The
increasing power of artificial intelligence is driving innovation across a
massive variety of industries. Highly impactful innovations can be seen in the
field of human learning. In his article "The Machines Are Learning and So
Are the Students", Craig Smith discusses recent changes in teaching
methods within elementary school classrooms. The paper primarily focuses on the
effects of implementing auto-grading systems and replacing teachers and tutors
with artificial intelligence. The paper narrowed in on almost exclusively
positive effects including decreased time grading and building more highly
optimized learning paths (Smith). These developments provided students
more individualized learning plans than those previously used and greatly
reduced the teachers’ time spent grading assignments.
However, I believe
automating the learning process in young students and replacing teachers with
machines should be taken with great caution. The primary reason for this
caution is the potential results this automation can have on social development
and behavior. Interactions with teachers and other students within a
school environment provide students essential opportunities to express
themselves and develop communication skills. AboutKidsHealth reinforces the
importance of frequent social interactions for children within the age group of
5-8 in forming self-esteem, responsibility, and humor (AboutKidsHealth). The
type of interactions necessary to develop these traits would likely be lacking
in students who had their social environment and learning process replaced with
technology. In an age where children are getting less and less exposure to other individuals as is, it seems unwise to substitute the time they do have for human to human interaction with a machine presence.
Additionally, researchers
at Missouri State University report that social interactions actually improve
learning and critical thinking skills within students (Beth 375). This can be
partially explained by the brain’s natural tendency to place increased
importance on interactions with others, leading to increased information
retention. Although artificial intelligence can be used to create optimal
learning paths and give students more conclusive grading reports, it should not
replace the presence of teachers and other students. Artificial intelligence
should be used as a tool to increase the power and efficiency of the learning
system already in place.
Sources
AboutKidsHealth. “Social and emotional development in school-age children.”
,2011, https://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/Article?contentid=713&language=English.
Hurst, Beth, et al. “The
Impact of Social Interaction on Student Learning.” Reading Horizons: A Journal
of Literacy and Language Arts, vol. 52, no. 4, Oct. 2013.
Smith, Craig S. “The
Machines Are Learning, and So Are the Students.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 18 Dec. 2019,
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/18/education/artificial-intelligence-tutors-teachers.html.
Links to Comments
Comment on Reese Masucci's Post:
https://ae-410-510-ay19-20.blogspot.com/2020/01/reece-masucci-b1.html
I found the concept behind your article of choice absolutely fascinating. If this task is taken seriously by phone creators, it could successfully make much of our technology use much more convenient. It seems like it would be very difficult to make this cross compatible with different types of phones as many have different types of hardware but seems very feasible for individuals with the same type of phone. I guess the only problem would be finding memory for everyone's personalized settings and data but this could be solved by adding a small fee to existing phone plans. I really enjoyed the articled shared and look forward to seeing growth in this area.
Comment on Varsha Aijith's Post:
https://ae-410-510-ay19-20.blogspot.com/2020/01/data-and-network-in-society-today-and.html
The topic you discussed in your post is very important for technology users to keep in mind. Many people do not realize the immense amount of behavioral and seemingly private information that can be legally obtained from free websites. The owners of these websites can then use this data to make predictions and classify individuals into groups to be manipulated. While in many cases this collection of data is harmless and can even make an individual's life easier, there are often negative unseen consequences. Thank you for raising awareness to this very important topic.
Comment on Manon Flamini's Post
https://ae-410-510-ay19-20.blogspot.com/2020/01/b1-future-of-ai-computers-and-softwares.html
The rate technology is growing at is truly mind-blowing! I really liked how you discussed some of the newer applications of virtual reality as I find this one of the more interesting fields in technology. It will be interesting to see how progress in this field affects the construction industry as well as medical applications. It would be really cool to see this field get so advanced that the virtual reality becomes almost undistinguishable from regular reality. This would certainly offer medical students a more realistic risk free environment to practice in. Your post was very thought provoking.
https://ae-410-510-ay19-20.blogspot.com/2020/01/reece-masucci-b1.html
I found the concept behind your article of choice absolutely fascinating. If this task is taken seriously by phone creators, it could successfully make much of our technology use much more convenient. It seems like it would be very difficult to make this cross compatible with different types of phones as many have different types of hardware but seems very feasible for individuals with the same type of phone. I guess the only problem would be finding memory for everyone's personalized settings and data but this could be solved by adding a small fee to existing phone plans. I really enjoyed the articled shared and look forward to seeing growth in this area.
Comment on Varsha Aijith's Post:
https://ae-410-510-ay19-20.blogspot.com/2020/01/data-and-network-in-society-today-and.html
The topic you discussed in your post is very important for technology users to keep in mind. Many people do not realize the immense amount of behavioral and seemingly private information that can be legally obtained from free websites. The owners of these websites can then use this data to make predictions and classify individuals into groups to be manipulated. While in many cases this collection of data is harmless and can even make an individual's life easier, there are often negative unseen consequences. Thank you for raising awareness to this very important topic.
Comment on Manon Flamini's Post
https://ae-410-510-ay19-20.blogspot.com/2020/01/b1-future-of-ai-computers-and-softwares.html
The rate technology is growing at is truly mind-blowing! I really liked how you discussed some of the newer applications of virtual reality as I find this one of the more interesting fields in technology. It will be interesting to see how progress in this field affects the construction industry as well as medical applications. It would be really cool to see this field get so advanced that the virtual reality becomes almost undistinguishable from regular reality. This would certainly offer medical students a more realistic risk free environment to practice in. Your post was very thought provoking.
6 comments:
Michael,
I agree that machines should not replace teachers because students, especially children, need to learn social skills and how to deal with feelings. These are just some of the things that machines are not capable of teaching. Machines also lack some creativity that humans can come up on the spot. Although artificial intelligence for quick and reliable information, it does not give students the full learning experience they need to interact with other humans.
Michael,
I really enjoyed your post, especially your opinion on the topic. I too agree that in no way should AI ultimately replace teachers. I do believe, however, classrooms can be improved by incorporating modern devices to enhance the learning environment. For example, my high school was totally paperless. All tests, notes, textbooks, etc. were on an iPad that was given to all students. This feature of my high school enhanced my experience there. In no way does this mean that I believe teachers should be replaced with AI, some of my greatest memories from my younger school years are all thanks to my many great teachers.
I am very skeptical of this “optimized learning path” because how do we know it will actually work? I think you raised a great point about the social interaction aspect and that the end goal should be to increase the efficiency of the system already in place. This is very fascinating and another thought I had was the possibility of pairing teacher with students using AI. Could that increase learning? I enjoyed reading your post.
I like how you talked about the positive and negative affects of technology in the schools and other learning environments. When I was first reading your post, I was questioning the positives because of the negative affects of technology that you talked about, such as self-esteem issues. I think it’s definitely important to monitor and use the technology in a way that is aimed towards bettering students’ learning because the tone of the use of such technology can be skewed and changed very quickly.
Michael,
It seems that we have something in common. I read the same article and wrote about it. However, I disagree that AI is replacing teachers and tutors because everything is created and modified by them. I mean for example if we consider the online tutorials like videos are tutors, they are actually created and shared by the teachers. Therefore, AI can be used as a tool to help teachers with their work.
I agree with your point which is that students can have a better opportunity to express themselves in school because they could make relations, meet other students and study together. This also could improve the student's creativity by exchanging thoughts with others.
Michael,
I really appreciate your take on this. I think it is absolutely absurd that replacing human interaction with automation in teaching is even a possibility. There are so many books, studies, and reports that show that social interactions are key to students' success. I think that a lot of people are a little too concerned about productivity and efficiency and they forget the fact that people are in fact, human beings. I found your comment about frequent social interactions for children are important in forming self-esteem, responsibility, and humor really interesting--I did not know that all of these traits come out of basic human interaction.
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