The artificial intelligence (AI) boom in recent years has created a significant degree of uncertainty in the educational sector. Some educators treat AI with suspicion, as it can be used by students to write their essays for them. This creates an overdependence of students on AI, allowing them to pass academic requirements without having to demonstrate that they've learned anything. Improper use of AI also exposes students to hidden biases in the AI models, data privacy and security issues, reduced human interaction, and lack of supervision from competent educators.
However, just like any tool and technology, AI can be used as a force for good in education. According to Codeyoung, a one-on-one online tutoring platform that teaches coding, mathematics, and other subjects to K-12 students, AI can augment learning programs by creating personalized content and evaluations for students, as well as help teachers become more effective and efficient in their efforts. This is especially important when there is a global shortage of teachers, and technology is seen as one of the ways to make up for this gap.
"We believe that AI brings something very revolutionary to education," says Shailendra Dhakad, Co-Founder and CEO of Codeyoung. "As the largest one-on-one tutoring platform in India, with more than 20,000 students worldwide, we see a lot of opportunity in AI, which can enhance these live online classes and make them even better than offline classes by providing focused, personalized, and responsive instruction for students."
Codeyoung is harnessing the impressive capabilities of AI via NOAH, an AI-powered teaching assistant that's specially designed to reinforce Codeyoung's lessons and provide benefits to students, their parents, and teachers. NOAH tracks the student's progress across their learning journey, keeping teachers and parents informed and giving suggestions on how to customize lessons, pointing out areas where students and teachers need to focus on to improve learning outcomes.
According to Dhakad, personalization is a huge boost to learning, with research showing that AI-driven personalization has the potential to enhance learners' performance and transform education practices. Codeyoung's one-on-one tutoring services will greatly benefit from this added personalization without overburdening the teachers, allowing them to dedicate more time and effort to motivating students to learn, complementing what is being taught in school, and instilling a genuine interest in learning among students.
"AI is a great tool which, if designed and engineered well, can enhance the capacity of an individual in almost any job role, including teaching. In implementing AI at Codeyoung, we keep the needs of students and teachers in mind, as well as understand which things humans can do better and which are better handled by AI," Dhakad says.
He adds that there are three main roles of a teacher: first is delivering the knowledge, second is assessing the student's competency, and third is motivating the student to learn more. For the first two, AI can play a complementary role to the teacher, handling tasks that are straightforward and repetitive, such as grading quizzes or answering simple questions from students. However, the third part is where having a human connection with the teacher is irreplaceable.
According to Dhakad, when video streaming sites such as YouTube first came out, some people thought that teachers were no longer needed, as students could just watch pre-recorded videos online. However, that was not the case, as videos alone make for poor learning outcomes. Instead, students learned better in an environment of commitment and motivation, achieved by humans and technology working together. "Codeyoung bridged the gap by using technology to connect students with the best teachers worldwide over the internet. 1000s of curious students from the US and other parts of the world could connect with the best of the teachers, right from the comfort of their home and were able to achieve much better learning outcomes under their guidance," says Mohit Khandelwal, Chief Growth Officer at Codeyoung.
Furthermore, AI can also help address the shortage of teachers, especially in developing countries, and make education more affordable while still paying attention to each student's individual needs.
"An ideal setup would be where students attend school in a classroom for five days a week, and once or twice during the week, they meet with a private tutor, who, with the help of AI, can work on the student's deficiencies and provide additional teaching in those areas. Humans and technology, as well as group and individual teaching, all complement each other," Dhakad says.
