How technology is transforming schooling.

Dan Schwartz, dean of Stanford University's Graduate School of Education, and other education researchers consider what's next for some of the technology trends taking center stage in the classroom.New technological advances are disrupting education, from the recent launch of new artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots like ChatGPT to the growing popularity of virtual reality tools that push the boundaries of the classroom. For teachers, the essence of all this is to hope that every student has an equal opportunity to develop the skills required for success. However, this promise is not without its trap. Dan Schwartz, dean of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education (GSE), said: “Technology has changed the game in education—it offers the prospect of universal access to high-quality learning experiences and creates entirely new ways of teaching and learning. method. “But many of our teaching methods are not very good, and one of the concerns with artificial intelligence in particular is that our teaching efficiency will become very poor. This is the time to focus and do things differently.

Also ending this year for K-12 schools is the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) grant program, which provided pandemic recovery funds that many districts used to invest in educational software and systems. Funding is set to expire in September 2024, and schools are scrambling to figure out how best to use the technology as they face dwindling resources. Here, Schwarz and other Stanford educators determine some of the technology trends that occupy a class center this year.

AI in the Classroom

The big story in tech and education in 2023 is the launch of generative artificial intelligence, ChatGPT, and other chatbots that can produce seemingly human-written text in response to questions or prompts. Educators were immediately concerned that students would use the chatbot to cheat and try to pass off their logo as their own. As schools begin to adopt policies regarding student use of the tool, many are also beginning to explore possible options, such as generating reading assignments or coaching students through the writing process.

AI can also help automate tasks like grading and lesson planning, freeing up teachers to do the human work that drew them to the profession, said Victor Lee, BSE associate professor and leader of the AI+ Education initiative. at the Stanford Learning Accelerator. “I'm excited to see some movement to create artificial intelligence tools to improve the lives of teachers — not to replace them, but to free them up to do the work that only teachers can do,” he said this See more.”He also emphasized the need to teach students to start questioning and criticizing the development and use of artificial intelligence. “AI is not going away,” said Lee, who is also the director of CRAFT (Classroom Ready Resources for Artificial Intelligence in Teaching). An organization that provides free resources to help teach AI literacy to high school students in a variety of subject areas. "We need to teach students how to understand and think critically about this technology."

Immersive surroundings.

Now, educational opportunities are more than just putting on a headset and experiencing life from afar. With new technology, students can create their own local interactive 360-degree scenarios using just a cell phone or inexpensive camera and simple online tools.

"This is an area that's going to really grow rapidly in the next couple of years," said Kristen Pilner Blair, research director of the Digital Learning Initiative at the Stanford Learning Accelerator, which runs a program investigating the use of virtual field trips to promote learning. “Students can learn about the impacts of climate change through hands-on experience of its impact on a specific environment, but they can also become content creators, recording and sharing immersive media that shows the impact in their lives.

Integrating artificial intelligence into virtual simulations could also soon take the experience to another level, Schwartz said. "If your VR experience shows me a redwood tree, you might get a pop-up that lets me ask questions about the tree, and the AI can provide the answers."