Commentary
Newsday
Part 2
WE ENDED last article by inviting readers to decolonise their thinking and perception of AI, recognising the potential it holds if used wisely. This week’s article examines the role of the teacher when introducing the class to AI.
Teachers will now be challenged to ensure that the technology is used to stimulate learning in their students in more creative ways that better align with current realities, mindful of their affinity for devices such as smartphones. In this way teachers will ensure their students are more engaged and productive, creative and efficient with technology that is revolutionising the world of work and business.
While many fear that AI has the potential to make students lazier and more dishonest, this will only happen if the technology is deployed without guidelines and used inappropriately. There are various tools teachers can use to address ethical concerns.
The key, according to experts on the effective deployment of AI, is asking the right questions – a higher order cognitive skill. Question formulation requires clarity – what information is being sought, for what purpose and in what context. Thus, the extent to which AI can be used as a boost to student learning hinges on their ability to think critically.
This is where the guidance of the teacher is paramount, for teaching will now be a function of the extent to which students’ curiosity can be stimulated in the overall context of ensuring they are lifelong learners. Information accessibility now becomes a stimulant to knowledge creation and expansion. This capacity will thus enable them to adapt to the rapidly changing technologies.
This entails developing in students a certain sense of self-awareness of their learning styles in the context of ethical principles. They must be taught how to embrace technology to actively solve problems they confront in their daily lives, using AI as a tool to amplify their comprehension, curiosity, creativity and compassion.
Notwithstanding policy directives from the authorities, teachers must strive to, as with the evolution of any technology, deploy AI in a fit-for-purpose pedagogically sound and age-appropriate manner that enhance learning outcomes. Technology is an ideal opportunity to promote equity; giving students from disadvantaged backgrounds access to the resources and support they would not usually get. It also presents an ideal opportunity to teach children to critically evaluate information – distinguishing good information from bad, once again developing higher-order cognition including analysis.
Like it or not, our charges in the immediate future will have to confront and navigate the world of AI in its various incarnations and it is incumbent upon pedagogues to help them competently navigate this rapidly changing technological landscape. The ethical dimension of its deployment remains a major concern for many, though, since powerful digital functionality can also be accompanied by data privacy and security risks.
According to the US Department of Education, AI has been known to automatically produce output that is inappropriate or incorrect. Teachers are acutely aware that the associations or automations created by AI may amplify unwanted biases and have noted the new ways in which students represent others’ work as their own.
They are also mindful of the teachable moments and pedagogical strategies that a human teacher can address but are undetected or misunderstood by algorithm models or whether recommendations suggested by AI would be fair or appropriate. These are all legitimate concerns that should not be confronted with fear.
With education being a public good, teachers who thus function do so in the best interest of the public. They also have the moral obligation to harness the good that is inherently subsumed in the technology to serve educational priorities while also safeguarding against the dangers that may arise as a result.
Finally, AI has the potential to achieve educational priorities in better ways, at scale and with lower costs if approached in a structured and clinical manner that is driven from a national development policy perspective.
It represents an adaptability component to education to facilitate varied learning styles, strengths and needs. It can allow teachers to extend their support to their students beyond the classroom; a critical bridge to address the equity dilemma. It can enable them to develop resources that are responsive to the knowledge and experiences students bring to their learning, validating their worth and thus allowing teachers to better customise curriculum resources to meet peculiar student need.
However, all of the foregoing is contingent upon the creation and implementation of a revised ICT (inclusive of AI) policy position from the authorities, with the distribution of devices to students as a means to improving student learning outcomes.
