By Mehboob Inamdar
Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
Ravindra Rana (Principal, Podar International School-CBSE): As Artificial Intelligence (AI) develops, teachers' roles may change from being a major source of knowledge to being mentors, coaches, and learning facilitators. In a scenario where students may outsmart their teachers because of their adaptability to digitalisation facilitated by AI, educators should concentrate on enhancing their interpersonal skills and adjusting to the changing nature of the teaching profession in an AI-driven world if they want to stay relevant.
Assignments and grades will be posted online and uploaded through classroom portals. Group projects will be completed through collaborative software using cloud storage instead of flash drives or paper to store the work. Since students will incorporate autonomous learning, the teacher's role will drastically shift to support their needs. Mentoring students will become fundamental to teaching-learning success.
There will always be a fear that AI will increase unemployment for teachers. But it is to be understood that AI will fail to replace a teacher because the crux in education is ‘student motivation’ that comes from social interaction that no current or near-future technology can deliver.
The biggest threat to the teaching fraternity will be to rethink the entire model of education and redesign it so that it becomes more student-centric.
AI can be a useful tool, but it's not a substitute for good teaching. We have all had great teachers in our lives. And I bet what made them great was not the efficiency of knowledge transfer. It was, more likely, their ability to connect, inspire and bring a positive change in the lives and attitudes of their students, something that AI will never be able to match.
Most students agree that AI is the future of education and that schools should embrace it rather than restrict it. With the ability to analyze data on student performance and preferences. Although most students understand the large-scale implications of AI, they have not been able to see its impact in the current educational scenario.
Online mode of learning has its own disadvantages. Students are unable to focus on the screen for a long duration. Without a consistent internet connection for students or teachers, there can be a lack of continuity in learning.
In an online class, there are minimal physical interactions between students and teachers resulting in a sense of isolation. The pleasure of participating in sports, arts, cultural activities, project assignments, sitting leisurely with friends, travelling to school in a school bus, going on school trips etc. can be enjoyed only in the physical mode of schooling.