AI and Education are two revolutionary forces that will shape the future of learning. As Artificial Intelligence is increasingly integrated into educational systems, it presents both potential and challenges. AI has the ability to transform the way we teach and learn, from automating grading and scheduling to improving accessibility for students with impairments. However, as we accept these improvements, we must wonder if technology can genuinely match the emotional connection and mentorship that exceptional instructors offer to their students.
Every year, the International Day of Education focuses on a certain theme to address major global educational concerns. This year’s subject for International Day of Education is “AI and Education: Preserving Human Agency in a World of Automation” and it focuses on how education can help people understand and manage technological innovation.
“The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim.” – Edsger W. Dijkstra
The Good Old Teacher’s role : True story of Maxie Jones
Here is the Story where we see a teacher who changed a student’s life, not just with knowledge but with compassion and presence. This will help us to have a balanced view on AI and Education.
Second semester of 10th grade was supposed to start from February 1st of 1978. While Maxie Jones woke up to go to school the next day, his mother didn’t. After his mom’s burial, Maxie pulled himself to school. With such a drastic event happening in his life, he found himself often lost in his thoughts in school.
One day Mr Goldberg while taking class, was asking questions to the class. It was Maxie’s turn, and as usual he was lost in his thoughts and asked Mr Goldberg to repeat the question. Right after that he was asked to meet Mr Goldberg in the teacher’s room around 6th period.
“You seemed to be lost in your thoughts” Mr Goldberg said in the teacher’s room “somehow you still seem to know the answers to most of the questions”. As the conversation went on, Maxie shared what he was going through. Mr Goldberg asked him to meet him again the next day and then the day after that, then the next. Now they were meeting everyday talking, sharing or doing a task together.
Then came the open house meeting. Maxie brought his sister to school to meet his teachers because he didn’t have anyone else to bring. Some of the teachers thought it was of no use to talk to his sister. Mr Goldberg saw this and he went to meet his teachers personally and told them, “If you have any issues with Maxie, come to me.” This tradition went on for years, and Maxie never missed a day in the school.
“This feels funny - I teach tenth graders, not seniors so I don’t attend graduation”, Mr Goldberg said at his graduation. “Well then why are you here” Maxie replied. “Because I wouldn’t miss seeing you graduate for anything in the world”, Mr Goldberg said.
Maxie had graduated high school in the top 15% and even got Regents scholarship. Later Maxie shared live at "The Moth”, “I was in line to be a statistic, a high school dropout. I realized that the reason I showed up to school every single day was because somebody there was expecting to see me. That somebody was Mr. Goldberg.”
AI and Education: Concluding Thoughts
While good educators share knowledge, great ones leave a lasting impression in their student’s heart. The AI we know today can share knowledge to a certain extent, but will it even come close to making a lasting impression like Mr Goldberg did or like some of our favourite teachers did in our own lives.
While that being said, AI would be of help in:
- Scheduling , grading and report generation hence decreasing the workload on the teachers.
- It can also be used to analyse large number of data.
- AI assisted technologies and help improved accessibility as it can help students with learning disabilities.
But some of the struggles we face with AI are :
- Lack of guidelines on how to use AI.
- Ethical concerns- A myriad of questions left unanswered.
To conclude, AI and Education are something that will definitely complement each other in the future. AI definitely comes with it’s own set of opportunities and benefits. But it might never even come close to replacing a good old teacher.
Opposite of Love isn’t what you think