How Will Teaching Be Different Post AI?

The toothpaste is out of the tube and we can not put it back. The release of ChatGPT has shown us that traditional school assignments can be completed by robots. So what now? I first asked ChatGPT what it thinks the changes to teaching will be and then I give my opinions on how teaching will be different post AI:

From ChatGPT

Artificial intelligence (AI) has already started to transform the field of education, and it is likely to have a significant impact on the way teaching is delivered in the future. Here are a few ways that teaching may be different post-AI:

1. Personalized Learning: AI can help teachers to personalize learning for each student by analyzing their learning style, interests, and abilities. It can suggest personalized learning paths and resources, adapt instruction based on student progress, and provide real-time feedback to help students stay on track.
2. Augmented Reality: AI combined with augmented reality (AR) can provide students with immersive and interactive learning experiences. AR can help bring abstract concepts to life and create a more engaging and memorable learning experience.
3. Intelligent Tutoring: AI-powered intelligent tutoring systems can provide students with personalized feedback and guidance, similar to a human tutor. They can adapt to the student’s learning pace, provide instant feedback, and help students identify areas where they need to improve.
4. Enhanced Data Analysis: AI can help educators analyze large amounts of data to identify patterns and trends in student performance. This can help them to make data-driven decisions and develop targeted interventions to support struggling students.
5. Automation: AI can automate administrative tasks such as grading, scheduling, and attendance tracking, allowing teachers to focus on teaching and providing more personalized support to their students.

Overall, the use of AI in education has the potential to improve the quality of education and make it more accessible and inclusive. However, it is important to recognize that AI is not a substitute for human teachers, but rather a tool that can support them in delivering high-quality education.

How Teaching Will Be Different Post AI?

Obviously I can only speculate. I have been dismayed at how computers have been used to robotize education. My school used a HORRIBLE online program for credit recovery. Kids deserve better education than low quality quiz questions after being forced to watch a boring video. Is this what inspires us to love learning? Compliance rarely does.

Why Do We Have Schools?

Right now there are students taking digital courses without a qualified instructor. At the high school I was teaching at last year there is a room monitored by a paraprofessional (no teaching credential) who watches students take classes including basic math, American History, Physics, Spanish language, English 10, and more. So it is possible to just side step having qualified teachers and just plunk kids down in front of a computer.

Currently there is not a qualified grade 9 math teacher at the high school my kid will go to. I’m considering other options, however she does not want to do online school or homeschool. BECAUSE SCHOOL IS NOT ABOUT COURSE CONTENT for my kid and many students. She wants to hang out with friends. Maybe try out for cheerleading. When she talks about going to high school she never mentions the classes she will take but instead is excited for the “other” things school offers.

Certainly we could save a lot of money by turning education into robot babysitting machines. However, is this really what we want for society?

Teaching Will Be More Humanizing

[tweet]When we embrace what tools can do and stop asking students to compete with them, we can take students further.[/tweet]Technology has changed the requirement to learn facts at school. People are learning things constantly through YouTube, Google, and other technology. If I need to fix my bathroom faucet I can possibly do it myself with a little Internet research.

“This is not a math job, it’s a people job.”

When I was teaching in a teacher credential program I would ask the pre-service teachers “why do you want to teach?” You might “love math,” but this is not a math job. Teaching is knowing your content AND knowing how to engage others to be passionate about learning it. The science of teaching is not simply “study your content.”

Teachers care about their students. This is what makes them superheroes.

What robots can’t do is care. Personalizing the learning experience will have to be the way to combat AI. Teaching a diverse group of learners will continue to become easier with the use of technology.

Creative Critical Thinking

Filling things in on a line is what robots have mastered. What do students DO with that information will be the skill to teach.

Communication

Do a Google search for “top skills employers are looking for.” Calculator is NOT on the list. However, communication skills are. It is really hard to communicate. That is not simply responding to prompts. To think and communicate what you’re thinking is super hard. It is not a skill you’re born with. Helping students to communicate better will be essential.

Interpersonal Skills

Dumping students on a computer program does not teach them empathy. Learning how to be a great human and member of society will need to be a higher priority skill than mastering facts.

More Counselors

This is more a wish than a prediction. Schools need more counselors. Mental health needs to be a priority. When anyone can look up information, ask a robot to create a report or presentation, use AI to respond to an email then it becomes possible for someone to be highly functioning with minimal education.

• Getting Started with AI! By @Rdene915 @thriveinedu
• Is AI Essays the End of Education?
• What Improves Learning Over Teaching Methods from the 1990’s?
• Robot: Write Me an Article on Teaching with Google Slides
• Personalize Teaching with ChatGPT