Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the future of education. AI is used by millions every day for simple questions, math problems and so much more. So, why isn’t education using it to personalize learning in order to meet students’ needs?
There are a few schools across the country that have already implemented adaptive AI, and their standardized test scores are soaring as a result. Alpha School, a heavy AI-based private school located in Austin, Texas, has an average SAT score of 1470, while Walter Johnson has an average score of 1192. Schools like these use adaptive AI to adjust to certain students’ learning styles and help teach them accordingly. Students could be in the fourth grade, but be enrolled in seventh-grade math, third-grade reading and second-grade social studies. Teachers are able to support the students in many different ways, whether through motivating them or helping them with challenging concepts.
Students can excel in certain subjects and catch up more easily in others. But AI has so many more benefits than just personalized learning.
AI allows virtual tours, which allow students to benefit from seeing places directly. These virtual field trips are able to teach beyond textbooks and allow students to experience places on a deeper level.
AI also allows grading to be done at a more efficient level. Teachers can spend more time on creating thorough classroom assignments and activities, instead of wasting all their time grading. This can allow students to do better on tests and quizzes, since activities will be more meaningful instead of slideshows being put together at the last minute.
Students can also use AI at home to improve their learning at school. Instead of using ChatGPT or another AI as a source for easy homework answers, we should use it to benefit ourselves, our learning and our classroom environment. When students have questions about a topic, they can go to ChatGPT and take a picture of their work. The AI will then be able to not just give the answers, but explain more so that the student understands at a deeper level and is ready for the test. Teachers cannot answer questions all day and all night, but AI can, serving as an at-home professor.
In order for AI to serve its best purpose possible, an increase in testing must be done to make sure students understand the level and the concept that they are learning. The testing should be applied to both students and the AI, to make sure that the AI is being as useful as possible to the student, teaching them the correct topics in the correct way, and that the student is knowledgeable on the topic. This will allow students to be able to figure out what they need to work on.
Many colleges are starting to increasingly use AI, leading to controversies over the amount paid just for an AI to teach.
According to The New York Times, A survey conducted of more than 1,800 instructors and teachers last year found that 18% of those surveyed use generative AI tools. When the survey was repeated this year, the percentage nearly doubled.
However, many believe that AI will just lead to students not working as hard, using it as a cheating tool and not learning as much as students who didn’t grow up with AI did. But AI is being implemented into our everyday lives, and as technology advances, so does society. Restrictions can be put on students using AI, but as AI grows, students will need to learn to use AI responsibly so it can best help them in the future.
Our school system has not used AI yet whatsoever, and with so many benefits waiting for students and teachers, what’s stopping it? We must introduce AI into MCPS for students to be able to have higher test scores, and for teachers being more able to teach better lessons, which will overall help students become more knowledgeable and successful.
With MCPS recently surveying parents on what they think of AI, hopefully, there is an implementation coming, and students can finally use this tool.
