When COVID-19 made its presence know in early 2020, everything ground to a halt – including school. A whopping 1.6 billion children in 191 countries were out of the classroom for the remainder of their school year, with parents trying desperately to help them learn at home. Meanwhile, education institutions, private schools and teachers around the world have been scrambling to map out a strategy for bringing kids back to school in the fall. Those strategies are now in place and kids are going back.
The development of the new back-to-school strategy has created the need to adopt technology that will support remote learning. And while many schools hope to see their students back in the classroom, the reality is often a hybrid model of learning, with some of it done remotely, or a full remote learning schedule. Fortunately, the technology exists to make this remote learning journey a smooth one.
RPA to the Rescue
AI In Education & Private School Learning Environments Not long ago, it was thought that the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the classroom would lag far behind that of other industries. However, the need for remote learning that COVID-19 has created is shining new light on the need for AI technology to support learning.
Fortunately, AI, along with the Internet of Things (IoT), has advanced enough to become a powerful tool for education systems, the teachers they employ, and the students they educate. Simply put, AI can benefit the teachers and the students in many ways.
Teacher Benefits
AI can help teachers, whether they are teaching in the classroom or remotely. According to McKinsey, teachers work 50 hours a week and only 49% of that time is spent interacting with students. In addition, 20%-40% of those hours are spent on tasks that could easily be automated with the technology that currently exists. That is time teachers could be using to
improve the student experience and provide them with higher quality teaching.
Tasks that can be automated include administration, preparation, and student evaluation and activities that directly support student learning. This would benefit students whether they are learning in the classroom or online.
Student Benefits
The use of AI and chatbot technology can bring immense benefit to students, either in the classroom or remotely. This technology makes it possible for teachers to personalize the learning of every child they teach. This tailored learning approach will take into account personalities, learning disabilities, learning styles, and interests to create a unique and rewarding experience each and every student.
AI can also act as a teaching assistant, with chatbots available 24/7 to answer student questions as they arise. This means a child doing work at 8:00 pm can ask a question if they get stuck on a problem and receive an immediate answer.
Student safety is also a major issue when it comes to going back to the physical classroom during the COVID-19 pandemic. AI can be used along with IoT to connect devices with cameras and sensors to gather data in real-time and detect unsafe situations as they unfold. Alerts can be sent to teachers and staff, who are not able to monitor every child at every moment,
allowing them to respond and ensure a safe environment for everyone.
Ultimately, the technology that is available to education administrations can support teachers and students in ways that can help them maximize their time, improve outcomes, and increase safety. With student needs growing more complex and no way of knowing how long this current pandemic will last, the time to adopt AI in the classroom, whether physical or virtual, is now.
Learn more about Tangentia’s TIA (Intelligent Automation) Education platform and discover how to the harness the power of AI to streamline processes, support students and enable
learning.
