Artificial Intelligence — The role it plays in the future of education
By: Juliana George ( UK )
Schoolchildren, and even kindergartners, now reside in a world where education has changed, and the internet is their main source of entertainment and where they acquire their information, thanks to a generation that has developed with technology at their fingertips.
With the access to smart technology such as interactive whiteboards, IT suites, and tablet-based learning becoming more frequent in schools, chalkboards and photostats in the classroom are also a thing of the past. It is unavoidable — as technology evolves and develops, so will our learning methods.
AI learning and robotics, for example, have had a significant impact on all industries, including education.
According to a recent report from IBM, Burning Glass, and the Business-Higher Education Forum, job opportunities for data and analytical skills will increase by 364,000 to 2,720,000 by 2020. This means that the supply-demand gap for people with AI skills is growing. One report indicates a global base of 300,000 AI professionals but millions of opportunities available and that this gap results in even higher salaries for those in this field. If we are to realize AI’s full potential for everyone, we must begin by exposing the next generation to AI early on and implementing AI for kids in the classroom.
Artificial Intelligence in Education
With the swift advancement of technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, all industries, including education, have been impacted.
According to the most recent Artificial Intelligence Market in the US Education Sector report, artificial intelligence is anticipated to grow by 47.5 percent in the American education market from 2017 to 2021.
All of this is excellent news for teachers, as AI for kids can be a valuable ally. However, some educators are concerned about the advancement of AI learning and the possibility that it will entirely replace the role of the teacher.
Teachers’ jobs are not in danger of being replaced by robots; while artificial intelligence programs can teach literacy and math, the more complex impartation of social and emotional skills will always be left to humans.
How AI is being used in education
Because AI is computer-based, it can be linked to classrooms all over the world.
According to a recent report by Microsoft and McKinsey of over 2,000 students and teachers from Canada, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and America, artificial intelligence is already equipping teachers and schools with innovative ways to learn how their students are progressing, as well as allowing for fast, personalized, and targeted content curation.
Personalized learning is nearly impossible to achieve in a class of 30 students. However, AI can produce a level of differentiation that tailors learning to a specific student’s weaknesses and strengths.
Teacher’s aide: Teachers not only teach, but they also spend hours grading papers and planning future lessons. However, specific tasks, such as paper marking, could be performed by robots, granting teachers a smaller workload and more flexibility to concentrate on other things.
Machines can now grade multiple-choice tests and are on their way to evaluating hand-written answers. AI has the potential to improve enrollment and admissions processes as well.
Educating the educator: Teachers can access comprehensive information at any time of day or night thanks to artificial intelligence. They can use this knowledge to continue their education in areas such as learning foreign languages or mastering complex programming techniques.
Bringing everyone together: Because AI is computer-based, it can be linked to different classrooms worldwide, fostering greater interaction, communication, and collaboration among schools and nations.
Education-Related Examples of Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence is being used successfully in various educational settings to improve learning, student development, and educator performance.
Emotional well-being
The emotional state of a child influences how well or poorly they can focus, engage, and remain motivated to learn. With this in mind, an organization led by Dr. Imbernon Cuadrado from the Department of Artificial Intelligence in Madrid, Spain, is developing a robot called ARTIE (Affective Robot Tutor Integrated Environment). ARTIE’s primary role is to identify a student’s emotional state using keyboard strokes and mouse action and then provide personalized educational support to the student by running an algorithm that selects the most appropriate intervention required. These include encouraging words, gestures, and attempts to increase students’ interest and motivation in a specific learning goal. The ARTIE design team focused on three cognitive states: concentrating, distracted, and inactive, and discovered that the social support behaviors provided by these robot tutors impacted these students’ ability to learn positively.
Identifying and filling gaps:
Artificial intelligence can spot flaws in a teacher’s presentation and educational materials. When many students submit incorrect answers to a homework assignment, the system notifies the teacher. The teacher can then give future students hints to the correct answer in order to develop the conceptual foundation of studying for that topic in the future.
Nao is a humanoid robot that talks move and teaches kids as young as seven years old everything from literacy to computer programming. Nao engages children in STEM learning and offers a fun coding lab for students. This foundation to basic coding allows students to program the robot to perform actions such as hand signals, emotional movements, and even choreographed dances. This will enable students to become informed with instructing a robot (or program) to perform the tasks they desire and better prepares them to apply and train AI in the future.
Artificial intelligence-powered education applications
These educational applications use the power of AI to improve learning in students of all ages — from primary school to college — and provide both students and teachers with more options for achieving their educational objectives.
Math: Thinkster
Thinkster Math is a tutoring app that combines a real-world math curriculum with a customized teaching style. Their math tutor app uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to visualize how students think as they work on a problem. This enables the tutor to quickly identify areas in a student’s thinking and logic that has prompted them to become stuck and assist them by providing immediate, personalized feedback.
Brainly
Brainly is a platform that allows students to ask homework questions and receive automatic, verified answers from their peers. The website also allows students to collaborate and solve problems on their own. Brainly filters spam using machine learning algorithms.
Content Technologies, Inc. Content Technologies, Inc. (CTI) is an AI company that uses Deep Learning to create personalized learning tools for students, such as JustTheFacts101, in which teachers import syllabi into a CTI engine. The CTI machine then employs algorithms to generate customized textbooks and coursework based on core ideas.
Cram101 is a different example of their AI-enhanced offering, in which any textbook can be transformed into a smart study guide, delivering bite-sized content that is easy to learn in a short amount of time. It even generates multiple-choice questions, which saves students time and allows them to learn more effectively.
MATHiaU
MATHiaU, like Thinkster Math, provides AI-based tutoring tools for higher education students who feel lost in lecturer-sized classrooms. The app is managed by each student’s unique learning process, keeps them informed of their daily progress, and assists teachers in tailoring lessons to each student’s specific difficulty.
Netex Education
Netex Learning enables teachers to create and integrate curriculum across a wide range of digital platforms and devices. The simple platform allows teachers to create personalized student content that can be shared on any digital platform. Teachers will also be provided with tools for video conferences, digital discussions, personalized assignments, and learning analytics that display visual representations of each student’s personal growth.
AI and the Future of Work
The World Economic Forum states, by 2022, a large proportion of companies will have adopted technologies such as machine learning. As a result, the World Economic Forum strongly encourages governments and education to rapidly raise education and skills, focusing on both STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and non-cognitive soft skills to meet this impending need.
According to a recent Microsoft study, students will need to master two aspects of this new world by the time they graduate by 2030. Understand how to use ever-changing technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI), to their advantage.
Understand how to effectively collaborate with others in a team to solve problems.
The preparation begins
Preparing students to work alongside AI in the future can begin as early as elementary school. Because most children are comfortable with digital technology by the time they reach school age, it is important to teach them the skills they will need to thrive in a digital workplace. When AI is integrated into education and external AI courses, the future workforce will be better prepared to face the unknown difficulties of the future workplace.
Machine Learning for Kids
AI programs can now learn to recognize objects in images and videos, translate between languages, and even master arcade and board games. In some cases, such as DeepMind’s AlphaGo program, AI outperforms top humans at the task at hand!
What exactly is machine learning?
Machine learning is an Artificial Intelligence application in which we give machines access to data and allow them to learn for themselves. It’s basically getting a computer to do something without explicitly programming it to do so.
Artificial Intelligence courses for kids
I’m sure your kids have seen a battle bots competition before. You know, where robots are programmed to attack and “battle” each other using an algorithm (a set of commands that must be followed to perform a task; it is a computer’s thought process).
In this case, if machine learning were used, the robot would decide in real-time based on its given information. Rather than being told through code always to perform option A, the robot would choose to perform either option A or option B.
Rather than programming software with specific instructions, machine learning trains an algorithm to learn how to make decisions independently.
So, it should be evident by now that machine learning is one of the most exciting emerging fields in technology — but why should your child get involved and learn more about it?
Many companies hope to solve general artificial intelligence in the coming years, which is a term for an AI that can learn and complete any task thrown at it. This breakthrough is likely to take years, but it can modify how humans interact with technology, the job market, and society in general.
Machine learning has practical business applications in the short term, such as analyzing large amounts of data, powering self-driving vehicles, and assisting medical diagnoses. The number of tasks that AI can perform will only grow as research advances. Companies are already desperate for AI experts and are aggressively hiring those with relevant experience.
Does this sound like a good fit? Your children can take their very first steps toward revolutionizing technology and society by enrolling in any of our flagship Artificial Intelligence courses for kids listed below!
Students will learn about AI learning and machine learning in this fun, interactive course. Thirty high-interest activities introduce students to AI elements and concepts. Students create a program that speaks and then develop apps that identify their hands, draw, and play music. These projects expose students to Cognimates, mBlock, and the Phiro Code mobile app.
AI coding classes for kids As part of Primus, students create interactive games. These apps change their looks or friends’ looks, programs that speak different languages, and a facial recognition security system. These real-world projects teach students the basics of programming and AI concepts like emotion recognition, computer vision, object detection, and chatbots.
Students learn AI concepts using S4AIWS, Scratch AI extension, Pictoblox, MIT App Inventor, Teachable Machine, and Machine Learning for Kids. The course includes 40 lessons with end-of-module quizzes to ensure students grasp the concepts.
Virtual Driverless Car is an advanced course in robotics, AI, machine learning, and neural networks. It is an interactive course that introduces students to new technologies. This course teaches students about self-driving cars, image processing, and neural networks. Click here to find out more about this popular course.
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