The Future of Learning as a Balanced Combination of Humans and AI
By Eduten’s staff: Melissa Georgiou (M.Ed) and Erkki Kaila (PhD)
Technology has landed in schools at varying speeds. We need to appreciate that educational tools which rely on modern technology have become an essential part of everyday school life.
Concepts like learning analytics, intelligent tutors, artificial intelligence and machine learning are frequently mentioned when classrooms of the future are discussed — followed by the most important question: What is the role of the teacher in all of this?
Teachers might be wondering, “Will we be replaced?”, “Can we be replaced?”, “How will I navigate this new technology as a teacher?”
These are all valid and common questions that need to be answered with curiosity, self-understanding and trust.
But here’s the spoiler: teachers will never become obsolete.
Teachers and school leaders are the experts in bringing new technology to classrooms. With all options out there, the key consideration is to choose the most pedagogically effective and motivating tools that work hand in hand with the teacher.
Top tips to ensure a harmonious combination of AI and human touch are:
- Choosing the right technology to support your school’s needs
- Understanding your strengths and limitations as educators
- Learning how to make the most of the technology you choose
Choosing the right technology
A study, conducted by Professor Thomas Naps, reported that the most important factor for teachers when deciding which educational tools to use was the amount of time saved for teachers. Not effectiveness, not features, not students’ experiences — but the amount of time that the tool saved.
An example of an efficient and effective tool is EdTechX award winner, Eduten. Eduten saves teachers’ time with comprehensive learning analytics, leaving teachers to spend more time with students and add value using their strengths.
Choosing the right technology for your own school is key. School leaders need to listen to their staff and ensure the technology is there to have an impact in the daily schoolwork.
Understanding your strengths and limitations as educators
The most important role of the teacher regarding technology is to work together with it. But first, we need to recognise the pros of new technology, as well as our inherent strengths and weaknesses as educators. Are we able to accept the fact that technology can perform many things better than we do? And by better, we mean faster and more reliably. For example, assessing a week’s worth of math problems can be done in seconds by artificial intelligence, and visualizing the results only a second more. Technology does not get tired and does not make human errors. Understanding our limitations helps here, and drawing on our ‘human’ strengths such as empathy and deep understanding of our students will enable us to focus on these.
So, should we gradually replace teachers? Of course not! Although technology is better at some things, humans are still superior in other ways. They’re essential players in the classroom. Apps and tools do not see everything, teachers will always know and understand their students better than technology. A teacher’s continuous, balanced and educated feedback is essential for student progress.
But what the technology can do, is to help teachers to identify the students with problems that need solving, and to notice opportunities to give more positive feedback and encouragement to the students. Learning analytics can be a real solution for this if they are provided in a useful manner and for teachers, who know why and how to work with them.
Learn how to make the most of the technology you choose
For balanced teacher and AI use in the classroom, we should adopt a practical approach to learning analytics. In general, teachers are not too interested in the technology behind the analytics. Instead, they want to have real-time information about their students’ learning. If teachers are provided with information like this, we automatically have people equipped with pedagogical skills and with exact knowledge on who to help and with what.
In sum, the key to ensuring a balanced combination of AI and human-based education is to combine the strengths of AI with the many existing strengths of our teachers. If we can combine the two, great things happen.
Eduten received the 2021 EdTechX Impact Award for demonstrable economic and/or societal impact. Read more about the 2021 EdTechX All Stars Awards here>>
