Kristen Gyles | Every student needs a (real) teacher

Lately, a suggestion has been floating around for artificial intelligence to be used in schools facing the most crippling teacher shortages. Indeed, many schools are hard pressed to find suitable talent that can help to not only prepare students for regional exams, but guide them into a firm enough fundamental understanding of certain subject areas that will enable them to function in society after graduating.

To make matters worse, even where trained and highly qualified teachers are around, many students are just not meeting the standard of performance expected of them. The biggest problem area seems to be mathematics, but some science subjects are not lagging very far behind.

So, if artificial intelligence can help, great! But how can it?

A typical day in the life of an educator will include lesson-planning and teaching, while a not-so-typical day could include tending to a sick student or sitting through a class detention. Teachers have a wide-ranging list of duties that can’t be itemised, and day-to-day activities will vary depending on the grade level of their students, their subject area, the policies of their school and their overall individual teaching style.

We all know that teachers teach. They stand in front of whiteboards or chalkboards, point at them with their rulers and preach to a congregation of sometimes unwilling teenagers. But, much of a teacher’s job is also highly administrative. Besides creating an endless number of lesson plans, some of which must be differentiated to suit students with special learning styles, the grading, attendance monitoring and record-keeping required is usually enough to make any teacher wonder if they had accepted a job as a secretary. An analysis of each student’s performance is also critical if the teacher actually wants to track the performance of his or her class.

INDIVIDUALISED SUPPORT

Teachers also give individualised support to students who need extra help. It is a teacher’s job to identify students with unique learning styles and meet them where they are. This often means meeting with a student one-on-one and preparing differentiated assignments.

How much of this can artificial intelligence assist with? A lot. Just not the part that really makes a teacher a teacher. Educators can leverage artificial intelligence to assist with most of their out-of-class work, like test setting and grading. Gone are the days when a teacher needs to sit brainstorming individual questions for a test or worksheet. Artificial intelligence also makes the formulation of notes and educational content for dissemination to students much easier.

Aside from the teacher’s use of AI, students are now, more than ever before, equipped with the tools they need to excel. Most impressive is the fact that adaptive learning AI platforms help to bridge the gap between the naturally endowed prodigy and the lagging student, by feeding them information at different paces and by varying the nature of assigned tasks, based on their learning styles and competences. Many of the currently existing AI platforms can help to create personalised learning experiences for students by identifying individual student needs, strengths, and weaknesses.

Recently, while functioning in a student capacity, I was forced to cram into my head the greater part of a 10-topic syllabus within the space of just about three months leading up to the big exam day. I was relieved beyond measure when I realised the learning platform I was using had an option for ‘adaptive learning’. All I needed to do was take an hour to complete a quiz which the genius behind the computer screen then used to determine exactly how skilled I was in each topic area. From there, the platform rearranged the order of my study plan altogether after deciding based on the weighting of each topic area and my mastery of each, which topics were most important for me to study.

NEVER REPLACE

With all that said, artificial intelligence can never replace teachers. Every high school student needs a real teacher. There is a human element to the teaching-and-learning dynamic that a computer will never be able to replicate. For artificial intelligence to be relied upon to overtake the teaching aspect of that dynamic, students will be forced to learn individually without the often-needed interaction with their peers. While that may help some, it will be counterproductive for others.

Additionally, there is a need for consistent parent-teacher interaction, especially where there are either academic or behavioural deficiencies in a student. Without regular communication with a (real) teacher to discuss student progress, address concerns, and get updates on classroom activities, parents have no way of truly assessing academic development.

But, there are other things only real teachers can do. Teachers spend copious numbers of hours over several sittings, in extreme cases, trying to reach struggling students by explaining one concept in a myriad of ways. But, more generally speaking, there are communication barriers that can only be properly broken down by a teacher who knows the common vernacular of the Jamaican teenage species. Students sometimes struggle to understand technical concepts when explained using the unfamiliar, jargon-rich type of language that may feature in globally used AI platforms. Furthermore, AI just doesn’t have the capacity to teach geometry using an empty Cornflakes box and traffic cone like our teachers do.

Notwithstanding, teachers should use the technology to their advanatge. Let the teacher behind the computer screen mark the assignments and help with the lesson planning. Let them help with the generation of notes and worksheets. That way, the human teacher can find more time to focus on doing what he or she does best, teaching.

Kristen Gyles is a free-thinking public affairs opinionator. Email feedback to kristengyles@gmail.com.