In the 21st Century, we have seen a lot of technological advancements transform various industries. One such technological advancement that has brought about a significant change in the way which we discover and interact with information is artificial intelligence. The advances in artificial intelligence have transformed our day-to-day life. From Amazon Alexa providing real-time news and updates about weather and traffic to any shopping website making recommendations based on past search history, shopping preferences, or orders, the impact of AI is there for everyone to see. The influence of AI in the education sector has also been significant, especially since the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.
AI in education sector – Making remote learning a reality
- During the COVID-19 pandemic times, when all schools in the country and across the globe were closed, AI made remote learning and remote working possible.
- Most institutions adopted online (remote) learning as there was no way school, colleges, and universities could open due to the rising COVID-19 pandemic cases.
- Even as the number of COVID-19 cases have reduced drastically, hybrid learning and education is all set to become a new trend.
- The concepts of remote learning and hybrid education powered by technological advancements like artificial intelligence is a blessing for students, teachers, and parents as well.
Here are the different ways in which AI in the education sector is bringing about a significant transformation and revolution.
Automation of administrative tasks
- An important role of AI in the education sector is to design intelligent machines that are capable of working, reacting, and taking decisions just like humans do.
- The education industry involves a lot of manual administrative tasks, especially for teachers.
- Some of the administrative tasks include assessment of test papers, student attendance, grading tests, and others.
- With the implementation of AI in the education sector, the time-consuming administrative tasks can be automated.
- Task automation can help save valuable time for teachers and other stakeholders of the school.
- Task automation can significantly cut down on the time and efforts of teachers.
- Hence, a crucial role of AI in the education sector is to enable teachers to focus more on their core work of teaching rather than other unproductive activities.
Personalized learning
- In the world of education and inside the classroom, every student is different.
- The learning ability and the pace at which each student learns is different.
- With advances in artificial intelligence, it is now possible to create a system that can monitor every student inside the classroom to identify the strengths and weaknesses.
- With the use of AI in the education sector, it is possible to tailor learning depending on the learning capability of every student.
- An AI system is capable of identifying the challenge faced by a particular student in a specific topic or a subject.
- Using predictive analytics, the AI-powered system can help the student as and when required.
- Thus, students can learn and work at their own pace without feeling stressed.
Universal access to all
- AI in the education sector has helped eliminate all geographical barriers and boundaries.
- With advances in artificial intelligence, the digital (virtual) classroom is no longer confined to only local students within the country.
- Many AI-powered digital learning platforms are now providing courses to global students.
- The AI-powered learning system has made virtual classrooms accessible to one and all.
- The universal access feature of AI-powered education is a blessing for those students who reside in remote locations as well as those who want to pursue a different course elsewhere which they are really interested in.
- 24/7 learning through artificial intelligence makes things easier and convenient for students.
AI-driven teaching assistants
- Another important role of AI in the education sector is AI-powered teaching assistants to enhance the learning experience of students.
- Be it schools, colleges, or universities, teachers have limited bandwidth and time. They cannot be with the students 24/7.
- This is where AI-driven virtual teaching assistants play a key role to help solve the doubts that learners may have, provide answers to common questions, understand concepts, and improve their understanding.
- The AI-driven teaching assistants also help to reduce the workload of human teachers significantly.
Quick responses
- Wouldn’t it be frustrating if a student asks a question only to get it answered after a couple of days?
- Teachers are bombarded with a number of questions for various students from different classes.
- It is next to impossible for a teacher to remember all the questions that are being asked.
- By implementing AI in the education sector, students can find answers and solutions to the most common questions.
- Also, through conversational intelligence, students can find the answer to the most commonly asked questions within a few seconds.
- Thus, quick responses to their doubts reduces the waiting time for students.
The AI market value globally is expected to reach USD 267 billion by 2027. According to a forecast, the AI in education market size worldwide is expected to reach USD 3.68 billion by 2023. The impact of AI in the education field can be witnessed everywhere. Nearly 86 percent of educators believe that technology should be an integral part of education. There are ample technological advancements happening in the world. Today, AI in the education sector is helping students and teachers optimize and automate learning and teaching, respectively. Technological advancement is helping both learners and educators to interact closely with each other. By adopting AI in the education sector, the quality of student learning can be improved significantly.