One of the most important things we can hope to hand off to our children is education. While the timeless aphorism holds true in many a modern-day scenario, surely education is not the most important thing in the world for our kids? Whether that’s the case or not, one painful point still stands – the education system is due for a complete overhaul.
Actually, it has been for hundreds of years. What have we as innovators and creators achieved in the learning process that our 20th, 19th, or 18th-century teachers did not? Sure, technology has simplified many processes in education and even erased geographical barriers with online classrooms. However, the process of teaching has pretty much stayed the same – the teacher stands in front of a display while the students take notes.
Needless to say, there is a need to reshape education into a teaching system that will support the augmented future our children will inherit. So here is how artificial intelligence is shaping the future of education, and why that’s awesome!
Redefining the grading system and measuring progress
If you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, you’ll be disappointed rather quickly. Children are unique. They aren’t delicate snowflakes that shouldn’t experience the challenges of trial and error. But, they do deserve a unique approach to grading and teaching. Why? Because you know as much as the next mom that the modern education system’s design won’t help your child reach their full potential. Quite the contrary.
AI is designed to lead humanity to a brighter future. It will definitely become an inextricable part of many different industries down the line. When it comes to education, machine learning can help us deconstruct the outdated grading system in schools and measure progress based on a myriad of nuanced factors that will help an individual not only learn, but find their way.
If nothing else, technology can help tutors quantify student’s understanding of the lecture, as well as have an insight on how effective a certain teaching module is. This is big news. Not only will the teacher have the tools to reshape their way of communicating information, but they’ll also be able to grade their students in a unique way.
Individualized and personalized tutoring
Throughout history, the education system has had to overcome the challenge of the gradually increasing number of students, thus creating the modern overcrowded classrooms and uniform curriculums everyone has to learn and master. But children are not robots, and no one should expect every child to excel in the same field.
Finally, after hundreds of years of inadequacy, the education system has the opportunity to reshape the very notion of education, and allow every child to learn at their own pace, in a way that’s optimized for their current emotional and psychological state. Machine learning will be able to analyze the learning patterns of every child in order to tailor the perfect module for their needs. This will allow them to thrive unencumbered by feelings of inadequacy often caused by a competitive learning environment.
Smart content creation
If there is anything artificial intelligence will be good at and will soon bring to perfection, it’s smart content creation. Even now we have examples of AI software breaking down textbooks into digestible guides and even smart academic transcription services transforming spoken content into the written word automatically. This allows the modern student to consume content any way they want and find the most convenient.
But things will only get more serious in the future. The truth is that attention spans are steadily decreasing, and we can’t expect our children to consume content the way we used to. They are digital natives, and as such, they require unique stimuli. Artificial intelligence will be able to bring that much-needed “immersive” feature into the education system, not only with smart content but virtual reality as well.
Virtual tutors and learning environments
Virtual reality has been around for quite some time now, and technology has long moved on from its use in gaming to many industries including the medical realm, all the way to the military sphere. Slowly but surely, VR will start to weave itself into the very fabric of modern education, creating a comprehensive, highly immersive experience for the student.
Not to go all Blade Runner or Altered Carbon (for you binge-watching mommas out there) on you, but virtual reality paired with AI is bound to become an inextricable part of life at some point, so why not welcome it into the education system? Just imagine your child being able to take a class while walking through a serene rainforest, examining and coming into close contact with the virtual flora and fauna that defines the setting. Or, how about learning astronomy and astrophysics by visiting distant galaxies in a virtual spaceship? Just imagine how thrilling and powerful the experience will be.
Providing detailed feedback to tutors and students
Finally, artificial intelligence is the ultimate tool that will help teachers and students discover the individual pain points and knowledge gaps that need to be filled. By providing constant, exact, and instantaneous feedback, AI can fill these knowledge gaps swiftly with condensed and tailored content that will seamlessly become a part of your child’s reality. And all of that without the need to give out bad grades (which has an adverse effect, by the way) or spend weeks filling these gaps.
Without a doubt, technology is becoming commonplace in our modern way of life. It’s weaving itself into our homes, our gadgets, our cars, and every industry imaginable. With its numerous applications, AI is beginning to shape the future of education, paving the road for our children into a healthy, proactive, and happy adulthood.
What are your thoughts on technology in education? Do you think it helps or hinders your own child’s learning abilities?
David Webb is a Sydney-based business consultant, online marketing analyst, and a writer. With six years of experience and a degree in business management, he continuously informs the public about the latest trends in the industry. He is a senior editor at BizzmarkBlog. You can reach him on Twitter or Facebook.