Over time, education has undergone various changes that have created innovative moments over the years. While some are quick to accept these changes, others question whether most of the innovations are necessary to improve the impact of the educational process for students.
Here we speak with AJ Juliani, instructor at the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania and best-selling author of Adaptable. Juliani explains how ai has made its way into education and its potential impact on the future of education.
Juliani will deliver the keynote speech at the next Georgia Educational technology Conference.
<h2 id="ai-in-the-long-line-of-edtech-advancements-3″>ai in the long list of advances in educational technology
While ai is the latest form of technology driving a near-infinite amount of innovation in the educational environment, it is far from the first impactful advancement seen in the space. Whether we recognize it or not, there has been a constant stream of technological innovations in education, and ai is no different.
“Our two previous (advances) have been computers and the Internet,” Juliani says. “They have guided us down this path of surprising uses and tools. But we also live in a world of continuous partial attention because of it. So we asked ourselves, 'How do we handle this kind of teaching and learning in this era of distraction and then add this new hinge of history with artificial intelligence?' What does that look like right now for the future? 'How are we going to not only adapt education to this reality, but also think about how we can create the best path forward for ourselves and our students?'”
Like computers and the Internet, ai in its infancy has raised many questions about its use in education. More popularly, ai has been referred to as a way for students to bypass normal schoolwork. But as we move forward, more constructive ways have been found to apply ai in education, including methods that help students express themselves, as well as ways for teachers to get rid of minor, time-consuming tasks. ai has produced many innovations and, as Juliani points out, it has had a much greater impact in a much shorter period of time.
“It's on all the devices we're already using, right?” he says. “It's built into the things we already have access to. All these kids in schools already have the devices, and then comes the ai. I think it's going to have a big impact in a lot of different ways, both good and bad. It’s been less than two years since ChatGPT came out and we think about how much has changed in such a short time.”
<h2 id="keeping-an-open-ai-mind-3″>Keep an open mind (ai)
At this point, ai is inevitable for students, teachers, and anyone else with a connected device in their hands. The question now is how involved ai should be in our learning and teaching processes.
“One of the big themes of my keynote, and of much of the work I do, is for us as educators to really decide what we value as humans in educational practice,” Juliani says. “Because ai shouldn't be used for everything. “There are so many things that need to be human, social (meaning-centered, language-based) that we don't want to replace with something that is technology just because it's easier.”
What is an example of where that choice would come into play?
“We want kids to have a productive struggle, right?” Juliani says. “We don't want ai to just solve (problems) and not have that productive struggle. We know that doesn't help in learning environments. We want kids to have messy conversations back and forth. “Not everything is sunshine and rainbows.”
He also notes that there are still questions about ai involving ethics and bias. “Education is a very human practice. What do we value in that we want to keep (certain things) human and make sure that (these things) are not simply taken over by robots?
As the newest and brightest form of innovation, many are looking at how to use ai rather than wondering if it should be used at all. Knowing how to properly implement a burgeoning form of educational technology can help maintain the core values of the educational process while keeping innovation at the forefront. But we cannot move forward successfully without first having important conversations like the one Juliani proposes.
