USAGE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) IN EDUCATIONAL PROCESS: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИЕ ИСКУССТВЕННОГО ИНТЕЛЛЕКТА (ИИ) В ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНОМ ПРОЦЕССЕ: ВЫЗОВЫ И ВОЗМОЖНОСТИ

Тананыкина Вероника Романовна

учитель английского языка, Международная Лингвистическая школа,

РФ, г. Владивосток

ABSTRACT

Fast-changing world offers a great deal of opportunities for all participants of educational process, at the same time setting new challenges both for teachers and students. For the purpose  of research described in the given article there was conducted a survey among teachers of Vladivostok to evaluate the usage of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its specifics, as the involvement of AI in educational process is inevitable. The results of this research are presented in the article, together with analytical review of both challenges and opportunities that AI presents.

АННОТАЦИЯ

Быстроменяющийся мир предлагает огромное количество возможностей для всех участников образовательного процесса, вместе с тем, ставит новые вызовы как для учителей, так и для обучающихся. В рамках исследования к этой статье был проведен опрос среди учителей г. Владивостока, для оценки использования Искусственного интеллекта (ИИ) и специфики его использования в образовании, так как вовлечение ИИ в этот процесс неизбежно. В статье представлены результаты опроса, анализ результатов и выводы относительно трудностей и возможностей использования ИИ.

Keywords: artificial intelligence; AI; education; information technologies; research; training; UNESCO.

Ключевые слова: информационные технологии; искусственный интеллект; исследование; образование; обучение; ЮНЕСКО.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a part of our life, unexpectedly for some, while quite naturally for others. It is involved in different spheres of human activities, such as economic planning, art and design, entertainment, and, of course, education. AI is used by educators, as well as by students, offering both parties of educational process a wide range of opportunities never seen before; at the same time making them face new challenges in the processes they have expected to be familiar with.

According to the World Economic Forum Report on Education (April 2024), “AI holds immense potential to revolutionize teaching methodologies, personalize learning experiences and streamline administrative processes” [7]. In other words the range of AI instruments used in education is bigger than ever before. These instruments allow to generate texts, create images, write essays, explain topics and complex problems in  just a few words, review tasks and give human-like feedback The usage of Artificial Intelligence in education has been discussed on the highest levels, including inter-governmental platforms, international organizations, World Economic Forum, UNESCO World leaders, scientists and researchers deem it necessary to attract attention of global society to the importance of rapidly changing educational environment, which requires new approaches, tools and skills.

During the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Education in Beijing, PRC, in 2019, participants came to an agreement regarding the usage of AI in educational process. The Beijing Consensus on Artificial Intelligence and Education states that “governments and other stakeholders of UNESCO’s Member States <…> should plan and develop coherent system-wide strategies for AI in education; <…> consider new models for delivering education and training that can be enabled by the use of AI” [3]. It is fascinating to witness the readiness of global community to keep up with the technological advances and trends; however, the task remains to convey this vision to regional and local educators.

Speaking of opportunities that Artificial Intelligence can offer teachers and tutors, it is highly important to understand, that no AI can perform all of educator’s work. While AI provides opportunities to support teachers in their educational and pedagogical responsibilities, human interaction and collaboration between teachers and learners must remain at the core of education [3].Teacher’s work tasks can be roughly divided into two groups – the ones that can be augmented and those in need of automatization. Tasks with the potential to be delivered automatically, with the help of, or entirely by the AI, are repetitive, monotonous and performed without the involvement of a student. Tasks most likely to benefit from augmentation tend to include analytical and creative sides of teacher’s performance.

Automatable tasks:

1. Completing lists of learning materials, books, periodicals on a particular topic;
2. Verifying and proof-reading facts, statistics and dates;
3. Grading tests, using answer sheets, computing and recording results.

Augmentable tasks:

1. Designing learning materials, including Web-based aids;
2. Developing teaching and training materials, such as handouts, quizzes, etc.;
3. Planning and evaluating class projects, workshops, etc [7].

According to the World Economic Forum’s research, educators spend approximately 40% of their office hours on tasks that can possibly be fulfilled by the generative AI. Being able to delegate monotonous and repetitive assignments potentially provides teachers with more opportunities to unleash their creativity, to possess enough energy for inter-personal communication with students, to have more time for self-development and mental health care.

Still, not all educators believe in the necessity of AI usage in their work process. In order to find out the number of users and non-users of AI tools among teachers, together with the reasons for their choice, the author of this article carried out an independent research. The survey was conducted mostly among teachers of the International Linguistic School (Vladivostok, Russia), with minor participation of teachers representing other public schools of the city

First of all, as the Figure 1 shows, 38.6% of respondents use Artificial Intelligence in their work, while preparing for lessons or grading papers. Almost half of the teachers surveyed are not using the AI currently, but claim they are going to try doing so in the near future.

Figure 1. Results

The same data looks more interesting from the perspective of age groups – the difference of attitude towards AI usage is rather visible. Young specialists are active users of AI tools, with 100% of respondents under 25 years using Artificial Intelligence in their work. 40% of teachers who are 25-30 years old, and 50% of those between 31 and 40 also actively use AI in lessons preparation, while only 1/3 and 1/4 of teachers being 41-50 and over 50 y.o. respectively follow their example.

Figure 2. Results

Judging by the data provided on the Figure 2, elder educators are less likely to use AI tools – 30% of those under 50 y.o. do not use AI and are not going to do so in the near future, while only 15% of teachers being 31-40 y.o. think so categorically.

This might be connected with a few aspects of Artificial Intelligence usage, such as usability, presence of digital skills and trust in new technologies on the side of educators. According to the survey, 40.5% of those who do not apply AI in their work find it difficult to understand how to use it, while almost 10% of respondents do not trust new technologies in general, and AI specifically.

Another reason for avoiding new work tools might be related to teachers’ satisfaction with existing learning materials - nearly one fifth of the respondents consider those to be fulfilling and in no need of improvement. This group mostly consists of those older than 40 y.o., so we cannot deny the connection between age, work experience and desire to create new learning materials. Teachers, who have worked with the same educational resources for years, have explored them through and through, they tend to find familiar materials more comfortable and reliable, and may not see the necessity to change what they are used to.

At the same time, 33% of responding teachers use AI tools in their work, as they find themselves spending less time on preparation for lessons (24%), consider newly created learning materials more interesting for students and for themselves (26.7% and 13.3% respectively). Moreover, 2.2% of teachers use AI as it helps with monotonous tasks and leaves less chances for students’ cheating as well, as brand-new tests and exam materials are created.

The difference in the amount of time spent by teachers on preparation for one lesson with and without the usage of AI, is presented in Figure 3.

The amount of teachers who usually spend less than 30 minutes is practically the same in both categories – around 22%.

As regards those who spend 30 and 60 minutes, the difference is drastic. Artificial Intelligence tools help shorten the time for lessons preparation, so 9% of educators spend more than 30 minutes and only 7% spend more than an hour. Meanwhile, speaking of teachers who choose not to use AI, 50% of them have to devote 30-60 minutes to one lesson preparation, and almost 20% spend more than one hour.

Figure 3. Results

Preparation for lessons often involves either grading and evaluating students’ works, or creation of learning materials, such as worksheets, extra tasks for working with visual aids, warm-up activities and so on. Most of these errands can be delegated (partially or entirely) to the AI, current instruments of which allow teachers to save some time and devote energy to face-to-face communication with students..

According to the Figure 4, teachers mostly use text editors (29%), anti-plagiarism programs (27%) and AI tools for creating learning materials (22%). Such statistics is not surprising, as it complies with most common errands for lessons preparation. Text editors (ChatGPT, GigaChat, etc.) help teachers to create lessons plans, complete lists of books and periodicals, verify facts and statistics. Anti-plagiarism programs, which use Artificial Intelligence capacities, have become quite popular with educators, since students started using Internet and AI tools for their written assignments. Materials creating tools (Twee, ChatGPT, etc.), together with audio- and video- editors (Kandinskiy, DeepFake, GigaChat, etc.) are used by 22% and 8% of teachers respectively. These tools are of use specifically for lessons with audio-visual aids, as they help creating worksheets for almost any video or audio possible, together with generating these audio-visual materials.

Figure 4. Results

Another 14% of teachers use graphic editors (Midjourney, Kandinskiy, etc.) to create visual aids for their lessons, which is highly useful when such materials are not included in the curriculum pool.

The statistics collected in the course of the survey reveals that those teachers who use AI tools gain advantage of spending less time on lessons’ preparation, creating potentially more interesting lessons for students, being up-to-date and avoiding the risk of professional burnout.

Nevertheless, usage of Artificial Intelligence is fraught with certain challenges Firstly, specialists warn [2] about overreliance on technologies, both for students and teachers. Excessive dependence on AI tools may lead to decrease in critical thinking, deterioration of learning materials in case educators stop doing proof-reading and altering of what is offered by AI.

Secondly, there are certain privacy concerns. As users interact with Artificial Intelligence, their personal information can be stored, analyzed and used with or without their consent (plenty of people still don’t read user agreements while downloading apps or visiting websites).

What is more, the possibility for bias in AI algorithms may affect its’ work results. Since algorithms learn from existing information, which is not free from social biases, unintentionally or not, AI may start to favour one piece of information over another, which can dramatically influence educational process, offering one-sided information.

Nevertheless no invention has ever been without flaws, and Artificial Intelligence is not an exception. Whether there are more opportunities for better and more efficient educational process rather than risks and dangers, depends on people who use it. As Mikhail Kalinin, a great Soviet statesman, said: “Teacher is an engineer of people’s souls”. And every engineer needs good working tools to do their best.

References:

1. AI education and AI in education, 2023. [online] URL: https://new.nsf.gov/science-matters/ai-education-ai-education [Accessed: June 6, 2024]
2. Bailey J. AI in Education // Education Next. – 2023 Vol.23 №4. – URL: https://www.educationnext.org/a-i-in-education-leap-into-new-era-machine-intelligence-carries-risks-challenges-promises/ [Accessed: June 6, 2024]
3. Beijing Consensus on artificial intelligence and education // Outcome document of the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Education “Planning education in the AI era: Lead the leap” (Beijing, People’s Republic of China, 16-18 May 2019) – Beijing, 2019. – 70 p.
4. Miao F., Holmes W. Guidance for generative AI in education and research // UNESCO, 2023 – 44 p.
5. Miao F., Holmes W., Ronghuai H., Hui Zh. AI and education: guidance for policy-makers // UNESCO, 2021 – 45 p.
6. Miao F., Shiohira K., Holmes W. International forum on AI and education: steering AI to empower teachers and transform teaching // UNESCO, 2022 – Beijing, 5-6 December – 46 p. – URL: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000386162 [Accessed: June 6, 2024]
7. Shaping the Future of Learning: The Role of AI in Education 4.0 // World Economic Forum, Insight Report – Switzerland, April 2024 – 28 p.
8. The future of learning: How AI is revolutionizing education 4.0, April 2024. [online] URL: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2024/04/future-learning-ai-revolutionizing-education-4-0/ [Accessed: June 6, 2024]
9. UNESCO Survey: less than 10% of schools and universities have formal guidance on AI, 2023. [online] URL: https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/unesco-survey-less-10-schools-and-universities-have-formal-guidance-ai [Accessed: June 6, 2024]
10. UNESCO supports the definition and development of AI competencies for teachers, 2022. [online] URL: https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/unesco-supports-definition-and-development-ai-competencies-teachers [Accessed: June 6, 2024]
11. Williamson B. AI must be kept in check at school /Education in the age of artificial intelligence, 45p. // The UNESCO Courier – October-December 2023 – pp.6-8. – URL: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000387030_eng [Accessed: June 6, 2024]