Giving Compass' Take:

• It is critical for educators and tech companies to understand both of the benefits and limitations of machine learning in the classroom in order to reasonably advance academic achievement. Here, Will McGuinness discusses both sides of the machine learning coin. 

• How are tech professionals and educators working together to produce the best edtech for students? What kind of environment should educators cultivate that includes technology, but does not limit their tasks or their students' agency?

• Read more about the blended environment: the future of AI and education.

Hardly a day goes by where we don’t hear about the latest development in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. As machine learning has advanced in chess and Go, it would be reasonable to think we can rely on it for great advances in education as well. But while machine learning brings great promise for the future of education, relying only on computers—even the best—would be a big mistake.

Reasoning Mind, the company I work for, has spent the last 18 years developing online math programs for pre-K through 8th-grade students, and while we have long recognized that computers can have great benefits in the class, we frequently must remind ourselves that there are limits to what they can do.

Here are some benefits and limitations to look out for as artificial intelligence enters the classroom.

Benefits:

  • Artificial intelligence in the classroom allows teaching to be differentiated and personalized. Computers can deliver customized lectures to each student, taking a significant workload off instructors and freeing them up to work one-on-one with students.
  • Online programs can grade work instantly, giving teachers access to formative data immediately. Educators no longer have to wait until a quiz or test to find out that a student is struggling and can correct misconceptions before they solidify.

Limitations:

  • As Steigler and Hibert explain in The Teaching Gap, learning is an inherently cultural process. Computers can help streamline and improve this process, but they cannot replace the cultural element of learning, which can only come from another human.
  • Learning is more than downloading knowledge or passing an exam. As identified in Getting Smart’s Ask about AI, developing a sense of purpose is critical to self-directed learning. While computers can provide suggestions about what students like, developing this purpose and instilling it in others is an exclusively human activity.

Read the full article about machine learning in education by Will McGuinness at Getting Smart.