Applying AI in education: When potential overcomes fear
The real benefit of artificial intelligence (AI) lies in how it can assist teachers with administrative tasks and repetitive tasks like grading.
In every field, artificial intelligence (AI) has gradually become an important topic of discussion that is difficult to avoid. In particular, after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's announcement at London Technology Week in June that AI can be used to enhance personalized learning experiences for students, the public has now begun to pay attention. Pay attention to the potential of AI in education.
However, not everyone is interested in using AI in classrooms. In fact, the AI community is divided on this issue. On one hand, there are uncertain opinions about AI.
On the other hand, there are those who believe that it is necessary to learn how to integrate AI in the educational environment to take advantage of the advantages of this technology.
A number of important public figures - billionaire Elon Musk, "father of AI" Geoffrey Hinton - have all voiced a certain level of concern about the current rate of development of AI. Therefore, it is not surprising that education professionals who do not have much exposure to technology feel insecure.
However, it is clear that the world cannot ignore the development of this technology and must begin to find ways to use it to human advantage.
An important fact that many people still do not consider is that AI already exists and is already very common in human society. Tools like ChatGPT have attracted a lot of attention over the past year because of their novelty.
However, as highlighted in a report by consulting firm RM Financial, many people express fear about the technology, having used it for years.
For example, Google has been using machine learning (a basic form of AI) for a long time for its applications such as the Google Search search engine or the YouTube video sharing platform. It is also important to distinguish between fact and fiction about AI. The idea that AI-infused robots will eventually be able to replace teachers in the classroom is simply not likely.
And that is certainly not what people both inside and outside the teaching community want. However, the public needs to get rid of the current fears and exaggerated negative rhetoric to start objectively considering the possibility of applying AI in the field of education. At that time, the opportunities that AI can bring to teachers and the educational environment will become clearer.
The real benefit of AI lies in how it can assist teachers with administrative and repetitive tasks.
In addition to teaching in class, teachers also need to perform many repetitive tasks such as grading papers, calculating scores, making lesson plans, etc. One of the main activities that AI can support really effectively is grading students. For most teachers, this is a repetitive task that costs them a lot of time and effort, second only to teaching.
AI-powered tools - such as ChatGPT - can become powerful assistants for teachers. They can perform basic, straightforward tasks extremely well at a fast pace. Letting AI take charge of grading activities will be easier to do in subjects like mathematics or physics, where answers are often more objective and easier to determine than in subjects like literature.
Even more or less, letting AI be in charge of grading still helps teachers save working hours and spend more time improving the quality of teaching, fostering pedagogical skills and closely monitoring the learning progress of each student. born. AI can even go one step further and help teachers personalize the learning experience for students. This is similar to the vision Prime Minister Sunak shared at London Technology Week.
Unlike teachers, AI can work continuously 24/7 to answer questions, give suggestions and edit assignments for students. By considering each student's different learning styles and abilities, AI can use each student's data to build customized lesson plans and support materials for each person. This is especially useful in the sprint phase before each exam. The most important point to note here is that the teacher will still be the one to make the final decision.
Many countries have begun to pay attention to the application of AI to transform the education sector such as Singapore, Korea, India, Finland and China. Singapore has developed a "Smart Nation" strategy to leverage AI to customize and improve the quality of education for every student. South Korea has introduced AI-based systems to adjust homework based on students' academic level. In India, education technology company Embibe uses AI to explain complex science and math concepts
In Finland, AI is integrated into the education system through free online courses and instant feedback platforms like ViLLE. In China, the government is supporting the development of tutoring platforms focused on improving performance on standardized tests. Countries are also investing in teacher training programs and AI curriculum development. South Korea aims to include AI subjects in the national curriculum, starting from high school
The Finnish AI in Learning project focuses on promoting equity and quality in education through the ethical use of AI. Looking back at the birth and development of technology and the Internet, each initial breakthrough phase faced skeptical and apprehensive reactions from the public. The sentiment towards the current rapid development of AI seems to be no different.
Today, every child has the right to access and use the Internet for learning. The vast cyberspace environment and seemingly endless source of knowledge make the Internet one of the most useful educational tools ever created by humans. In a decade, people could say the same thing about AI./.