship through a global network of universities, research labs, funding agencies, and industry allies.
...and many more institutional partnerships worldwide
The organizations shown above reflect one or more of the following relationship types: formal grant-funded agreements, project-level or lab-to-lab collaborations, co-authorships, informal partnerships, and other professional relationships. Entries indicate current or recent engagements and should not be interpreted as institutional endorsements.