Artificial Intelligence the Future of Education
- Himanshu Patni
- September 15, 2021
- BLOG, TELECOM & IT
- 0 Comments
As the education industry has evolved in step with recent technological advances, new ways of teaching and learning have emerged. This approach is empowering educators with more solutions to better engage learners. From Artificial Intelligence (AI) to immersive learning (process of learning with the usage of a simulated or artificial environment) experiences, the education space is bound to witness a long-lasting impact. As per the research, the use of AI in the education industry will grow by 47.5% through 2025 as the citizens of the world are becoming more adaptive and open to technology tools. The trend is becoming more prevalent in the Asia-Pacific region since the region is home to 60% of world population. Further, Asia-Pacific has witnessed immense growth in technology, research and development and many other similar fields. This has led to enhancements in one of the most important sectors in the region i.e. education, thereby opening gates for AI in the sector.
The major role of Artificial Intelligence in Education:
- Artificial intelligence can automate basic activities in education, like grading
- Educational software can be adapted to student needs
- It can point out places where courses need to improve
- Students could get additional support from AI tutors
- AI-driven programs can give students and educators helpful feedback
- It is altering how we find and interact with information
- It could change the role of teachers
- AI can make trial-and-error learning less intimidating
- Data powered by AI can change how schools find, teach, and support students
- AI may change where students learn, who teaches them, and how they acquire basic skills
The educational institutes are adopting AI to offer personalized learning experience and to enhance tutoring methods. The integration of intelligent algorithms through AI in the learning platform has shown positive impact on the learning. This is promoting the growth of the AI in the sector. The technology has transformed the classrooms and changed the role of educators in the learning process by providing more user-friendly and sophisticated tools. The educational institutes are utilizing the proficiencies of the AI for content development, curriculum designing, online learning platforms, and administrative operations. Moreover, increased adoption of web-based services and smartphones has encouraged the educational institutes to move toward online learning solutions to increase the student base and provide high-quality education.
Opportunities for Market Players:
- Increasing Investment in AI and Education Technology: In the initial years of AI introduction in education sector, majority of government funding pushed AI interest and research forward. When AI started gaining popularity in the sector, combined corporate and venture capital gained the momentum. Finally, today, funding for AI can be witnessed from every corner of the market or industry. The Chinese government is funding companies operating in AI technology, so as to become a hub for the technology by 2030. Further, corporations are bringing in billions of dollars of investment into their own AI efforts and development of AI-related education products. AI in education leads to personalized learning. Today personalized learning is something that the people are focusing on, owing to limitation of resources such as time, energy and money. According to a study conducted by Rand Corporation, personalized learning improves the individual performance of students. The study found that students who followed custom lessons plans performed by 3 percentile points above the median in math and reading, when compared to peers who were taught based on standard curriculum
- Growing Integration of Technology in Learning Process: As the time now is more of technology driven, the education sector is not behind in adopting and integrating AI technology. In the Asia-Pacific region, higher education institutions are embracing digital transformation and technology in form of AI and IoT owing to which, it is expected to improve 40% in student engagement, utilization of new and existing education services, and higher rate of teaching innovation. According to a study conducted by Microsoft, higher education institutions that have begun their digital transformation and technology journey are already seeing 14-19% improvements in areas such as student engagement, utilization of new and existing education products and services, higher rate of teaching innovation and profit margins
- Rising Adoption of Cloud-Based Services: Both AI & cloud services are complementing each other. AI can make use of a large amount of data and compare it with existing stored data. But a typical computer cannot handle large amount of processing required by AI. By combining the data processing powers of AI with cloud computing, AI can make use of decentralized hardware offered by the cloud. This can help institutions in analyzing and interpreting huge amounts of digital data and thus speed up analytics. In the recent years, an upsurge in the adoption of cloud services has been observed globally. Cloud services in education sector facilitate in efficient management of business processes and effective knowledge delivery to students. Further, cloud computing reduces the cost associated with the services while providing effective and efficient processing and analytics power
The world is already witnessing the involvement of AI in the education sector. Some such examples are as follows:
- 1UNi, a Malaysian start up, uses machine learning to facilitate the students in finding the best university for them. The algorithm leverages their achievements data, aspirations, and preferences to “match-make” applicants with institutions where their skills will be properly developed
- Content Technologies, Inc. (CTI) is an AI company using Deep Learning to create customized textbooks that fit the needs of specific courses and students. Teachers import syllabi into a CTI engine. CTI machinery then masters the content and uses algorithms to create personalized textbooks and coursework based on core concepts
- Thinkster Math is a tutoring app that blends real math curriculum with a personalized teaching style. The app assigns each student a behind-the-scenes tutor who watches their mental process unfold step-by-step on an iPad screen
- One use of AI in education sector in Japan is English-speaking artificial intelligence (AI) robots. Such robots are expected to help almost 500 Japanese classrooms post 2019 as the country seeks to improve its English skills, particularly among children and teachers. Japanese Education Ministry is expected to invest US$ 227,000 for the project
- Toppr is an Indian app ensuring increased engagement in the lesson plan that the student is interacting with. It uses AI to map out a student’s strengths and weaknesses. Individual learning speeds and records are taken into consideration. These tests are designed to boost a child’s confidence in areas they excel in and challenge them in areas they lag
- Edu Gorilla is another company that uses AI to analyze Big Data in the education industry in India. It analyses data from 600,000 schools and 70,000 plus coaching centers to provide top quality results for Indian students. The company uses AI to find the latest educational trends across the world and compile it subject-wise for students of all categories
While these are some examples, the opportunities of AI in the education sector are unstoppable. As per the report published by UMI titled “Asia-Pacific Market Insights on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Education Sector”, it is estimated that the application of AI technology in the education sector in the region would grow at a CAGR of 53.2% during the 2019-2025 period. Thus, it can be stated that the opportunities in the education sector in relation to AI are immense.
Author: Soumya Srivastav
