Digital teaching

There is huge debate as to whether teachers will be replaced by technology in the future. The role of education technology is continuously expanding from projectors to smart boards and enabling an improved interaction between students and teachers in schools (Fedena, 2018). Holding the responsibility of being some of the most influential role models in a child’s life, teachers are more than people who are employed to teach a classroom full of children a national curriculum (Teach, 2019). Good teachers connect with their students along with building strong relationships and a bond of trust with them (Teach, 2019). 

Some people believe that teachers as robots will be beneficial to society and a cheaper alternative. Teachers are expensive to employ and are increasingly becoming short in supply whereas robots do not need to receive a wage, health care or pension and they are reasonably reliable and hold no prejudice towards humans about religion, gender or race (Harper, 2018). It is also believed that robots are much more efficient than teachers will ever be, whilst teachers are only capable of delivering most of their learning in a whole-class setting, robots hold the ability to deliver tailored learning, carefully evaluating each individual response in order to calibrate when they should stick with a current lesson plan or move onto a new one (Global Education and Skills Forum, 2017).  Artificial Intelligence offers unlimited possibilities in being capable of identifying each individual student’s strengths and interests and building on them (Global Education and Skills Forum, 2017). 

Others believe that human teachers will always be needed to manage a classroom environment and to provide the students with the encouragement and motivation that they need (Lynch, 2018). An essential part of education for students is the learning of social-emotional skills and although artificial intelligence programmes have provided evidence that they are capable of teaching students how to do mathematics and to read and write, they are not capable of teaching emotional and social skills as consciousness is a much more complexed issue that can only be provided by humans (Lynch, 2018). 

In order for teachers to stay relevant in such a fast adapting society they must be prepared to provide students with an adequate education that will equip them for a society that also employs robots by teaching them skills that robots are not capable of demonstrating such as critical thinking, communication, collaboration, problem-solving and entrepreneurialism (Harper, 2018). 

This being said, rather than thinking of the way that technology could someday replace human teachers, we could use technology to our advantage and use it in a way that it makes teachers lives a lot easier. Robots may be able to play a role in the future of education as an extra helping hand in the classroom, although many teachers may be opposed to using them at first (Harper, 2018). The work load of a teacher often comes in excessive amounts, however with technology developing every single day it can be used by teachers to enhance teaching methods by improving existing content, allowing teachers to create communication channels with pupils and parents and to stay organised (Fedena, 2018). If used in the right way, technology can be used to enable teachers rather than replace them (Fedena, 2018) and if this is done correctly then the next generation could have the potential to be the most advanced that the world has seen. According to Rose Luckin who is a professor of learner centred design at University College London, Artificial Intelligence provides students with a unique opportunity to assess which teaching strategies work best and individualises teaching (Global Education and Skills Forum, 2017). 

At a University in the USA, a Computer Science Professor used a virtual teaching assistant to answer his students questions without the students actually being aware that it was not an actual human talking to them, the students would email the robot with problems and queries and they would almost instantly receive a reply (Global Education & Skills Forum, 2017). It was only when the course ended that they found out and the students were amazed at how easily they were fooled into thinking that they were speaking to another human. 

References 

Fedena (2018) Teachers vs Technology: Can technology replace teachers? Available at: https://fedena.com/blog/2018/05/teachers-vs-technology-can-technology-replace-teachers.html(accessed: 23rd April, 2019).

Global Education and Skills Forum (2017) Robots replacing teachers is a good thing – yes or no? Available at: https://www.educationandskillsforum.org/fr/news-blogs/robots-replacing-teachers-is-a-good-thing-yes-or-no(accessed: 25th April, 2019).

Harper, A (2018). Will robots replace teachers in the future? Available at: https://www.educationdive.com/news/will-robots-replace-teachers-in-the-future/542239/ (Accessed: 23^rdApril, 2019). 

Lynch, M (2018) Why Artificial Intelligence Will Never Replace Teachers. Available at: 

https://www.thetechedvocate.org/artificial-intelligence-will-never-replace-teachers/ (accessed: 23^rdApril, 2019). 

Teach (2019) Teachers Change Lives. Available at: https://teach.com/what/teachers-change-lives/ (accessed: 25^thApril, 2019).