Imagine a world without technology. That’s right – it’s impossible! Technology is becoming a significant player in different industries like healthcare, business, and education, but it’s also evolving and advancing rapidly. The evidence of its success and potential is that the market for generative AI is valued at $207B. At this point, it’s not even a question of whether technology is good or bad for education. Not integrating technology into education is a real mistake!
This blog focuses on generative AI, how it works, the challenges and limitations of generative AI in education, and why it’s fundamental for institutions to integrate this technology into their educational systems. So, let’s dive right in!
What is Generative AI And How Does it Work?
Generative AI is a subset of artificial intelligence, but instead of following simple instructions like regular AI systems, it can “create” things. Generative AI can produce new content like sounds, writing, videos, and images – all on its own!
But how?
So, let’s take the example of an image-generating model. When the model is built, it will undergo thorough training and exposure to large image datasets. The model is then expected to “learn” and pick up patterns, features, and correlations from these datasets. After this training, the model can start generating entirely new content. It will use the information from the images shown to create unique images. The same thing sort of happens with video-generating and audio-generating models as well.
These generative AI models’ overall performance and output depend on the architecture, training data, and even the specific prompt. But ultimately, the general working principle is the same.
Are Educational Institutions Ready to Adopt AI?
Adopting AI is no longer a question of ‘if’ but ‘when.’ Educational institutions mostly recognize AI’s potential for personalized learning, administrative support, student assistance, and better learning outcomes. 90% of education leaders believe that AI will positively impact learning outcomes. Even educators understand that AI can significantly reduce their workload and help them connect more closely with their students. They ultimately want their students to succeed, and since AI can bridge that, most educators are on board. As for students, if there’s an easier way to do things, they’re all for it! This means they’re the happiest when using technology, specifically AI, to study. It helps them work faster while simplifying the process, so it’s easy to see why they’re ready to adopt it.
But then, if all major stakeholders are ready to embrace AI, what’s stopping educational institutions from integrating such technology into their systems?
What Are the Challenges of Implementing AI in Education?
Most educational institutions are willing to adopt AI to streamline and elevate their operations. However, they’re still not ready because they don’t have a sufficient action plan. They want to implement AI but have no clue what they’ll need to do to make that happen.
So, one of the biggest challenges of implementing AI in education is more planning. Also, since the technology is still relatively early, there’s a gap in staff training. Educational institutions don’t have adequately trained staff to adopt an AI model fully. Plus, there’s also the fact that they’ll need to train existing staff and educators to use the technology as well. This, again, requires time and capital, which institutions are not so ready to spend.
However, considering generative AI’s use cases and benefits prompts action in this direction. If institutions want to stay relevant and efficient, AI is a must-have for them because it can facilitate them on three levels: student, educator, and institutional. And that’s more than enough reason to embrace the technology.
Besides this, ethics is yet another question mark for AI implementation in education. While technology has massive potential for good, there’s also significant potential for misuse. Honestly, though, that’s the case for all sorts of technologies – it’s just about how you use them. So, educational institutions need not avoid technology but implement rules to regulate its use. And that brings us back to where we started: educational institutions must have a proper implementation and integration plan before adopting AI and other technologies.
Educational Institutions Need to Set Their Own Rules
Regarding ethics, the creators of technology can’t be fully trusted to regulate it, especially not in an educational institution where the stakes are sky-high. We emphasize that educational institutions shouldn’t use technology simply because it can be misused. Instead, they should set rules to prevent that.
The primary ethical concerns for adopting AI include data privacy breaches and algorithmic biases – both serious and severe issues. So, before educational institutions try to integrate an AI-based model, they should first actively address the challenges and limitations of generative AI in education. This mandates framing appropriate policies to explicitly safeguard the privacy and anonymity of student, faculty, and staff data. Also, the entire process of collecting and storing data should be as transparent as possible. Regular audits should be conducted to ensure compliance as well. As for algorithmic biases, educational institutions must be especially cautious when integrating AI into testing and grading processes. They should mitigate potential biases at the AI model’s training level and ensure stakeholder engagement in all relevant decisions. Despite all these policies, there should be a robust monitoring and evaluation system to regulate and minimize ethical concerns.
Funding for Education Must Target Fundamental Learning Objectives
Funding that goes into educational institutions mainly focuses on ensuring educational equity, enhancing accessibility and learning environments, supporting educator and student goals, curriculum and infrastructure development, and R&D. Ultimately, this means one thing: institutions must prioritize fundamental learning objectives. We’re mentioning this because, despite institutional efforts, all students don’t have the same academic experience even in the same institution. Two students could sit next to each other the whole academic year and still not perform the same. And that’s very much understandable when you consider them two independent individuals with different backgrounds and personalities. The truth is, they might not even learn the same way.
Statistics indicate that only 20% of students learn inside the classroom – the rest are clueless. This means that the standard one-size-fits-all lecture system doesn’t always work – but most of us already know that.
Now, the good thing is that AI can change that. Aside from administrative support, AI can provide students with personalized and adaptive learning experiences based on their unique learning behaviors. So, students can learn in a way that makes sense to them rather than spending the whole year trying to keep up with their peers. This is why funding should consider AI implementation as a solution to helping all students achieve fundamental learning objectives. And that sums up the impact of technology on education!
Final Verdict
AI has the potential to transform the educational landscape completely. Educational institutions should race to integrate technology into their systems. Luckily, most educational leaders favor adopting AI, and institutions are becoming more accepting of modern technologies. The major challenge for them, though, is to develop an action plan for implementation. Plus, staff training is also something for them to work on. However, what’s more important is that they should be cautious of the challenges and limitations of generative AI in education.
Funding for educational institutions should target learning objectives that align perfectly with the implementation of AI and its perceived benefits. Use cases and benefits of generative AI in education prompt immediate implementation at the institutional level. So, educational institutions should 100% actively work on adopting modern technology to support learning objectives.
At SimpliTaught, we use AI and machine learning to provide students with personalized and adaptive learning experiences, improving student engagement, retention, and overall performance. Learn how we can help accelerate student success at your institution or contact us at info@SimpliTaught.com.
