3
Both teachers and students, knowingly or unknowingly, for good or bad, are already using AI inside and out of the classroom: How?
Further into this book, we will look at the artificial intelligence tools available for education. But many of the most useful applications have yet to enter the classroom. The Educational technology industry, big digital corporations and university research labs are all developing tools to help the teacher teach and the learner learn. More and more, corporates specialising in AI are making huge investments in education. Tools, both approved and unapproved by the concerned authority, but available freely, are used by teachers and students.
Whether made with education in mind or not, many of these tools may be used in the classroom. It’s necessary to be aware of their benefits and potential problems .
One of the free applications for mathematics available during the writing of this text is Photomath. (For language teachers, a similar example might be a language learning app as Duolingo or writing software that uses GPT3.)
Reflection
Often, while researching the use of a software, we have videos that have been published by the manufacturer. Even third-party reviews might or might not be affiliated.
How to separate the truth from oversell?
Is the application really as useful as the video claims it to be?
Is there difficulty in using its features?
What are some potential problems that could come with using this?
Photomath is a mathematical solver. It takes a mathematical equation and solves it. Teachers have been contending with calculators, as a tool for teaching as well as cheating.
What makes Photomath so powerful is the ease of use – just click a picture of the blackboard or notebook. The AI in Photomath scans the photo and solves the problem directly.
Let’s say a calculator gives you an answer of 42. Teachers may allow their use to check the result, but the students must arrive at the solution by themselves. Solvers such as these show multiple ways to solve and visualise a problem, although this part is much less technically demanding for the programmer
Other applications found in today’s classrooms:
- Search engines
- Spell check and grammar correction which is built into most writing software
- Online translators
- Language learning apps
- Math solvers like Photomath, Geogebra and Wolfram
- Personal assistants.
- Chatbots
- Intelligent tutoring systems
- AI-powered learning management systems
Reflection
Is using AI cheating: What are the teachers’ reactions?
Here are some teacher’s reactions to pupils’ use of AI:
