Why 2022 is the critical year for educators to embrace AI

We are at a critical moment for education.

Over the last two years, we’ve trialled every remote and blended learning model imaginable – some with greater success than others. In a heroic effort to preserve continuity of learning for learners, innovation in education has surged at a remarkable scale and speed. We’ve seen the obvious benefits of technology for remote learning – the immediate access to high-quality resources, the potential to reduce tutor workload and the ability to monitor progress remotely.

At the same time, we’ve seen its limitations. There’s no denying all of us are tired of our screens, hungry for balance and for more in-person sessions. (God knows, I’m Teamsed out!) The simple fact is that no technology could ever completely replace face-to-face interactions, and edtech is certainly no exception.

But if there has been one silver lining from the past two years, it’s this: Covid-19 has forced all education providers to embrace innovation like we’ve never seen before. It’s compelled us to critically challenge our assumptions about what works and what doesn’t when it comes to supporting learner development. It’s forced us to be more adaptable and digitally-minded. And it’s exposed the flaws of our old routines and conventional approaches to teaching and assessment, for the better. Perhaps counterintuitively, the real benefit we’ve seen from technology is one that no-one could have fully anticipated – the immense potential of edtech to amplify existing tutor-learner relationships and interactions, when designed and used effectively.

Using AI to optimise teaching time 

All this is to say it’s imperative that we don’t return to an outmoded view of technology, where it’s inevitably pitted as an inadequate substitute for or in constant competition with tutors. If anything, we should be ready to fully embrace the power of AI technology in the classroom – as we have at home – to help with the tedious tasks of data collation and admin. We need to allow tutors to spend more of their time on what they actually entered the profession to do: teach.

By allowing learners to do the groundwork on topics independently from home, for example, AI-powered learning tools can free up lesson time to focus on more complex topics. They can provide tutors with the data and analysis to know exactly who to provide additional support to, and what exactly they need support with. They can take away the bulk of marking, allowing lecturers to focus on giving more in-depth feedback when necessary. The end result – a more personalised learning experience for every learner.

For example, having spent far less time writing than usual over the last two years, many learners taking English Functional Skills courses will have fallen behind on their fundamental SPaG skills. With so many more complex topics to teach learners in a very limited time frame, tutors can use AI-based technology to help learners identify and remedy basic SPaG misconceptions without taking up valuable lesson time.

Minimising disruption to learning

AI has also helped learners to stay on track even when lecturers are forced to isolate. It differentiates learning for each pupil, encouraging them to work through relevant content at the appropriate difficulty level. The lecturer, either remotely or once back in the classroom, then has access to all of the data needed to inform their next steps. They can see who completed what, who struggled with which topics, how long a learner spent on a particular topic, what their misconceptions were and so on. The same goes for learners who have to isolate – they can use these advanced learning tools to help plug their gaps in knowledge from home, receive immediate feedback, while their lecturers can track their progress and intervene remotely.

What does this mean for the future?

While the current number of lecturers isolating may be a situation unique to COVID-19, the need to provide high-quality cover work, and ensure that learners can continue to flourish even if their lecturer is unwell, is not. It is a problem that has existed for as long as colleges have. However, as the old adage goes, necessity is the mother of invention, and from this period of trial and error we now know how to use AI to help provide far higher-quality cover provision in the future.

In other words, AI-powered learning tools can be far more than a plaster for current education struggles. They help to deepen the relationship between staff and students, and create an environment that prioritises the development of independent learning skills, facilitates data-driven teaching, and boosts tutor wellbeing. Say goodbye to snowdays.

This is why it’s all the more important that we don’t take our foot off the accelerator this year. If anything, 2022 needs to be the year that we supercharge the AI education revolution. If we don’t, we risk falling into the traps of the past. Those educators who do embrace AI will inevitably be in a better place to handle any future upheaval. Let’s not sugarcoat it – disruption in some form or other is here to stay for the foreseeable future. Let’s not just help our tutors prepare for it. Let’s give them everything they need to thrive.

Tom Thacker is the Chief Education Officer at CENTURY Tech, an award-winning artificial intelligence education technology company