Education is where students and teachers receive and give systematic instructions respectively. Learning can take place in an informal or formal way. Technology has played a crucial role in the evolution of education in recent times. Even though much of the education still depends on a central curriculum and at times restricted teacher resources, technology is allowing a certain degree of customization that was not possible previously. Nowhere is the differentiation much clearer than the use of AI in education.
Of all the areas where AI will have an impact, the biggest might be education. Learning is important and the current provision often leaves a great deal to be desired. It is not the fault of the teachers. They are an active ingredient in the present education system but they are not scalable and also expensive. Since they are human, they are also prone to make mistakes while speaking or writing on the blackboard.
The use of AI in education has given it a completely new perspective of looking at education for students, teachers, parents, and educational institutions.
Here are a few statistics that will shed some light on the role of AI in education sector.
Prescient and Strategic Intelligence predicts that AI in education is expected to post revenue of 25.7 billion USD by the end of 2030.
AI in education sector is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 40% between 2021 and 2027, as per the studies of Global Market Insights.
The Pandemic has Changed Education Forever
Countries are in different situations in regards to their COVID-19 infection rates. At present, there are over 1.2 billion children in 186 countries who have suffered the consequences of school closures because of the pandemic. In Denmark, children up to the age of 11 are returning to their schools after they closed down on 12th March. However, in many parts of the world, students are still attending classes online.
With this shift from the conventional classroom in different parts of the world, some tend to be wondering if online learning is going to continue even after the pandemic and how the change is going to have an effect on the education market across the world.
In response to demand, several online learning platforms are providing free access to their services. Some people believe that rapid and unplanned moves to online learning with insufficient bandwidth, no training, and little preparation can result in a poor experience that is unconducive to sustained growth. But others believe that a hybrid education model will emerge with great benefits.
Challenges Educators are Facing with Teaching and Learning
Teaching has become more difficult with time. Based on research, here are the top challenges faced by teachers at present time.
Improving Learning Outcomes: It is a big challenge to design a learning outcome that can effectively measure a student’s potential and success. Catering to those learning outcomes and using strong indicators to provide this, all the while easing excel sheets and paperwork by teachers, is improbable. Even after all these, teachers don’t get a complete view of how their students are performing.
Personalizing and Differentiating Teaching: What works for one student might not work for another. Educators have already recognized this but there are only a few ways to ensure that various skill levels are being analyzed. How teaching is being conducted is necessary to consider. Media enhanced exams, newer questions types, and diversifying teaching while keeping it simple is hard to enforce.
Making Students Work Outside the Classroom: What students are doing at school is only a fraction of the effort that is required to be put in for academic success. Keeping this in mind, educators have additional pressure to make their students put extra effort outside the classroom. Students haven’t yet found the right incentive to deal with the problem. So, teachers are looking for a method to encourage students to learn, while they have fun and prevent pursuing education from becoming a tedious task.
How can AI Change the Landscape of Education?
Today, artificial intelligence is finding its way to the core of education through software and apps aimed to personalize learning and emphasize the impartial grading system.
As per studies, the use of AI in education in the United States will grow by 47% between 2018 and 2022. According to this report, there are two key trends that drive growth in this field.
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Increase the use of chatbots that use AI-based technologies for storing, processing, and communicating data with students.
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Growing focus on personalized learning paths using Artificial Intelligence in education.
Teachers can gain insights into the performance of the students to curate customized study plans for an improved learning outcome. All in all, AI and ML in education is expected to work in tandem with the teachers for reducing their burden and increasing efficiency through data insights and automation. Below are a few ways to understand how can AI be used in education:
Personalized Learning
The standard classroom model has a teacher-to-student ratio of 10:1 in a majority of the cases. Nevertheless, each student has different learning capacities and teachers might know the problems faced by each one of them at all times. Moreover, teachers cannot always understand the efficacy of their lectures. So, AI in education can offer actionable feedback to work on the areas where kids appear to be facing optimum issues.
For instance, when a wrong answer is submitted by students on the Coursera platform, it is going to alert teachers. Furthermore, the platform provides hints to future students, helping them get the correct answer. With these feedbacks, teachers can customize educational material which is one of the advantages of AI in education.
Reduced Administrative Problems
The introduction of chatbots has changed the customer support industry, managing most of the repetitive or straightforward queries all by themselves. In schools and educational institutions too, chatbots can be used to handle general questions and streamline the admission process.
For instance, students and parents can have their general queries answered easily in real-time through chatbots, freeing up admissions staff for focusing on other areas. Chatbots can also be used for personalized learning. With Artificial Intelligence in education, chatbots can access every student’s knowledge and modify the curriculum suitable for them.
AI-Based Tools to Write the English Language
Research has shown that assisted writing feedback improves writing outcomes. There are tools that use AI-based algorithms to detect spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors, automatically. Some assisted tools are used by teachers to provide the students with instant feedback on their writing skills and identify the areas that need attention for specialized focus.
Automated Grading System
Grading tests and homework for higher and lower classes can be a tedious process. It eats away a great deal of time that the teachers can use to interact with the students. Surely, at present, AI in online education cannot completely replace human grading, but it assesses multiple-choice, partially. Essay grading software focuses on structure, spelling, and style, but they require more refinement before being used on a large scale.
Benefits of Implementing AI to Education
Here are a few statistics that will shed some light on the role of AI in the education sector.
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Artificial Intelligence in education comes at a high price. With the advent of new technology, budgets will increase to cover the expenses. Moreover, with AI tools, schools will also have to consider software maintenance.
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Artificial intelligence solutions tend to be vulnerable to cyber-attacks. They contain tons of data, and hackers are always devising ways to attack. So, hackers can get into the school system and steal all data.
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Irrespective of how analytical AI robots are, they cannot develop a student’s mind as a teacher. While educators use several problem-solving methods, AI can’t use alternative teaching methods.
Future of AI in Education
The World Economic Forum estimates that by 2022, a significant proportion of companies will have already adopted technologies, such as AI and machine learning. Thus, education and government should largely focus on rapidly raising skills and education with a focus on non-cognitive soft skills and STEM.
In the future, AI will help in personalizing education and produce smart content. Artificial Intelligence in education will provide new ways to perceive information. Besides, AI in education will help in generating and updating the content of the lessons.
AI can perform a long list of tasks, offering the education industry a personalized approach.
Conclusion
AI-based software is making the education system more effective and efficient by introducing improved personalization for students and automating tasks that take time to increase focus on student-teacher interactions. With Artificial Intelligence in education, schools can introduce adaptive learning to enable students to learn at a pace that they prefer. Moreover, AI-VR technologies will create a more immersive experience ensuring a better learning outcome in the future.