Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer a distant concept relegated to the realms of all my science fiction dreams, books, and movies. It’s here, and it’s already reshaping numerous sectors, including education. You have heard this a million times over already, but it seems to not be sticking to the masses as much as I think it should.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming every aspect of our lives, from health care to entertainment to transportation. But what about education? How can AI help teachers and students achieve better learning outcomes and experiences? And what are the ethical and social challenges that AI poses for the education sector?
As we increasingly integrate AI into our K-12 systems (whether we realize it happening or not), it’s crucial that we approach it not as a threat, but also as opportunity for good if we plan with purpose and intention. This is true for anything, not just AI.
It’s time to be curious, not furious.
It’s time to understand that AI is not a ‘set it and forget it’ type of software deployment. Instead, it demands a paradigm shift in our mindset and practice.
What is AI and how can it benefit education?
AI is a broad term that refers to the ability of machines or software to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as reasoning, learning, decision making, and natural language processing. AI can be applied to various domains and purposes, such as computer vision, speech recognition, natural language generation, machine learning, data analysis, robotics, and more.
The goal of this post is not to breakdown all AI, I will share this graphic from the US Department of Education as a springboard.
AI has the potential to address some of the biggest challenges in education today, such as:
- Personalizing learning for each student based on their needs, preferences, abilities, and goals
- Providing adaptive instruction, feedback, and support that adjust to the student’s progress and performance
- Enhancing language learning through interactive dialogue systems, speech recognition, and translation tools
- Recommending online curriculum and resources that are relevant, engaging, and aligned with standards
- Automating essay scoring and feedback that are consistent, reliable, and timely
- Reducing teacher workload by taking over some of the administrative and repetitive tasks
- Improving teacher professional development through data-driven insights and coaching
- Increasing access and equity to quality education for all students regardless of their location, background, or resources
What are the ethical and social challenges of AI in education?
AI is not a magic bullet that can solve all the problems in education. It also comes with multiple risks and challenges that need to be addressed carefully and responsibly. Some of these include:
- Privacy and security: How can we protect the personal data of students and teachers that are collected and processed by AI systems? How can we prevent unauthorized access or misuse of this data by third parties?
- Bias and fairness: How can we ensure that AI systems do not discriminate or harm certain groups of students or teachers based on their race, gender, ethnicity, disability, or other characteristics? How can we avoid or correct the biases that may exist in the data or algorithms that power AI systems?
- Transparency and accountability: How can we make AI systems more understandable and explainable to students, teachers, parents, and policymakers? How can we monitor and evaluate the impact of AI systems on learning outcomes and experiences? How can we hold AI developers and providers accountable for the quality and safety of their products and services?
- Ethics and values: How can we align AI systems with the ethical principles and values of education? How can we ensure that AI systems respect human dignity, autonomy, diversity, and rights? How can we foster critical thinking and digital literacy among students and teachers regarding AI?
- Social and emotional skills: How can we balance the use of AI systems with the development of social and emotional skills among students and teachers? How can we promote human interaction, collaboration, creativity, empathy, and resilience in the age of AI?
Let’s pause and ground ourselves:
These are not AI issues, but HUMAN issues. How do we not think through just an AI lens, but go back to roots of education for humanizing our pedagogy to develop better humans and people for society? These issues were not created by AI, but simply and powerfully brought to our attention as AI tools are a reflection of humanity.
Rethinking Software and Learning Management Systems
Our traditional view of software and Learning Management Systems (LMS) is somewhat static. We’ve been accustomed to updating to the latest system version and assuming we’re good to go. However, AI disrupts this model. AI systems are dynamic and can change or become more vulnerable during deployment. They require continuous monitoring and updating, even after they’re deployed.
Embracing Agility in AI Deployment
In this constantly evolving AI environment, we need to stay agile and vigilant. We need to be prepared for daily changes and understand that our systems could become vulnerable even if we don’t make any changes ourselves. The old ways of monitoring won’t suffice anymore.
Instead, we need to adopt an agile mindset, ready to pivot quickly when necessary. This doesn’t mean we abandon the intentional deliberation of the waterfall approach completely, but rather that we blend it with the agility of the agile methodology. This is because a change we didn’t make could cause a significant shift in the system.
Balancing Excitement and Fear
As AI permeates the K-12 education system, we’re seeing a surge of both excitement and fear. We need to strike a balance by attaching strategy to AI deployment and not ignoring potential risks. A comprehensive AI strategy should incorporate processes, policies, and people, addressing these key questions:
- Who is monitoring the AI systems?
- Who is evaluating the chosen AI solutions for deployment?
- Who is ensuring that the AI tool is safe to deploy and remains so over time?
- Do we have the necessary vocabulary to converse about these topics? Who is developing it?
Constructing the Vocabulary for AI in Education
Our ability to effectively use AI in education is contingent on our ability to talk about it. We need to develop the language to discuss responsibility, potential benefits and drawbacks, bias, and what responsible AI deployment means for us as an organization.
We should be able to articulate how AI aligns with our mission, vision, and goals. We must provide guidance on what AI can be used for and what it should not be used for. We need to establish protocols on what can and can’t be fed into the AI tools to assist our employees and staff.
What are some questions…..
and strategies for education leaders and educators?
As education leaders and educators, you have a key role to play in harnessing the potential of AI for education, while ensuring that its application in educational contexts is guided by the core principles of inclusion and equity. Here are some questions and strategies that you may want to consider reframed from the ideas above:
- Be curious not furious: Don’t be afraid or intimidated by AI. Instead, be curious about how it works, what it can do, and what it cannot do. Learn about its benefits and limitations, its opportunities and challenges, its strengths and weaknesses. Explore how it can support your teaching and learning goals, and how you can use it in creative and innovative ways.
- Adopt an AI mindset and practice: AI is not a set-it-and-forget-it technology. It can change or be more vulnerable during deployment. You can’t make it safe before deployment and assume it is safe after deployment. You need to monitor it and stay on top of it. You need to be agile and flexible, ready to adapt and pivot as needed. You need to be intentional and deliberate, planning and evaluating your AI initiatives carefully. You need to be collaborative and inclusive, involving and engaging your stakeholders in the process.
- Develop an AI vocabulary: To have meaningful and productive conversations about AI, you need to have a common language and understanding of its key concepts and terms. You need to be able to explain what AI is, how it works, what it can do, and what it cannot do. You need to be able to articulate your responsibility, intention, and expectation when using AI. You need to be able to identify and address the potential bias, harm, or error that may arise from AI. You need to be able to communicate your feedback, concerns, or suggestions regarding AI.
- Align AI with your mission, vision, and goals: AI should not be used for its own sake, but for a clear and specific purpose that aligns with your mission, vision, and goals as an education organization. You need to define why you want to use AI, what you want to achieve with it, how you will measure its impact, and who will benefit from it. You need to ensure that AI supports and enhances your core values and principles as an education organization. You need to ensure that AI respects and protects the rights and interests of your students and teachers.
- Provide guidance on AI use: To ensure the ethical and effective use of AI in your schools and classrooms, you need to provide guidance on what it can be used for and not used for, what can and can’t be pasted into the tools, how it should be accessed and managed, how it should be monitored and evaluated, how it should be reported and communicated, and how it should be improved and updated. You need to establish policies, processes, and people that support these aspects of AI use. You need to provide training, support, and resources for your students and teachers on how to use AI appropriately and responsibly.
Final Thoughts On My Last Sip Of Coffee
In conclusion, as we chart this exciting yet unexplored territory, let’s remember that AI is a tool, not a solution in itself. It is as beneficial or as harmful as we allow it to be. So, let’s approach AI with curiosity and openness, but also with caution and strategic planning. Let’s ensure that we’re not just deploying AI, but that we’re deploying it responsibly, effectively, and in alignment with our core educational values.
AI is a powerful and promising technology that can enhance education in many ways. But it is not without challenges and risks that need to be addressed carefully and responsibly. Education leaders and educators need to be curious, not furious, about AI. They need to adopt an AI mindset and practice, develop an AI vocabulary, align AI with their mission, vision, and goals, and provide guidance on AI use. By doing so, they can harness the potential of AI for education, while ensuring that its application in educational contexts is guided by the core principles of inclusion and equity.
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