Mojza Blog
AI Study Buddy
Using AI for Education
by Abeer Ansari | 07 Jan 2024
ChatGPT can write essays, solve coding problems, do basic maths, and whatnot. But does that help us learn anything or gain any knowledge? I am here to take you on a journey in all things AI and tools that can help you excel at your studies. Strap on your learning capes, brave knowledge-seekers, for we’re about to embark on an educational adventure through the whimsical world where AI and education collide!
Gone are the days of static notebooks and one-size-fits-all lessons. AI is here to make your education as personalised as possible for you just like your playlist on a rainy day. AI algorithms analyse your study patterns and understand your learning style to modify itself to best explain you.
Not only students but educators can also use AI for their aid and help them be better teachers. Teachers can get insight into individual student’s progress. AI-powered data analysis helps teachers tailor lessons according to their students’ needs. Automating basic classroom requirements and using AI to help create study plans can reduce teachers’ workload. This can allow them to divert more focus on the essential part of their job; interacting with students and helping them understand to the best of their capabilities. Quim Sabría, a former teacher in Barcelona, Spain, and co-founder of Edpuzzle, says AI could improve teacher productivity across areas like lesson planning and differentiation, grading and providing quality feedback, teacher-parent communication, and professional development. (Source World Economic Forum)
AI can accelerate the long overdue reforms required in our old education system and take a step towards a more individualized education encouraging students to think out of the box.
How to make AI your best study buddy?
Each student works at their own pace. Are you a fast learner or a slow one? In a classroom of 20, every student is different, so an individualised lesson plan isn’t very realistic. Here AI tools can jump in and help you figure things out. Consider AI as your super smart friend who knows how to help you. Sal Khan – founder of Khan Academy – in conversation with Bill Gates in his podcast Unconfuse Me, stated, “People could finally leverage technology to learn at their own pace.”
AI tools such as ChatGPT can write your complete essays but sometimes the information may be inaccurate, the scenario way too generalised, or you see it form a bias. Using ChatGPT this way won’t help you to think critically and it might not even be able to write a unique theory and defend it. Therefore, it can serve as a great help to write your first draft and then move things around to make the essay better and more enhanced. To ensure that an essay is not completely written by AI, educators can use AI detector websites such as Scribbr and specify learning goals and outcomes to minimise the use of AI.
Thanks to AI, you can get a great learning experience anytime, anywhere. AI is the equaliser to make education the same for all – from someone living in the slums of an underdeveloped country to a student living in a posh house in a developed country. Students can clarify their queries and get feedback, all in real-time.
Next, embrace the magic of AI analytics. Just as your favourite streaming service recommends shows you’re likely to binge-watch, AI can analyse your study patterns to suggest areas that might need a little extra help. It’s like having a crystal ball that tells you which chapters to revisit before the big test.
David Kellerman is one of the professors to integrate AI into his classroom. He built a question bot to answer questions and even deliver videos of his previous lectures. Furthermore, he added a flag function so that if something is still unclear to his students, teacher assistants can follow up later. (Source: Microsoft)
Similarly, 99.4% of educators agreed that AI would be a key variable to ensure the institution’s competitiveness in the next 3 years. The use of AI in education will be revolutionary. Everything is in its initial stages but with more work done in this area, soon enough AI will be incorporated in all classrooms.
Genie-like AI Tools that you can use to study:
Socratic by Google: The Homework Wizard
Socratic is a learning app by Google which is built to work for all subjects. With the aid of teachers, the app has included colourful and detailed explanations of topics alongside having Google’s AI integrated into it to make learning more simplified. You can take a picture of a problem, type it out, or ask a question via voice search. Socratic works out the problem and then provides further resources and an explanation of how it reached that outcome. Google AI is being used along with specific algorithms to break down geometry, algebra, calculus, history, geography, and many more subjects into simpler, shorter, and easier-to-understand concepts.
Khanmigo: Your nerd friend
Khanmigo is the AI chatbot launched by Khan Academy. Its algorithm works in a way that it does not just tell you the answer or write your essay for you. Instead, it takes you through all the steps required and helps you navigate toward the answer. It is even there for you to answer unconventional questions like “Why do we have to study this?” It gives suggestions to students and interacts with them as they move forward with their writing. Khanmigo is a great tool for educators too as it helps them make study plans and share insightful student feedback.
Notion AI: Notes Noted
Notion can be your best friend in note-taking and keeping your tasks organised. Notion can be a tad bit tricky to use, but once you get the hang of it, it will be the most powerful tool you might use. With Notion AI, you can maximise your productivity. It suggests tags to help students organise their notes and suggests prompts to students while they are writing and researching. It can even come up with synonyms while writing. It also has many different features such as summarising lengthy pieces of writing, the “help me write” feature, generating lists, fixing spelling and grammar mistakes, solving maths equations, and much more.
Duolingo: Become A Wise Owl
Duolingo creates tailored learning experiences. This language learning platform creates a personalised and engaging journey for learners worldwide. It uses adaptive exercises and personalised feedback to help students learn a language at their own pace and have fun while doing it!
Brainscape: Virtual Flashcards
Brainscape utilises AI algorithms to optimise flashcard-based learning. It intelligently adapts the repetition and review of flashcards based on your confidence in each topic, making your study sessions more efficient. It uses an algorithm known as “spaced repetition”; it repeats the flashcards precisely when you should recall them, helping you memorise faster.
Fetchy: Your Teaching Secretary
Fetchy is an amazing AI tool for educators to create effective and interesting study plans according to students’ needs. It aims to simplify the countless tasks a teacher has to go through. It empowers teachers to take their skills to the next level while making the best use of their time.
Gradescope: Grades A,B,C
Last, but not least, Gradescope is an amazing AI tool for students as well as teachers. It makes it easier for instructors to check the papers, using features such as answer grouping and AI-assisted answers. Answer grouping allows a teacher to check all similar answers in one go instead of reading each answer separately in a fixed-template assignment. Instructors can access analytics and insights about student performance, identifying common mistakes or areas where the class might need additional instruction. After grading, students receive detailed feedback on their submissions, which can include annotated comments, rubric-based evaluations, and suggestions for improvement.
As Bill Gates said: “Students should not feel like, ‘Okay, I need to learn less, I don’t need to multiply because computers are so good at multiplication.’” The job market, education sector, and everything around us might be changing, but we are quite a long time ahead of robots taking over everything. So, the next time you’re faced with a tricky maths problem, a mountain of research, or a Shakespearean essay that seems more like a riddle, remember that AI is here to sprinkle its magic and aid you in your academic journey. As AI continues to reshape education, it feels like you are indeed living in a science fiction. Until next time, keep your algorithms running and pencils sharp!
Acknowledgements
Author: Abeer Ansari
Proofreader: Nabeeha Shakeel
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Published: 07 January 2024
Last Updated: –
Written by Abeer Ansari