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Artificial intelligence is starting to take over repetitive tasks in
classrooms, like grading, and is optimizing coursework and
revolutionizing the preparation for college entrance exams, explains Craig S. Smith, former correspondent and executive at The New York Times.
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| Mrs. Turner takes a picture of a lesson to upload to the software program Bakpax in her classroom. Photo: Michelle Gustafson for The New York Times |
Jennifer Turner’s algebra classes were
once sleepy affairs, and a lot of her students struggled to stay awake.
Today, they are active and engaged, thanks to new technologies,
including an artificial intelligence-powered program that is helping her
teach.
She uses the platform Bakpax
that can read students’ handwriting and auto-grade schoolwork, and she
assigns lectures for students to watch online while they are at home.
Using the platform has provided Mrs. Turner, 41, who teaches at the
Gloucester County Christian School in Sewell, N.J., more flexibility in
how she teaches, reserving class time for interactive exercises.
“The
grades for homework have been much better this year because of Bakpax,”
Mrs. Turner said. “Students are excited to be in my room, they’re
telling me they love math, and those are things that I don’t normally
hear.”...
But the machine-learning revolution is
changing that. Today, learning algorithms uncover patterns in large
pools of data about how students have performed on material in the past
and optimize teaching strategies accordingly. They adapt to the
student’s performance as the student interacts with the system. Bakpax
asks teachers to notify parents how their children’s data will be used,
and parents can opt out. But Bakpax and other companies say they mask
identities and encrypt the data they do collect.
Studies show
that these systems can raise student performance well beyond the level
of conventional classes and even beyond the level achieved by students
who receive instruction from human tutors. A.I. tutors perform better,
in part, because a computer is more patient and often more insightful.
Source: The New York Times
