Today, almost every industry uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to drive growth and find new, more efficient ways to succeed. The education sector is the next big benefactor. Within the next three years, AI will be compatible with almost 47 percent of learning management tools.
Traditionally, education has been slow to adopt AI-powered solutions. The pandemic drastically increased the need for new technologies as educators and students continue teaching and learning from home. With technology so prevalent in learning spaces, it’s crucial the education sector moves quickly to adopt new tools, and 86 percent of educators agree. AI can significantly increase the efficacy of online and remote learning to fit the needs of educators and students.
How AI Benefits Students
AI is best suited for streamlining the education and administrative process. Students want their degree to prove their intelligence and accomplishments. AI helps students by matching the best courses, improving communication channels between educators and themselves, and freeing up time by providing a 24/7 tool for common questions or inquiries about homework, class times, and many other answers.
- Personalization for Students
Personalization is one of the most talked-about aspects of education right now. There are talks of what class size is best, how many students per educator is the right amount, and how to accommodate online and in-person students. AI personalizes the education journey by learning a student’s habits and figuring out how to teach them while adapting to various skill levels. Based on previous assignments and tests, AI finds a student’s strengths and weaknesses and matches them with the best educators and classes to suit their educational needs. When matched, students find a deeper, more personalized education path that can increase their engagement, class participation, and overall experience.
- Tutoring
Teachers don’t always have the time to answer all student questions outside of the classroom. AI tutors and support automation platforms can help by providing 24/7 support and personalized answers. AI can’t replace educators, but it can augment the learning process, giving students access to a one-on-one learning experience outside of the classroom.
- Quick Responses
Work or school, it’s frustrating to ask a question and receive the answer days later or never at all. Through no fault of the educator, some students simply don’t get their questions answered, especially if it’s a common or repetitive question asked by other students. AI helps students find the answers in little to no time. With new conversational intelligence technology, AI responds in a very human way. It frees up time for educators and helps students with suggestions faster than a rough online search. AI-powered chatbots, for example, can even answer students’ questions in 2.7 seconds or less.
- Around-the-Clock Access
Tutoring, answering questions, or reminding students of important dates and deadlines, AI is never far away. Students learn at their own pace and study at different times, so 24/7 access makes it far easier for those who need fast answers outside typical hours. Constant support for online and remote students creates a more interactive and experiential learning environment where students feel more a part of the physical classroom.
How AI Benefits Educators
Most teachers won’t lie when asked about their schedules—they’re always busy. There are so many daily tasks for teachers that it’s difficult to comprehend any free time at all. Though most want more one-on-one time with students or for themselves, it’s nearly impossible with so many students to look after and things to do. AI’s ability to automate smaller tasks, analyze student performance, and respond to questions can free up time while also providing more communication with students. Automation can be a teacher’s best friend.
- Personalization for Educators
Personalization isn’t limited to students. Teachers also need more time to learn who their students are and find the best way to reach each individual. AI learns alongside teachers, figuring out best practices by analyzing student work and showing each student’s preferred teaching method. If one subject or teaching style isn’t working, AI shows how and why it isn’t working, even suggesting new ways to reach students at any level. When teachers know what works, they can adjust courses accordingly, address student needs, close knowledge gaps and catch students before they fall too far behind.
- Answering Questions
When AI has access to a school or university’s knowledge base, it becomes a central hub for answers. A support automation platform, combining multiple applications and databases, can quickly answer common questions. If it can’t, AI flags teachers or other resources for further review. This process saves educators time while providing answers to student questions that may otherwise go under the radar.
- Task Automation
Small, repetitive tasks take up a lot of time in a teacher’s day. AI has the power to automate almost any daily task, from grading to answering emails. Teachers spend 31 percent of their day planning lessons, grading tests and doing administrative work—but with support automation, these tasks can be completely automated. When manual, daily tasks are automated, it frees up far more time to focus on students and figuring out new methods of creating a better learning environment.
Edtech is evolving. However, the need for more advancement is still growing, and AI is the first step in creating a more inclusive, forward-thinking classroom. For both educators and students, AI can play a significant role in freeing up time and optimizing the learning process. When the education sector fully embraces AI and integrates it into standard tech stacks, they’ll see improved learning outcomes and a far better system of teaching.
David Karandish is the CEO and Founder of Capacity, an enterprise artificial intelligence SaaS company headquartered in St. Louis, MO. Capacity’s secure, AI-native support automation platform helps teams do their best work. Prior to starting Capacity, David was the CEO of Answers Corp. He and his business partner Chris Sims started the parent company of Answers in 2006 and sold it to a private equity firm in 2014 for north of $900m. David sits on the boards of Nerdy (an on-demand, real-time learning platform in the edtech space), Create a Loop (a computer science education non-profit tackling the digital divide by teaching kids to code), and Prepare.ai (a non-profit providing educational resources and strategic guidance about Artificial Intelligence to individuals, communities, and companies). David lives in St. Louis with his wife, Erin, and four kids. When not working, he enjoys spending time with his family and playing the ukulele.
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