A Provocation: Where is AI’s Place in Education?
This article is part of our series Unleash Your Thoughts: Dive in, Comment, and Let's Spark a Conversation!
Image used with permission from Dr. Halimat Alabi from the University of British Columbia. It was created using Midjourney with the keywords: future of teaching and learning with technology, artificial intelligence, photorealistic, with mixed race African students in the background cinematic lighting, Unreal Engine, DOF, super-resolution, megapixel. https://met.ubc.ca/etec-565h/
AI or artificial intelligence is in almost all conversations, especially in the education space. I am one of those people who believes in meeting people where they are versus meeting me where I am. The same is true in education. So many want things to stay the same and hesitate to adapt to change, including the growing area of technology. I have been enthralled with this topic for months now. Most things I have read are doom and gloom about how AI will replace people in various industries. People in the education sector see AI as something that will make kids lazy. Teachers worry that students will be able to cheat easier. How will we be able to grade their writing assignments? How will we know whether a student completed an assignment or a computer? The list of questions goes on and on.
AI has received a bad rap in general from the news to the classroom. So I was surprised when I stumbled across a TED talk that highlighted the benefits of AI in education. Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy, spoke about AI as the “biggest positive transformation that education has ever seen”. His company is exploring the use of technology to provide artificially intelligent tutors, teacher’s assistants, counselors, etc to users.
With the right safeguards and guardrails, AI has the power to transform education. In my own work as a district administrator in special education, using the right prompt, I can use ChatGPT to draft letters, compose questions, create presentations, and more to maximize my impact as an employee. Teachers can use AI to provide 1:1 support for behavior or academic support using avatars. Students are able to go on virtual experiences with the combination of AI and virtual reality. The point: we have to be willing to adapt to the times and meet our students where they are. Teachers are burnt out and leaving the field at an alarming rate. AI has the potential to provide teachers with the support they need for the many hats they wear.
In what ways do you imagine AI could help you?
What are some of your experiences with AI in Education?
Do you believe AI will help or hinder education?
Send us your comments at jessica@2revolutions.net.
