The time is now to turn the “wicked problems” that could prevent artificial intelligence from transforming education into “wicked opportunities,” a new report contends.
Under the right conditions, AI can drive self-directed and self-paced learning and help educators pave more meaningful pathways from high school to college and careers, say participants in a think tank convened recently by the Center on Reinventing Public Education. Members of the forum also said the technology could:
- Measure what matters beyond academics in a meaningful way
- Make the teaching job easier, different and more exciting
- Bring all students to grade level through a combination of better schools and new technology
- Harness the ability to develop the full potential of every human
The report generated by the Center on Reinventing Public Education’s think tank details four key steps for achieving these goals. The first is to bring educators, policymakers and other stakeholders together to build broad AI literacy across the U.S. education system. This would include having state and federal leaders visit schools innovating with AI in countries such as South Korea and Singapore.
“Only after we have a vision for what our learning environments should look like, then and only then think about AI,” Carole Basile, dean of Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, says in the report. “Otherwise, we’re putting the cart before the horse.”
The report also suggests creating a “quick and easy-to-understand” six-month road map for district leaders to work with their staff and communities to establish a vision for AI in their districts. The other three important steps:
- Seed a national education leadership strategy. Create a national leadership network to connect leaders across the AI and education sectors. This activity should also involve students, community and civil rights leaders, policy advocates, and business and edtech leaders. The work should include an intentional focus on students with diverse learning needs, such as students with disabilities, multilingual learners and children from historically underserved populations.
- Focus on the “art of the possible.” To spread powerful ideas for transforming K12, education leaders and stakeholders should also collaborate over the next three to five years on designing school models “for a world where generative AI is ubiquitous.” They should identify use cases that involve “connections to humans,” such as reducing teachers’ workloads and appealing to student interests.
- Invest in research and development for early-stage AI adoptions. “Design an ‘AI big bets’ philanthropic fund that advances a clear vision for AI’s potential to reimagine teaching, learning and students’ futures, especially for students who urgently need learning acceleration, mental health support, and other ‘wicked opportunities,'” the report urges. Matching grants would incentivize state education offices to support districts and their stakeholders as the develop AI strategies and policies.
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