5 Essential Applications of AI Technology in Education

Posted on by Tim Boltz

When growing up and sitting through math class, students often heard teachers say that students should not rely on a calculator to do their math for them. After all, they would never have a calculator in their pockets. Today, that statement could not be farther from the truth. Now, many students have an entire computer in their pockets with a calculator just a click of a button away. The growth of artificial intelligence (AI) has increased exponentially within the last few decades, and students and educators alike must embrace the latest in AI and education technology to keep up with the pace.

In all learning environments, students and teachers rely on modern technologies to enhance their experiences to be as informational, productive and efficient as possible. In recent years, hybrid learning and collaborative digital spaces became essential components of education for both K-12 and higher education organizations. With this development, education technology has evolved and expanded to include new and more advanced AI systems inside and outside the classroom.

The needs of students are always changing, and educators must constantly adapt to progressive ways of teaching and learn different technologies or platforms that can assist with their daily lessons. With the implementation of AI and numerous benefits of digital learning, all students and instructors can achieve a more wholistic and innovative education. These five topics demonstrate how AI is an essential tool in the learning process for various types of learners across K-12 and higher education.

Communication

Innovative trends in education technology have made it possible for students and staff to stay connected, whether through remote online learning or collaborative learning in the classroom. AI tools like SMS bots, predictive technology and ChatGPT can assist students in tasks such as navigating their school’s learning platforms, researching and preparing information for assignments and getting real-time answers to their questions. AI can also help teachers and professors orchestrate discussion points between students and guide next steps within small group collaborative projects.^[¹^]

Automation

For teachers, implementing AI can help automate repetitive daily tasks like grading tests and quizzes, and catching minor mistakes within written essays. This way they have more freedom and time to focus on in-depth feedback, creating comprehensive lesson plans and spending one-on-one time with their students. Additionally, AI tools can give students instant feedback on their work, allowing them to be more independent in identifying inaccuracies and recognizing successful projects.^[²^]

Immersive Learning

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are becoming increasingly more popular in students’ everyday lives, so using these technologies as a learning tool is familiar and compelling for them to gain valuable experiences in the classroom. Immersive technologies can simulate real-world scenarios for students to gain hands-on experience with low risk, like medical simulations and technical experiments. It also can allow students to break the barrier between their physical space and complex concepts like observing the planets up close or enlarging and examining something microscopic.^[³^]Not only do AR and VR create expansive opportunities for students to view and understand concepts in new and captivating ways, but they also create an additional, interactive and collaborative avenue of learning for students who may not be as responsive to traditional tools like textbooks and study guides.^[⁴^]

Data-Driven Results

Throughout a student’s education, data is continually collected to better understand and predict their developing needs and most effective learning strategies. AI technologies can quickly and automatically analyze and report on this data, allowing teachers and professors to evaluate trends in an individual student’s or an entire class’s performance. Empowered with this knowledge, educators can tailor their lesson plans and take a more proactive approach to supporting students’ needs, ultimately increasing academic improvement for all.^[⁵^]

Personalized Learning

Student’s learning styles can vary depending on many factors. For example, some students learn best through more visual and interactive experiences, while others may learn best through memorization and flashcards. Analyzing data collected by AI can help teachers be more informed and prepared educators for different kinds of learners. By applying the insights gathered from AI algorithms, educators can create personalized tracks for individual students, including aspects like adjusting the types of content, working with their comfortability, tailoring to their pace of learning and understanding their comprehension of learning objectives.^[⁶^] Additionally, AI technologies can help teachers plan, schedule and produce suggested lesson ideas more efficiently so they can target instruction and reduce the time it takes to create activities that best support each student.^[⁵^]

As AI becomes more common in education, maintaining academic integrity and validity within assignments of any kind will remain top of mind for educators. While earlier AI systems are designed to help students achieve academic success, newer AI systems are intended to empower teachers to optimize the use of artificial intelligence for students and encourage positive, ethical engagement with AI technologies.^[⁷^] Fostering trust among educators to cultivate the most prosperous learning environment through the implementation of AI can further personal, social and educational growth for all students.

Explore Carahsoft’s education technology solutions to learn how your organization can work together with our top innovative EdTech vendors to bridge the digital divide and meet the demands of modern education.

Resources:

[1] Office of Ed Tech. “AI and the Future of Teaching and Learning: New Interactions, New Choices.” Medium, https://medium.com/ai-and-the-future-of-teaching-and-learning/ai-and-the-future-of-teaching-and-learning-new-interactions-new-choices-c726bcf03012

[2] Shonubi, Olufemi. “Council Post: AI in the Classroom: Pros, Cons and the Role of Edtech Companies.” https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2023/02/21/ai-in-the-classroom-pros-cons-and-the-role-of-edtech-companies/?sh=2cb4a227feb4

[3] Dick, Ellysse. “The Promise of Immersive Learning: Augmented and Virtual Reality’s Potential in Education.” Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. https://itif.org/publications/2021/08/30/promise-immersive-learning-augmented-and-virtual-reality-potential/

[4] Dani, Vishal. “How Augmented Reality Creates Interactive and Engaging Classrooms.” Kitaboo, https://kitaboo.com/augmented-reality-creates-interactive-and-engaging-classrooms/

[5] Gururaj, Tejasri. “10 Examples of Artificial Intelligence Improving Education.” Interesting Engineering, https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/examples-how-artificial-intelligence-improving-education

[6] Dani, Vishal. “9 Trends in Education Technology That Will Have a Major Impact.” Kitaboo, https://kitaboo.com/trends-in-education-technology/

[7] Office of Ed Tech. “AI and the Future of Teaching and Learning: Engaging Educators.” Medium, https://medium.com/ai-and-the-future-of-teaching-and-learning/ai-and-the-future-of-teaching-and-learning-engaging-educators-141e90c5e29f

Highlights from New Jersey School Boards Association (NJSBA) Workshop 2022

Posted on by Tim Boltz

Ever since the pandemic’s onset in early 2020, the entire K-12 education community has faced the unique obstacles associated with managing remote and hybrid learning environments. New Jersey School Boards Association’s (NJSBA) annual Workshop provides education executives and senior-level leaders the opportunity to discuss topical challenges and engage in trainings, participate in professional development events, discover new products and discuss the latest in policies, legislation and funding. This year’s in-person event built on the organization’s foundation of nearly 70 years of education support and demonstrated the successful perseverance of New Jersey educators in handling these modern challenges by allowing for collaborative, hands-on learning opportunities, face-to-face conversations that spur innovative ideas and onsite networking for attendees.

NJSBA Workshop 2022 offered many significant actionable insights for educators to share with their institutions and local communities. Exhibitors were tasked with aligning their programs with the 2022-2024 Strategic Plan Goals approved by the NJSBA Board of Directors, which included:

Impacting Opportunities for Student Growth
Services for Tomorrow’s World
Professional Learning for Effective Governance
Future Innovations and Advancements in Technology
Partnering in Public Education Advocacy

In addition to these strategic plan goals, Workshop covered some of the top concerns currently within the K-12 public education sector.

Security Should be Top of Mind to Prepare for Any Threat Landscape

Because no system is immune from malware and infection, institutions should be ready for any type of attack by always treating their network as if it were a hostile environment, like they have been breached and as if there are active intruders. Educators should create backups of their data and continuously train their security staff in-depth to try to be more prepared in the event of serious attacks. The stark transition with the pandemic forced schools to act quickly to ensure learning was minimally interrupted, but unfortunately this meant that security was not always at the forefront of the planning process. Now, with ever growing persistent risks across the market—insider threats, ransomware attacks, etc.—institutions must utilize the right tools and solutions to handle any attack situation.

Understanding How to Combat Ransomware

Ransomware attacks are constantly on the rise in forms of deactivating security tools, destruction of logs and data, email hacking and executing destructive malware. When faced with ransomware, detecting and identifying the risk is the first step to be able to take action against it. Utilizing a decoder to determine these factors can save organizations time and money. Next, IT teams should monitor the damage ransomware causes like exposing vulnerabilities, changing configurations, etc., so they can create a response and prevention plan against future attacks.

Insurance Coverage is Necessary for the Most Successful Cybersecurity Recovery

As cyber attacks such as ransomware and data breaches rise, cybersecurity insurance and proactive measures to evade fraudulent activity are becoming increasingly essential. Because of this increase, insurance providers are becoming progressively more selective when choosing institutions to insure. Unfortunately, many insurance companies will not consider a school if they cannot provide an exceptionally detailed plan of its cybersecurity prevention and response strategies.^[1] Creating such plans can often be a timely process, during which students and staff remain vulnerable. Additionally, the cost of cyber insurance premiums continues to rise each year with rates up approximately 28% in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the fourth quarter of 2021.^[2]

There are several ways institutions can guarantee lower insurance premiums and work toward protecting themselves from fraudsters:

Frequently perform risk assessments, security testing and audits to ensure security programs, hardware and processes are properly up to date
Conduct security training to ensure students, staff and IT teams are well equipped to identify and act upon suspicious activity
Create and effective response plan to address breaches and back up strategy for data recovery^[3]
Make sure tech teams remain adaptable to any fraudulent activity that may occur because cyber attacks can come in new forms^[4]

Cyber insurance does not prevent cyber-attacks from occurring, but it can ensure institutions are covered financially once the damages have occurred, allowing schools to rebuild their security programs and create a stronger, more protected educational environment.

Apply Automation Strategies in Learning Environments to Support Remote and Hybrid Learning

Automation within schools can provide more efficiency, visibility and cost savings. Streamlining processes and communications throughout educational communities is imperative to keep students on pace with their personal learning track. Using automation to optimize and manage these areas can prove beneficial. Not only is automation useful in everyday operations in school districts, but it is also important to provide “back-office” staff with functions for better data reporting, improved budget spending, reduced time-consuming manual processes and opportunities to cut down on human error. With the shift to remote and hybrid learning beginning in early 2020, students had to quickly adapt to an interrupted environment and a new learning style that instructors were adjusting to as they went along. Unsurprisingly, students began falling behind, widening the learning gap. Now, schools are focusing their efforts on long-term, sustainable technology solutions that can support the necessary catch-up students require to remain on track in completing their education. Through visibility and control via automation, organizations can steer away from utilizing multiple tools and solutions that do not operate well together and instead, utilize cohesive tools that support efficient cyber hygiene and IT performance.

Though K-12 institutions will continue to face adversity in a new era of remote and hybrid learning, educators are continuously working together to share insights and navigate the challenges of today’s modern learning environments.

Visit our website to learn more about Carahsoft’s NJSBA Technology & Cybersecurity Contract and other events, news and resources.

Resources:

^[1] “Report on the Cyber Insurance Market,” CNBC, https://content.naic.org/sites/default/files/cmte-c-cyber-supplement-report-2022-for-data-year-2021.pdfhttps://online.maryville.edu/blog/supply-chain-attack/

^[2] “Rising premiums, more restricted cyber insurance coverage poses big risk for companies,” National Association of Insurance Commissioners, https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/11/companies-are-finding-it-harder-to-get-cyber-insurance-.html

^[3] “Lowering Cyber Insurance Premiums in the Education Industry,” Up Guard, https://www.upguard.com/blog/lowering-cyber-insurance-premiums-education

^[3] “Fraud Never Sleeps,” PaymentWorks, https://blog.paymentworks.com/fraud-never-sleeps

*The information contained in this blog has been written based off the thought-leadership discussions presented by speakers at NJSBA Workshop 2022.*

How Digital Learning Tools Are Helping Organizations Create Engaging Content in an Ongoing Virtual World

Posted on by Ashley Weston

Transition to Remote Work

It goes without saying that the switch to a predominantly “work from home” scenario has been quite the transition for most and has required much adaptation on both the human and technologic fronts. Many organizations had to scramble to set up the proper infrastructure and distribute the proper hardware to support a remote work environment. Depending on existing technology/structures and available resources, some transitions proved more challenging, while others ran more smoothly. However, even with the digital piece in place, a question remains: how can we keep the human experience intact in an increasingly tech-dominated world?

Factoring in the Human Element

Although we are living in a digital world, not all experiences are created equal, and it’s important to keep the audience in mind when creating content and delivering within any virtual scenario. While we have moved past the initial brunt of the ongoing global pandemic, according to the most recent Facts & Factors research study, “The Global E-learning market was projected at USD 144 Billion in 2019, is estimated to reach USD 374.3 Billion by 2026, and is predicted to increase at a CAGR of 14.6 % through 2026.” As such, trends showing an increased and continued adoption of eLearning overall are strengthened by ongoing remote work necessitated by the pandemic. eLearning has become the norm, and there are so many ways to deliver in that sphere, making it easier for all learning styles to be accommodated and include something for everyone. This can be in the form of a virtual classroom/web conferencing setting, self-paced content or quizzing created through content authoring tools, online activities, or even gamification and social learning. At the end of the day, it’s important to give people a chance to engage in a way that resonates with them.

Gamification for Incentivization

One of the elements that can be incorporated to provide a more expansive digital learning experience is gamification, where users earn points for completing courses or activities. Gamification can foster friendly competition and incentivize learners to engage with available content. Users can see point values increase in real time and track their achievements, giving them bursts of encouragement from seeing their work move them up the virtual scoreboard. Normally, gamification systems are executed through a Learning Management System, used to deliver and track training. Settings can be adjusted accordingly to account for a range of content, activities, and point values.

Social Learning and Non-Traditional Engagement

A large part of training across the government, corporate, and education sphere often involves compliance training and requires concrete proof of completion from an assessment component. While these aspects of eLearning are necessary and important, they can also be complemented by adding more community-based engagement features, such as social learning, which usually entails a forum or social “feed” for users to post, comment, poll, and discuss in custom groups, small or large scope. The concept of social learning adds a friendly side to formal training and offers up another way for users to consume and process content alongside peers. With much of our day-to-day, in-person socialization still restricted within many work environments, options that mimic a more community-like feel have become crucial. Learners who are more engaged and who feel more welcomed in their respective digital environments are more likely to return.

Factors to Consider When Building an eLearning Environment

A few factors to consider when launching a more engaging eLearning experience include scope, training content, and goals, as well as time constraints and accessibility. In terms of the technology involved, usually a content authoring tool, whether it be PDFs, videos, or interactive content, is paired with a Learning Management System to deliver and track training for the full scope. Content can be tailored to appeal to various learning types and be delivered across multiple devices for ease of access. The “one size fits all” approach has shifted to pave the way for more customized education that plays an important role in increasing learn ability.

For more information, view the Adobe webinar series: 8-Part Adobe Digital Learning Webinar Series: Redefine Digital Learning Experiences.