Page 85 - EW June 2023

Teacher-2-Teacher

Harnessing AI power in

K-12 education

ROBINSON PHILIPOSE

N RECENT YEARS, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE With appropriate tools and strategies,
(AI) has made headlines around the world and scared
educationists with alarmist predictions of widespread educators have the opportunity to
Itesting malpractice. But on the other side, AI has harness the power of AI to provide
great potential to transform traditional teaching and en-
able teachers and students in K-12 education. personalised, engaging and effective
Teaching has traditionally been a manual and human- learning experiences for children
intensive vocation in which teachers must design lesson
plans, develop course material and deliver lectures. While
this pedagogy has worked in the past, it is time consum- concepts and need help at home. AI-powered chatbots
ing and leaves little room for innovation and experimen- can answer routine student questions and clear assign-
tation. It’s a one-size-fits-all pedagogy. India’s normative ment doubts. Natural language processing (NLP) is the
1:40 teacher-pupil ratio makes it difficult to personalise backbone of chatbots, allowing them to understand and
the education of every student. Like a doctor attending respond to human speech.
many patients prescribes medicines based on individual- Automated grading. Furthermore, AI can automate
ised lab reports, similarly a teacher should be able to ad- the assessment process, freeing teachers to attend to
dress the learning deficit of every child in her classroom. necessary admin duties. Simultaneously, it provides stu-
AI makes this possible. dents faster assignment feedback thus enabling them to
With the advent of AI, educators now have power- improve their grades. Moreover, AI assessments are en-
ful tools and technologies to create personal, engaging, tirely based on data and algorithms eliminating assessor
effective and customised learning experiences for their bias. Again, it reduces teachers’ workload, allowing them
students. to devote more time to teaching and provide support to
Here are some ways AI can transform teaching-learn- students requiring it.
ing in K-12 education: redictive analytics. AI can analyse test perfor-
Diagnostics. The first step in personalising education is Pmance, behaviour and engagement to predict which
to diagnose every child’s learning deficit in each subject, students are at risk of falling behind or dropping out.
not possible within a 40-minutes period. This humanly This enables early teacher intervention and additional
impossible task is made easy with an AI-powered com- support to laggard students. AI algorithms can also
mon test in every subject which will immediately disclose provide data on student needs, and resource alloca-
the learning deficit of every child in a classroom of 40 tion advice to aid school administrators make informed
students in just three minutes. decisions such as hiring new teachers, purchasing new
Personalised learning. AI can report the progress and technology or investing in additional support staff.
performance of every student to enable customised teach- In conclusion, AI has enormous potential to trans-
ing to suit individual needs and preferences. Traditional form conventional K-12 education, opening up new
pedagogies oblige educators to take a one-size-fits-all possibilities for teachers and students. Although the
approach, delivering the same content to all students, adoption of AI in education presents some challenges,
regardless of individual learning style or pace. On the such as privacy and data security concerns, the benefits
other hand, AI algorithms can assess the strengths and far outweigh these addressable risks. With appropriate
weaknesses of every child and prescribe lesson plans ac- tools and strategies, educators have the opportunity to
cordingly, enabling her to learn at her own pace for better harness the power of AI to deliver radically personalised,
retention and comprehension. engaging, and effective learning experiences for chil-
Smart tutoring systems. AI can also be used to de- dren.
velop smart tutoring systems (STS) that provide instant As we move forward, it’s important to remember
feedback and guidance to students as they learn and that education isn’t just about transferring knowledge.
adapt to their learning styles and capabilities, thus pro- It’s also about developing skills, nurturing creativity
viding more personalised and effective learning experi- and empowering students to become lifelong learners.
ences. These tutoring systems use AI algorithms which By embracing new possibilities and utilising advanced
provide personalised feedback and guidance to students technologies, we can create a more efficient education
throughout their learning. system that prepares students for success in the complex
Natural language processing. AI chatbots can be future ahead.
used to answer students’ queries in real time, providing
instant guidance and assistance. This is particularly use- (Robinson Philipose is Managing Director of Masterji.ai, a Pune-
ful for students who have difficulty understanding certain based edtech company)

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