LEARNING WITH AI
“What schools are increasingly doing is harnessing AI to transform the classroom experience. Custom- built programmes can be tailored to each pupil”
as children becoming so dependent on its problem-solving capacity that they lose the ability to work out solutions for themselves. However, it also looked at the way AI can enhance learning experiences in schools and colleges. What schools are increasingly doing is harnessing the power of AI to transform the classroom experience. Custom-built programmes can be tailored to each pupil and be completely interactive. A child who has grasped a concept can move on to the next level of learning while others who haven’t can spend a little longer on the same topic and ask for information to be presented in a different way until they also understand – at their own pace. This makes for an intuitive way of learning that doesn’t replace the teacher, but lets them direct their attention where it’s needed. AI can also play a role outside of lessons, to help children navigate their homework or plan revision. Students who struggle to understand written text can ask to listen to it rather than reading the information, and the most able can access extension work. Teachers can use AI to help them generate new teaching ideas, bringing in more inspiration where a creative dimension is needed. The data it generates could increasingly be used to flag up concerns or feed into reports (parents and guardians are increasingly having to raise their game when interpreting complex charts about their child’s learning).
Problem-solving Of course, this all sounds very utopian. With the rise of dependence on AI comes the need to manage, monitor and take action where there are problems. Nobody has all the answers about how traditional educational expectations need to be rethought when AI has the ability to produce information, answers and essays effortlessly and within seconds. The immediate consequence is likely to be a shift, not just in how things are taught, but what and even why? If AI can give us instant access to information, an education system that rewards the ability to memorise and regurgitate facts could well count for far less in the future. Other qualities – problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity, resilience – could become more important to employers in future, with AI enhancing, rather than replacing, the human factor.
CAMBRIDGE EDUCATION GUIDE 41
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