AI can be of tremendous help at opposite ends of the classroom for both teachers and students alike. Education and AI are being increasingly intertwined as students gain access to exciting new technology which is evolving at a rapid pace. However, this does not mean AI needs to be in the crosshairs of teachers & parents as an enemy. AI can be used as an incredibly powerful tool that can benefit students, teachers and parents providing a more holistic approach to education. Teachers feel burnt out by heavy administrative and compliance tasks that draw attention away from the classroom. With AI implementation directed specifically at education, it can help lessen administrative burdens while offering better personalised learning pathways on opposite ends of the classroom to the benefit of both teachers and student. In an article for The Educator Australia, Cameron Aume, AI developer and CTO of Kazacos AI, examines the current dilemmas facing teachers and how AI can help provide innovative solutions.
Administrative Pressure on Teachers
In the education system there are several challenges faced by both teachers and students that could benefit greatly from the introduction of AI tools and assistance. Administration burdens can often be very time consuming and impose constant pressure on teachers. Essays and quizzes to be marked, lessons to be planned, compliance, studying new material – all of these element’s factor into a teacher’s day and can become incredibly time-consuming. Amume believes these factors “detracts from educators core mission to nurture and educate students.” Furthermore, the role of meeting guidelines and regulatory compliance often falls onto teachers as another responsibility to factor. Consistently having to fact check, adapt and update any learning material to new syllabus- although an important task to ensure students receive the best education- can take up time that could directed into other areas of teaching. Staff shortages also place a huge strain on the education system, with teachers needing to step up to fill gaps. All of this occurs outside of the classroom away from the core focus on the students and makes teaching “increasingly difficult when administrative duties and staffing concerns take precedence” as put by Amume. Teachers feel more burnt out than ever, and the workload is only increasing.
How AI Tools and Resources can Enhance Productivity
AI can allow for incredible advancements in how teachers manage their workload. It’s important that more AI tools with an education focus are developed in collaboration with teachers and educational institutions so they fit seamlessly into the education system and meet all requirements. Training and support should be rolled out across schools on how to better use AI and implement it into the classroom. The time saved in the long term will be tremendous. One such application already helping educators in Childcare.tools, aimed at assisting with teaching and administration for early learning. Amume says the platform takes “what would otherwise be hours’ worth of work and compress it down into only minutes, significantly improving efficiency and allowing educators to spend more time with children.” Creating a platform in cohesion with teachers and schools as with childcare.tools has been a tremendous help for teachers. Amume elaborates on how it has been highly successful with positive feedback in how AI has been able to revolutionise the classroom. Childcare.tools streamlining arduous and time-consuming paperwork, helps to create lesson plans with relevant content and allows for teachers, students and parents to leave the classroom feeling more satisfied.
An example of AI at the other end of the spectrum at the tertiary education level would be Turnitin. Turnitin is piece of software that scans over a students work that has been submitted and detects for any plagiarism. Students and assessors are given a grade percentage that indicates how closely the work submitted has plagiarised or copied an existing article or source from an extensive pool of sources. Initially, students are also given the opportunity to check and validate their work through Turnitin before officially submitting their assignment to make sure their work has not been copied and is ethical to university guidelines and make any amendments that are necessary. Turnitin serves as a great example for how AI can reduce administration workload for teachers whilst also acting as a tool for students to verify they are following university guidelines.
AI as a Powerful Tool
Aside from industry specific tools, even with more general applications like ChatGPT and Gemini, teachers gain access to a powerful tool that can help save time and redirect it back to the students. A teacher can use AI to create a template for their upcoming lessons based on the content uploaded by the teacher. In turn, AI can help find new resources such as videos or articles from across the web that are relevant to the curriculum being taught. One such example could be a history teacher who has a list of quotes and dates that the class is required to memorise for a pop quiz. The teacher using AI, can upload the basic quotes and dates and create memory games and flashcards to help make retaining vital information more engaging and exciting. From an administrative standpoint, AI can also help when automating admin tasks like collating attendance data and allow for teachers to better track class participation. The more teachers begin to experiment with AI platforms, the more intuitive and exciting ways students will see it implemented in their classes.
In collaboration with students and parents, AI can also help accelerate and open new pathways for personalised learning. Anunes believes personalised learning is key to the future, as an “adaptive approach boosts engagement, fosters curiosity and promotes better educational outcomes.” Whether a child is a visual, auditory or kinaesthetic learner, AI has the ability to morph and engage any content and subject to best suit their learning style and needs. AI can easily create visuals and diagrams to accompany a worksheet, spoken explanations and dialogue through text-to-speech interfaces and problem-solving exercises with links to activities depending on what the student desires. Personalised learning means students also can now learn at their own pace, meaning students who have fallen behind can re-examine and better learn areas they have struggled with, and advanced students are able to further propel their learning in an exciting direction. Personalised learning also allows for instant personalised feedback through data collected on each student. This allows for parents and teachers to better understand which areas a student has struggled with and provide better support than before. Students who may have otherwise struggled with new personalised pathways and feedback allow for learning to be more relevant, accessible and exciting.
Collaboration Around AI
The key to further success for AI in education is through cohesion in everyone involved at all levels. Collaboration between educators, developers, parents, students and administrators is necessary to ensure that AI is implemented both ethically and successfully. Discussions around AI in education also raise questions regarding data ethics and privacy. It’s critical that clear and ethical guidelines be set around how a student’s data is collected and stored. Policymakers must put in place robust regulatory guidelines with full compliance from teachers and schools to ensure that students data is safeguarded.
It’s important that teachers are properly trained and view AI as a tool and not as a replacement. Amume stresses that AI exists to “enhance the role of educators and not to replace essential human interactions.” Regular feedback is required from all parties involved to ensure everyone is on the same page to building a brighter future. Through regular feedback, the tools and processes can be further refined and improved, ensuring that AI implementation in the classroom remains ethical and aligned with educational goals. Real human interaction can never be neglected or replaced and are vital to a child’s development. For AI, it is critical that both the educational and technological landscapes be taken into account for proper implementation.
Looking toward the future for AI and education, the possibilities are limitless. AI can help reduce workload and burnout on teachers, opens exciting new personalised learning pathways for students and through proper implementation bring all elements of education together. The best point to start is for teachers and students to begin experimenting with AI with pilot projects, finding exciting ways to implement AI and its limitless potential in their educational journey. AI is only going to become increasingly prevalent in the generations to come and it’s important that their first touch point with emerging technologies is done curiously and ethically in the classroom.