Monica Khanna, IB-PYP Coordinator II, Curriculum Coordinator-K12 II, Design thinking practitioner, Indus International School, Bangalore says that the rise of AI is reshaping education, requiring educators to adapt to new roles, challenges, and opportunities. With changing expectations from students and parents, staying aligned with the times has become essential, and by embracing unlearning and relearning, teachers can remain relevant and create meaningful learning experiences in the classroom.
All these years, we would never have imagined that the two words educators and intelligence would come together in our times, at least. But technology is evolving so fast that we are expected to work with AI now, and we are doing it. The entire landscape of education is changing with AI, and the educators are taking up new roles, facing challenges, overcoming them, and following AI. Along with this, the expectations of students and parents have also changed. It becomes mandatory for all of us to change with the times and re-roll, as it is important for us, educators. We have to keep unlearning and relearning to bring out the best in ourselves for the students in the classrooms.
The word AI is being discussed everywhere nowadays and is impacting most of our lives in both positive and negative ways. AI is the use of computer systems to stimulate the human brain to interpret and generate language. A few years ago, it was not taken very seriously by us, but it has taken the stage now. This has happened because technology is evolving very fast, and we are also expected to keep pace with it when using the same. It is said that within 18 hours of a new phone or television coming up in the market, another newer version is already in the market. Such is the speed of technology now.
Some of the examples of AI are chatbots, which we use for conversation every day now. Smart assistants are helping us in our everyday lives. We have electronic payments, search algorithms, smart devices, media, text editors, social media, etc. Whatever we use today has some relevance to AI now. We can even say it has become almost an extension of ourselves. We have all become used to looking at the mobile phone every 10 minutes in the midst of our work, checking for calls or news updates. We cannot fight against this habit anymore. But we must go with the tide. We may be surprised to see how a video released in the year 1960 had some elements that we are using in today’s world. This video of The Jetsons contains many elements, such as virtual conversation that resembles our Skype or video calls we make today, the flying cards, treadmills, etc. Many such inventions are coming up. Whatever we said many years ago is becoming a reality now. As educators, we must be prepared for the future and add value-added experience for the students.
In yet another image, we see that there is no school building, but students are learning by themselves using a VR set and tablets. They are learning many new things, such as science, math, the solar system, and even astrophysics. It may not be an exaggeration to say that this type of schooling will be started in the future. There may not be any teachers, but the children will be getting the content knowledge through the teachers working on the technology. This scenario is not too far off for us. So, we, as educators, should re-roll ourselves; we can no longer afford to be the ones who used to do a bit of research and deliver lessons to the students. We have to reconsider our future, changing the education scenario, AI, etc. We may not know if jobs will exist in the future, as many jobs have become obsolete now and are no longer in existence. AI has taken over content creation. An architect, when asked how AI was impacting his profession, said that previously he used to discuss with the customers about their requirements, the colour finishes, and the materials to be used. But now AI has taken over all these, giving a visual representation of their requirements. Earlier, there were fewer avenues to know exactly the requirements of the customers, and so there were lots of errors. But now the architect has lots of opportunities to present various views of the house using AI, and it is easier for him to work on the customers’ requirements. He is using AI to his advantage.
Classroom partner
In the same way, we, as educators, can also use AI for the benefit of education. We often feel that AI is something ethical, as educators are expected to be creative in coming up with content that benefits the students. When we have AI, it can be used for the betterment of the content. We can collaborate with AI to improve differentiation and feedback. We have to understand that each classroom has students of diverse needs at various levels. It is not very easy to cater to all of them. So, it becomes essential that we collaborate with AI to add more value to the lessons and get feedback from students. The content delivery can be done by AI. So, it becomes important for teachers to change their roles from being an educator to a mentor and to be a guide for the students. We have to work on their social and emotional needs, help them learn through inquiry-based learning, kindle their curiosity, and make them ask questions to get a better understanding, which only a teacher can do. We should know that students also work on AI and the internet, as they have to know about digital literacy. AI presents content to them without any bias, and there is always scope for improvement. We can focus on changing the curriculum design, inculcate creativity and critical thinking by making use of AI tools. AI can do many more things for us, and it is up to us to make the best use of it rather than moving away from it.
Study buddy
This is very important. The AI-powered tools or apps can work on the students’ writing, analyse it, and help to develop it further. Since technology is moving at a very fast pace, it is important to keep pace with it. We should also ensure that students are learning. There are many AI tools that teachers can use to improve their understanding of AI and use them. We can attend workshops, read materials, and make every effort to keep abreast, which is not only essential for the students but also for the teachers. We can make use of ChatGPT, Claude, to generate lesson plans, assessments, and learn various learning methods. Magic School AI and Fluenzo are also tools useful for teachers.
We can create quizzes with the help of AI, flashcards to be used, and formative assessments using AI. We can make use of Khanmigo from Khan Academy, which is a wonderful tool in personalizing students’ support. We can deliver math lessons and concepts in a differentiated manner. We can use Synthesia and ElevenLabs, which are very good tools to create videos and useful content. Often, we are not able to take the students on any field trip due to various reasons, and in such cases, the AI-generated videos can give the feeling of being on a field trip and understand things better. We can create videos and engaging content. All these things are possible only when we re-roll ourselves, do training and courses. We can stay updated when we attend workshops. Coursera and Microsoft AI for Educators are excellent tools for teachers to do the training and learn to use AI for their benefit. We can join AI education communities on LinkedIn or Twitter, etc. We will know about the ethical use of AI, biases, and responsible usage, and teach the same to students. When we use the tools often, we will realise how we get better at using AI, and we should know that education is moving in that direction only. It will be very difficult if we do not update ourselves.
Beyond technology
We can rest assured that AI will not replace educators. AI can provide ideas to students to make use of AI tools effectively, and educators can teach them the new tools, as the students will also be using them in the future. We have to talk to them about digital literacy, provide gradual support, and help them use AI more efficiently. We can monitor their work and give feedback. We should not take their work at face value, but we should encourage them to analyse the work if any errors are found, and based on the feedback, improve the work. Instead of thinking AI will replace us, we have to find ways to understand AI and work with it. We have to accept the fact that AI is part of our teaching industry, accept AI, and work with it easily. Schools should also realise that AI has to be accepted and will be part of the classrooms. The schools should encourage teachers to get trained and keep up to par with the industry. A student should never feel that they can use AI better than the teacher at any point in time. So, a teacher needs to strike a balance. When the teachers start using AI, there is no competition. We have to make use of AI to the best possible levels. With AI considered as a generative model, it is taking information from our end and developing it further to give smarter solutions to humans. We often feel that data privacy is going to be a big concern in the future. To ward off the fear of being replaced, we have to focus on learning AI, working with it, and keep trying to outsmart it.
The strategies and tools being used in recent days have helped teachers a lot. The teachers are using AI to create lesson plans. The workload of the teachers has come down a lot as they are often overworked. Now, they can plan for a lesson, resources, and deliver better content to the students. When it is going to be so helpful, it is advisable to make use of it for the benefit. The reduction of workload is a highly successful impact AI has had on teachers. This will keep the teachers healthy and happy, which will surely benefit the students at the end of the day. Things are definitely moving in the right direction for the teachers when they re-roll themselves to make an impact on society. We have to understand how to use the tools and technologies for our benefit, rather than getting scared and keeping away from them.
Contact details
Monica Khanna
IB-PYP Coordinator II, Curriculum Coordinator-K12 II, Design thinking practitioner
Indus International School, Bangalore