How AI Can Transform Education in 2022

Education is one of the domains undergoing rapid and radical changes with the advent of Industry 4.0. Across-the-board digitalization, which is a hallmark of our times, has brought forth the concept of e-learning that consists in ever-broadening penetration of specialized software into the educational process on all levels – from kindergarten and pre-school to higher education and professional training.

The vicious onslaught of the global pandemic has surprisingly given a powerful boost to edtech product development since the majority of economic sectors (and education is no exception) had to onboard the remote mode in their day-to-day functioning.

As educational mobile apps and other software products are quickly becoming all the rage nowadays, high-tech vendors keep their eyes skinned for the know-how that can reinforce edtech solutions. One of such disruptive technologies is artificial intelligence (AI), which is sure to change the landscape in the field for years to come by ushering numerous assets for stakeholders to enjoy.

Advantages of AI for Education Scrutinized

The entire history of the progress of our civilization is all about people getting ever smarter over centuries and transforming the environment around them to fit their shifting needs. Today, astute engineers and inventors have succeeded in making machines they produce smart as well, imparting them with almost human acumen. Such mechanisms and solutions fueled by artificial intelligence and machine learning tools have started to gain significant traction in many realms, whereas in education, their proportion is likely to reach 47% within the next two years. 

Why do software companies focus on making artificial intelligence a part of their solutions? The major perk of using AI in education (much like in many other sectors) is saving time. Spending less time on auxiliary jobs and focusing on what really matters is what artificial intelligence excels at. Besides, AI-powered edtech products are highly favorable for major participants in the learning process in a number of other ways.

Benefits of AI for Learners

The overarching goal of all students is to get a degree and acquire marketable knowledge and skills. This process can be essentially streamlined and promoted by granting access to proper courses, enhancing interaction with teachers, and making the educational content learner-friendly. How can AI be instrumental in augmenting and propelling the educational journey of students?

• Round-the-clock access. Leveraging AI-powered tools, learners stop regarding time and distance as critical barriers on the way to obtaining a high-quality education. Students can plug into the learning process from wherever they are and choose the time convenient for them without having to cover traveling and accommodation expenses. 

Moreover, each person has their own preferences in learning pace and frequency. Constant availability of courses and programs allows students to determine their individual tempo and intensity of studying and shape their schedules accordingly. 

• Prompt responses. The core of the educational process is getting information. To do that, students tend to ask numerous questions and post inquiries expecting an immediate answer. Such an endless interrogation (often consisting of repetitive or typical questions) is impossible for teachers to react to at once day in, day out. 

AI is here to prevent students from getting frustrated while waiting for a response. Chatbots powered by AI can be at their service to automatically support a conversation, during which students will have their routine questions answered.

• Personalization. Standard one-size-fits-all curricula, courses, and training programs live on borrowed time. Ours is the time of getting home to each student personally. All of them have a unique background, previous experience, and educational needs that must be taken into account by education providers. 

AI-based software can be geared to analyze the learning histories of students, their current level of knowledge, and weaknesses or preferences they have. Having complete dossiers on students, software algorithms can offer courses that will suit every person to a tee and provide a highly personalized learning experience. Besides, the most advanced edtech products can be fine-tuned to maximize learning material and style customization (like test form options, speed of delivery, frequency of control, etc.). 

• Tutoring. This is a tweak in the personalization theme mentioned above. In case a student finds it difficult to stand the pace of their fellow learners, even on the most customizable course, AI tutors extend to them more personalization opportunities. So far, contemporary machines can’t replace human teachers, but chatbots and other automated software are going to be a good crutch in doctoring weak spots and sharpening some basic skills outside the classroom (both physical and virtual).

• Elimination of teacher bias. However hard teachers may try to avoid it, they still tend to have their own assumptions and attitudes toward students that have little to do with their academic progress. Such judgments come into play early in the educational process and get particularly strong by the time of final grading. AI-powered solutions rule out the human factor that may either carry more empathy or prejudice against individual learners and turn grading into a totally objective endeavor. 

• Bolstering confidence. For many students, doing something in front of a peer audience is a disconcerting experience. They try to do it faster than they would on their own or do it poorly because of the intimidating attention from their fellow learners. As a result of such psychological issues, their academic performance plummets, and they get more disengaged and less willing to proceed with the course.

AI mechanisms can minimize the amount of intervention and provide individual instruction and feedback. It will lessen students’ anxiety and encourage their active participation, thus guaranteeing a positive learning experience. 

Benefits of AI for Educators

Many of the boons AI lavishes on students are advantageous to teachers as well, although they pursue a different aim: to gauge what students know and what they don’t to channel their efforts in the right direction. 

• Personalization. Customization of learning courses students take is the result of teachers’ endeavors fueled by AI tools. The latter provide sufficient student data for the educators so they can tailor their course content and form of delivery. The aim of these adjustments is to cover the typical knowledge gaps and reconcile the difficulty level with the learning audience’s requirements, competence, and interests.

• Answering questions. As much as chatbots streamline obtaining conventional information for students, they also relieve teachers of the tedious duty of responding to a deluge of oftentimes generic queries. Once AI gets to deal with this job, faculty members can focus on more important or advanced assignments.

• Task automation. According to estimates, about a third of teachers’ working time is taken by planning lessons and grading tests. AI-fueled tools can spare them this time and effort-consuming ordeal by automating the lion’s share of such (until recently) manual processes and let them pay more attention to a teacher’s core responsibilities. 

Moreover, performing such tasks can be accompanied by the analysis of the content. For instance, while grading papers, AI mechanisms collect test data to be further used as an insight for modifying or even serious overhauling of the learning material. 

• Tackling administrative load. This is another errand educators are charged with that distractingly interferes with teaching. Thanks to AI, they can create curricula, fill out documents, edit syllabi, and map out schedules more efficiently and swiftly. 

• Real-time progress monitoring. In the highly dynamic world of the early third millennium, teachers can’t afford to wait till some milestone report to introduce corrections into the learning process or take urgent steps to improve a student’s academic progress. AI tools enable tracking all vital indices in real-time and acting on them on short notice in case any remedial measures are necessary. 

• Greater learner engagement. When coupled with augmented reality, virtual reality, and gamification, AI-powered solutions are a second-to-none means of turning the learning process into an exciting interactive enterprise. In this way, you will not only foster hands-on and in-depth skills but also retain learners’ attention during the class and keep them involved in the activities taking place there.