Over the last decade or so, numerous new technologies have been introduced into education, including many that some of us might not have imagined back then. Everything from robotics and 3D printers are now fairly common in innovative school districts despite previous beliefs that you’d need advanced sets of tech skills in order to use them. Now, as technology gets more powerful, another type of it is preparing to make a new mark on education. Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to computer systems that are able to complete tasks that would normally require human intelligence to do. And, education leaders are finding ways—whether popular or not—to bring it into the classroom with the hopes of either maximizing educator efficiency or improving student achievement—or both.
The Role of AI in Education
Despite still essentially being in its infancy, artificial intelligence is one of the most talked-about topics in education today. All around the world, members of the education community from kindergarten to college are expecting that AI takes a huge leap and permeates day-to-day educating in a big way. In the next few years alone, the shift could potentially be dramatic. At its core, AI could not only have impactful benefits in education, but on humanity in general. While many people form their impressions of artificial intelligence from fictional movies in which robots take over, AI can actually very much be used for good. It is already being used in some schools and can help administrators automate a lot of their tasks, but there’s a good chance that it could soon find its way into more and more classrooms.
Artificial intelligence platforms, it seems, have the ability to transform conventional teaching methods at some point in time. The theory is that it will be able to integrate pretty seamlessly with the technology that educators already use and provide for a much more streamlined instructional experience. Whether they use online learning management systems or even augmented and virtual reality, AI could combine with these tools to offer real-time teaching and learning for both educators and students. As for using AI in administrative management, the fact that it requires no human assistance could result in it being used to automate all sorts of things at all levels of education. These include student registration, tuition fee collection, staff assignments, and, at the college level, even dorm room assignments. It is even projected to play a role in beefing up security measures and keeping student information safer.
Another area that AI seems to figure into is within academic management itself. This umbrella includes all of the teachers and faculty in a school who would be able to use AI in one form or another to ease the day-to-day challenges they face. AI could be used to grade papers (which traditional grading software would not be able to do), evaluate student assignments, assign homework, and even more to help make the teachers’ job more efficient. Furthermore, it could also be used to boost blended learning and enhance personalized education for students. By emphasizing structure in pedagogical methods, improvement, research and development, assessment, and revision, AI could wind up being a very powerful technology in terms of boosting the overall education experience and student achievement.
Transforming the Classroom with AI
Every new piece of technology can be utilized in the education world and, to many of today’s brightest minds, AI is no exception. Sure, there will be some skeptics (probably a lot of them), but artificial intelligence certainly has the potential to make a positive impact on education so long as it is implemented in a strategic way. Also, the opportunities that AI presents in education are two-fold. For one, it can help maximize efficiency as a tool for teachers, which we discussed in the first section, and it can also give them a whole new area to teach students about while preparing them for a world in which AI use could certainly be plentiful. There is so much still to be learned when it comes to artificial intelligence and we’re truly now only scratching the surface. Countless courses could be created on its impact, potential, power, uses, and more—even before students get to college.
The fact is that many students have already interacted with basic forms of artificial intelligence numerous times and perhaps even as often as on a daily basis. Things like online chat bots and product suggestions for them to add to their online shopping carts are, in fact, one form of AI. Breaking it down like this often helps students internalize just what artificial intelligence represents and, by giving them some examples they could likely relate to, it paints a clearer picture in their minds. Then, we have virtual assistants, which utilize the same approach to answering our questions as these online bots do. They essentially make a series of decisions and provide the most likely answer—even if sometimes it’s not exactly what we are looking for. Recognizing the shortcomings of these types of artificial intelligence can then turn into a great classroom conversation for how students could make these services more helpful.
In classes in which students are able to access the necessary coding tools, they could also try their hand at creating their own AI. One great example we heard about was a student who loved geography and essentially created a virtual assistant that could provide answers to all kinds of questions about various states. Simply by lining up the answers in the same way, the student also discovered that the questions could be used to describe any state in the country. The questions included state population, capital, official bird, border states, and more. This is a bit of an advanced example, but it just goes to show that this technology has the potential to teach a lot to students and also to open doors to some incredibly exciting new career possibilities.
Questions About AI in Schools
For all of the potential power that AI holds, it brings along with it just as many questions. The simple truth is that we just don’t know for sure how powerful AI will become or to what degree it will alter everyday life and the education experience. Some experts predict that no sector will be completely free from the effects of artificial intelligence and that includes education. If and when it does roll out on a massive scale, there are certain areas of education that are most likely to be affected. One of those areas will be curriculum. Since AI relates a lot to statistics and probability, some predictions for its impact on education include the replacement of traditional math subjects, like calculus and geometry, with those more specialized areas. There will also likely be less of an emphasis on students being able to perform calculations since that’s something that machines can already do. Teaching programming could also shift more towards students learning Python—a computing language—more frequently than others.
In addition to curriculum, AI looks likely to also change how school leaders manage things at the district level. One example is that these district leaders are using AI to scan resumes to determine which prospective teachers they hire. In schools, teachers and administrators can also use AI to potentially flag certain behaviors in students that are consistent with depression or other emotional issues. AI can also be trained to recognize certain things so that it doesn’t just pick out repetitive characteristics. For teachers, the thought is not that AI would ever replace them, but that they could eventually have the benefit of AI partners. In a perfect world, AI would do some of the not-so-glamorous work that teachers are required to take on, like grading papers and tests, while they focus more on the other things, like connecting with their students and offering them encouragement.
While it may seem like AI will do a whole lot of good, its emergence will likely not be perfect. Educators and administrators are going to have to learn how to deal with its flaws since, after all, it’s not quite a perfect science. Educators will need to determine if the role of AI will be that of a decision maker or that of an adviser. If AI made all of their decisions for them rather than simply provided a suggestion, things might wind up quite different. It’s important to remember that, sooner or later, AI will make mistakes. This is because it’s modeled on the human brain, which, as we all know, is not perfect. AI relies on probability and, sometimes, those systems encounter errors. Also, AI needs all of the data it can get in order to perform at its best, so there are some concerns that student and teacher privacy could wind up getting compromised. Concerns aside, there still remains a strong chance that AI is going to make its move into education sooner rather than later.
Practical Uses for AI in Education
Besides some of the specific uses AI could offer in education, including some of the ones we’ve mentioned so far, artificial intelligence also has some benefits that are a bit more practical. With all of the power behind artificial intelligence systems, it’s important for any educator who is planning on adopting it to remember that the goal of using it is to create an education experience that’s more inclusive, diversified, and engaging for their students. Among its benefits, AI can help establish a more narrowed focus in learning, eliminate or simplify redundant tasks, and optimize lesson plans. For these reasons (and also some others), the emergence of artificial intelligence has created a disruption in education and certainly brought attention to how the roles of educators might change as well as some of the other ways AI can be used in and out of the classroom.
Some of the more practical uses of AI in education include making available smarter content, the creation of videos and tutorials, and the optimization of gamification. AI’s primary ability is to collect and analyze data after sifting through massive amounts of information and it can also then curate that data to organize content in a way that’s most relevant for use in classrooms or for use in online courses. Also, since AI can be considered an authoring tool, it’s able to provide interactive digital content that does way more for students than textbooks and worksheets. Whether they learn best with videos, infographics, or slideshows, AI can be used to create different forms of educational content. And, as for gamification, AI can help it reach its full potential, which will allow teachers to use this method to motivate the students who need it. AI can help educators create real-life learning scenarios and immersive experiences that pull students in and keep their attention.
In addition, artificial intelligence can also be used for personalized learning initiatives, digital mentorship, and continuous learning and development, including professional learning. For personalized learning, AI can determine what instructional approaches students prefer and provide teachers with that insight. AI, like chatbots, can communicate with students while they work and provide real-time guidance for them as they experience success or encounter any difficulties. In terms of learning and development, educators could also choose to leverage AI-based training programs to learn how to use new tools more quickly or even to recognize any weak points in their instruction. In these key areas and also in the area of real-time tracking, artificial intelligence is on course to create a new type of world in education.
AI and Making Education Smarter
So, it all essentially comes down to this: Can artificial intelligence—like any new technology—contribute to creating a more beneficial education experience for students and a more efficient experience for teachers in and out of the classroom? Sometimes referred to as the fourth Industrial Revolution, artificial intelligence is opening up all kinds of doors for the future of learning. Teachers are able to seamlessly deliver their instruction online, students can travel anywhere in the world virtually, and even learn about different cultures using VR and AR. Though AI is just one piece of this fourth Industrial Revolution, it helps tie together other key components, which include machine learning, 3D printing, the Internet of Things, cloud computing, and big data. Together, these technologies could become a driving force in creating a smarter education experience for students.
The education sector is starting to shift to the use of more artificially intelligent platforms, but, so far, that change has been pretty slow. At the top of the list of ways it’s helping educators, is by providing key insight into what their students really need. With its various algorithms, AI is able to help teachers collect data and, more importantly, analyze what it means and then apply it to best assist each student. Being able to access and understand this data helps create a tremendously personalized experience for children—something that should not be undervalued. Even tutoring is seeing artificial intelligence creep into the process. Utilizing the same functions, AI can help students in a more direct, one-on-one way and perhaps pick up things that traditional tutors might miss. Plus, the immersive virtual learning experiences it provides can help students become more engaged and see what their futures might really be like.
As you can tell, the possibilities of using AI in education (and beyond) are immense and could potentially cause a whole lot of disruption. It remains to be seen whether or not that disruption will come in a good way. One final idea education professionals have for integrating this brand-new technology into teaching and learning is the creation of AI-powered platforms that are able to build student profiles. Simply by observing their actions and work, AI could collect all sorts of data on them and present educators with a ton of new insights into how they learn best, what their weaknesses are, and so on. It might be a bit scary to think that artificial intelligence could learn so much about us, but, to be honest, we’re probably only scratching its surface. Both within and outside of education, artificial intelligence is poised to create a whole lot of new problems, questions, experiences, and solutions.
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