
Could AI Be Helpful in the Classroom? This Expert Says Yes
By Movieguide® Contributor
AI in schools could create new ways to help kids learn at their own pace, according to a tech and learning expert.
“Embracing artificial intelligence in the classroom could be the key to improving how students learn,” FOX 13 Seattle reported. “Some classrooms could soon feature an extra assistant. Teachers at some districts are dealing with large class sizes, making it challenging for them to provide one-on-one help for students.”
Dr. Bill Watson, a professor of learning design and technology at Purdue University, explained, “The teacher is the one providing all the activity. The students are often in a very passive mode where they’re sitting there, they’re expected to absorb…we need active learners, we need problem solvers, we need people who are creative, and that means we need a personalized learning experience for the students.”
“The student has questions that can guide them towards the correct answers, rather than just giving it to them,” he said. “So, AI really gives us a power that we’ve really not been able to leverage to this point to really transform the very nature of the approach to education that we use.”
One of the main ways AI could help in the classroom? Creating “unique lesson plans” that would help kids learn at their own pace, “as well as help teachers manage each plan.”
Dr. Watson did acknowledge that AI can also be used to cheat and stressed the importance of teaching students to be ethical in their use of the technology.
READ MORE: HOW AI AND CHATGPT ARE CHANGING EDUCATION
In an interview with WYFI, he elaborated on the personalization AI can provide in the classroom.
“I really think AI, more than any other technology or intervention that we’ve seen, grants us the ability to treat each learner in a way so their learning will be optimal, and where we’re focusing on ensuring mastery of learning, rather than focusing on just how much time they’re trying to learning and moving on,” he said.
Dr. Watson continued, “When we standardize the learning, it’s not only having a negative impact on students who need more time to learn something, it’s also demotivating those who could go more quickly or have a passion about a particular topic and would like to invest in it. So AI really can support us with that, and that includes the sort of individualized tutoring that you mentioned.”
“Right now, our system puts so much of the responsibility on teachers to do everything, and that’s simply not possible when you’re dealing with 25 different students who are in 25 different areas of their learning,” he said. “So AI can really support us with that and really move it towards more of a learner centered approach and a personalized approach to that learning.”
Some Palm Beach County schools in Florida have also started using AI assistant Khanmigo in classrooms.
“In the world of AI, it’s not going anywhere,” Principal Philip Preddy said. “AI is only going to continue to get bigger. So, we can either pretend like it’s not here and try to stay as far away from it as possible, or we can embrace it to take our students into the next level.”
READ MORE: HOW AI COULD IMPACT CREATIVITY IN EDUCATION