AI, ethics and classrooms of the future

News that Pearson, the world's largest textbook publisher, is phasing out print publications for higher education to adopt a resolutely digital-first policy may signal an eventual full stop for traditional book learning. But the wealth of technology coming on stream heralds an exciting new chapter for the future classroom.

In the view of Mike Buchanan, executive director of HMC, which represents independent school head teachers, digital education will unlock a less rigid approach to classroom-based learning, as well as enable closer collaboration with pupils' families.

"In a growing number of schools, the use of modern management information and recording systems to harvest details of classroom activities and pupil progress is already allowing parents to access and aggregate their child's attainment records," he says.

"In the future, this will no doubt see the traditional termly report being replaced by daily digital updates."

Mr Buchanan predicts individual academic achievement will be charted by artificial intellegence (AI), rather than by a plethora of exams, and argues that for teachers disenchanted by the current need to "teach to the test", the freedom to pursue a more rounded curriculum will foster a new optimism.

"Technology has both advantages and disadvantages in education, as it does in every field," he says. "The exam boards probably won't like it, but in my view, AI's potential role in automated assessment and reporting will prove to be a game-changer."

The future classroom must be student centred

Professor Rose Luckin, co-founder of the Institute for Ethical Artificial Intelligence in Education, launched last year, helps steer developments in educational technology in a firmly ethical direction. She believes that while individual tools such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) or MOOCs (Massive open online courses) will each play a role in the future classroom, close attention should be paid to the "over-arching intelligence infrastructure" as digital education develops.

"We need to recognise that education for all ages must change to create the skills society will need in the future and this means looking at the possibilities of AI in a more holistic way," she says.

"Cutting-edge technologies must be constructed from an ethical framework, which empowers both learners and teachers, rather than exploiting them for purely commercial gain."

Drawing a parallel with the growth in social media, Professor Luckin says: "We have all witnessed the power of the big digital networking platforms to shape users' behaviour and habits, and there have been negative, as well as positive, impacts from this.

"When we look at the future of classroom AI, we can see that as long as there is an ethical purpose to what we do, individuals and society will benefit from a global education technology infrastructure which deploys a whole range of digital tools."

But Professor Luckin issues a warning to those who believe the future classroom needs to concentrate on computer coding alone.

"As society's educational needs continue to change, we may well decide not to engage with some of the breakthrough things that we know AI can deliver. We need advanced thinking around what we want to deliver in terms of lifelong learning for each individual citizen, rather than an obsession with clever algorithms and coding."

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