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I don't think anything could have prepared us for the life altering events that the majority of Americans began to encounter on March 13, 2020. As spring break was beginning for a large majority of Americans, a novel corona virus (COVID-19) had made its way to the United States. The arrival of the virus resulted in the closure of institutions in both the private and public sector. As a result, many American children went on spring break and have yet to return to the classroom. The rapid closure of educational institutions in America has completely altered the American classroom and changed the way we deliver education. The future impact these sudden changes will have on the educational institution in the United States remains to be seen. One thing is certain, however, instructional designers will need to keep an open mind and leverage the latest trends in technology to develop flexible and adaptive instructional solutions to meet institutional needs. One emerging technology that can play an important role in the field of instructional design is artificial intelligence.
Artificial intelligence is not a new concept. Artificial intelligence has been around since the 1950's. Basically artificial intelligence is machine learning. Humans can teach machines to learn in a similar way humans learn. To get a general understanding of what artificial intelligence is and how it works watch this YouTube video at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qVRBYAdLAo. Artificial intelligence is used more often than people may realize in their daily interactions. Whether its through your google search, a suggestion from Siri, or a recommendation on the type of shoe you should wear from your Nike Running Club application, chances are you have encountered something that uses artificial intelligence to guide your decision making. That said, I believe the use of artificial intelligence will continue to grow as the public and private sector struggle to gain a competitive edge, especially post COVID-19.
The education sector is no exception. Institutions of higher learning have lost millions of dollars as a result of being forced to shut down. With so much uncertainty, many schools have yet to completely open their doors. In fact, not one school in my family of five has completely opened their doors. As a result, we are all learning virtually this semester. Throughout the next semester, I plan to reflect on the E-learning experience for my entire family. Each one of my blogs from today forward will reflect on a challenge we have faced, as a family, and discuss how I think an artificial intelligence solution could benefit.
I appreciate every one taking the time to visit my blog. I look forward to any questions you may have about artificial intelligence and the role it can play in e-learning and instructional design.
Anthony
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting to see how the continued virtual learning environment will change. Artificial intelligence is one way to address gaps in learning. I currently have three at home including myself learning virtually. I am interested to see what develops over time. Looking forward to your next blog.
Tammy,
DeleteThanks for taking the time to visit my blog. I agree that it will be interesting to see how the virtual learning environment will change. One issue I am having is that all the virtual learning for my second grade child is synchronous and real time. I believe this is fine except she, like me, very much depends on reflection time to gather her thoughts and answer questions. It seems the teachers are so pressed for time and need to ensure they're getting through the required material, they are moving from one subject to the next giving very little time for discussion and reflection. Don't get me wrong I completely understand where the teachers are coming from and they were just thrown into this and they're doing the best they can. That said, as a society, we have to look for innovative ways our education system can still function in the event something like this happens again or for the pure sake of looking at how we do school differently. Is a blended platform something more schools want to look at from a budget perspective in the future even without a national crisis that forces them to do so? It'll be interesting to see the direction we go as a society when it comes to education. One thing I'm certain of though is that AI will play a crucial role for education in the future no matter which direction we, as a society, go with education. I look forward to discussing this more in future blogs. Again, thanks for stopping by.
Anthony
Anthony,
ReplyDeleteIsn't it truly amazing how the world we lived in, just months ago, is so different today and will be forever changed. I feel that it is just proof that no individual is promised tomorrow. Great thoughts on AI and its potentials within the classroom. I am sure that the private education sector is scrambling to find ways to continue delivering education, and I am more sure that AI is playing a huge role in that.
Another huge change that has occurred across the last thirty years involves, simply, the understanding and utilization of AI. I am sure that when I was in high school in 199?, AI was only a thought that came to mind in science fiction references. Since then it has snuck in and weaved itself into so many functions of modern life that its hard to even notice it. From gas pumps, to automated voice recognition menus on the phone, to well...everyone's phone, AI is everywhere.
I went to try out some new golf clubs a while back, and where there used to be a golf swing coach that would watch your swing, take some measurements and fit you for your clubs, there was no a fully AI platform in the big box sporting goods store. I walked up, stood on a mat, and waited a few seconds while it measured my height, weight, and body composition. Then the screen told me to take club "number 4" from the rack next to it and step onto the mat. The system then guided me through several swings at varying levels of power. After a few minutes, the machine had displayed all of the options that best fit me, and gave me the option of ordering directly from the machine.
My only concern with AI is the loss of human nature, compassion, and interaction with humans that we all are used to. What might be the consequences for our society when machines and AI do everything for us? I think we can already see some of that around us if we look hard enough. Great blog, very thought provoking. I look forward to your next post. Thanks Anthony.
Donny,
DeleteThank you for reading my post. Also, thank you for sharing your personal experience with AI. It is amazing what AI is capable of doing already and really, as you stated, it's still in its infancy stages. I certainly understand where you're coming from regarding your concerns with AI and the consequences to society as the use of AI continues to expand. I think you bring up a very good point which will be part of my future discussions as it pertains to AI.
What is the balance we have to strike as a society in determining how far we are willing to go in the realm of introducing AI? There are a number of ethical concerns that come to mind when I reflect on the expansion of AI in our future, not the least of which is privacy concerns. Will we continue to allow businesses more and more access far beyond the enormous amount of information we already allow? What happens when the information and data that the machines access to make recommendations gets into the wrong hands? Ethics in AI will be a topic of discussion in my blog. Thanks for bringing up the concern for the consequences society may face as AI continues to expand. Your question is a perfect segue into the next topic of my blog. Stay tuned and thanks for stopping by.
Anthony
Anthony,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I love your blog setting, it is so inviting and user friendly. Anyway, on to your post - Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI both intrigues and scares me at the same time. It intrigues me because the application is almost endless in education and everything else but it scares me because it can literally operate heavy machinery with minimal human interaction. We have all seen the movies where AIs go crazy and take over the world, but is that really far-fetched? Do you think an AI can replace an instructor in an e-learning environment? Can AIs be so far advanced that they can actually teach a class better than a teacher? I look forward to reading your thoughts.
Charles,
DeleteI absolutely think AI can replace a teacher in the classroom, but I divert back to an answer we often give in the legal profession to clients which is "Yes you can do_______ but should you?" I think that is a question we must always keep in the back of our minds as we explore the possibilities of artificial intelligence. You're right our possibilities with AI are endless in the field of education, and I believe we could soon have the capability to completely replace teachers and instructional designers and many other professions in the field of education for that matter. That said, we as humans have a say in how much we allow AI to enter our lives and our profession. If we go too far AI can do more harm than good.
Take the job of an instructional designer for instance. AI can greatly assist an instructional designer in the area of analysis by sorting through an enormous amount of data much more rapidly and efficiently and provide valuable objective feedback on what the data says about a learner's needs. As instructional designers, I believe we should leverage that capability. However, to the extent that AI can begin to write the instruction and evaluate the effectiveness of the instruction, I think we need to be careful to not allow too much of that into our profession as instructional designers. Otherwise there will no longer be a need for an instructional designer and many people will be out of a job. Thanks for stopping by my blog. I look forward to more conversations about AI and the negative impact it could have on society if we are not careful.
Anthony
Anthony,
DeleteYou are absolutely right that AI can replace almost anything or anyone, but it is up to us to determine how much AI is enough. I would also ask you this...AI can definitely provide the efficiency that you described, but how much of it is at the expense of quality? How much quality education do you think an AI can provide students versus a human teacher - someone who has experienced life and can empathize or sympathize?
Hi Anthony,
ReplyDeleteGreat posting. I enjoyed reading your initial posting, others' responses and your responses to others' comments. This is one of the ways we enjoy blogging, publishing your thoughts and ideas and listen to others' responses. Thank you for introducing the video and I enjoyed it.
It seems like AI is already in Education. I had a chance to google myself and find the following website that introduces examples of AI application in Education. The examples that were listed are various, including data based feedback, data based personalized learning, and social and emotional learning (ROYBI robot). It is amazing to see how AI in education is available in our life.
I am looking forward to reading your further postings.
Anthony,
ReplyDeleteGreat post and I can see AI at use in my every day life and in my edventure (education adventure). At YouTube University, it seems to use some machine learning to curate what I am being shown based on what I frequently view. I also use Siri (I dare not say it out loud because she is always listening) to schedule things, find information, and make recommendations for me. I am also a huge fan of adaptive technology for education and AI is obviously important to that endeavor. The idea that a machine can adapt my learning experience to meet my unique learning needs at different points in time is fascinating. Truly learner centric. I look forward to your future posts.
Mike W.