Fahim Imam-Sadeq outlines how AI is changing the way we learn

Artificial intelligence technology is helping to change many aspects of life today.

As business development professional Fahim Imam-Sadeq explains, this includes how teachers teach and students learn.

Education is conducive to positive change, and AI can provide many improvements. Here are a few ways that AI technology is helping to reinforce these changes in the education industry.

Automation

The main job of teachers is to educate. The challenge is that many educators today spend a lot of their time in activities that are not directly related to education.

Some of these tasks include grading homework and examinations, preparing teaching materials, reading essays, organizing various resources, and doing other administrative work.

A recent survey by the UK’s Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills found that teachers spend only 43% of their time teaching.

Artificial intelligence can help teachers increase that percentage by removing some of the more difficult tasks. This is done through automation by grading some exams and conducting some administrative work required for the job.

Personalized materials

Much of the teaching in the past was based on a simple set of materials and courses. It is almost impossible to provide highly personalized courses and materials to each student. Nevertheless, research tells us that this personalized instruction works best.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning can enable this customization in the classroom. Teachers do not need to change coursework or lesson plans, but they can provide personalized supplementary materials to help each student learn the best way for them.

Fill in the blanks

Teachers are certainly not perfect. Sometimes, they may feel that they are presenting the material effectively and efficiently while the students are not getting it.

Machine learning can help teachers identify areas where they may not perform as well as they would like to. An example is helping teachers identify a potential gap if a large number of students miss a specific question – or group of questions – on an exam.

When this happens, it may be due to how the teacher has prepared lesson plans and reading materials or how they have communicated new ideas to the students. In this case, AI can help teachers improve their own skills.

Always on learning

Technology never sleeps – unless we tell it to. As a result, AI is available to students 24/7, enabling them to learn at their own pace, whenever they want, and wherever they are.

In many ways, as Fahim Imam-Sadeq says, AI helps to break down physical barriers to learning. This may include classrooms, which are open only to help students during school hours. This may include where the students live.

AI can create immersive learning experiences without the need to travel long distances. Suppose students are learning about rainforests, for example. In that case, they could be taken to Amazon in South America to see first-hand how the ecosystem works for the power of AI and advanced technology.

Such features help to make learning fun, which is essential for getting students in school and interested in learning. The more interested students are in the content they are learning, the more likely they are to stick with them after leaving the classroom.

Ultimately, AI gives educators and students the ability to be their best potential themselves. And last but not least, the headline made you read this article.

About Fahim Imam-Sadeq

Fahim Imam-Sadeq is a business development professional with proven experience in the asset management industry. He is a graduate of Actuarial Science from City University of London and a Fellow of the Actuarians Institute. Fahim’s top skills include asset management, hedge fund, investment management, sales and consulting and client relationship management.