Reg, I believe that you are correct in saying that intelligent things will have a prominent place in our classrooms within the next five to ten years. As an English teacher and a parent of a toddler, I am starting to see that the role of technology is reshaping the way we think and view the world. I believe that we are starting to see in shift in the way education is using technology. No longer is technology the “fancy way” to simply showcase your work. We are reshaping the way we learn and reshape our lens of the world we live in as technology has improved over the years.
I think how we interact with our students will be the biggest change for teachers and students. Teachers and administrators will see more of a focus on incorporating “Intelligent Things” into teacher’s teaching practices and student’s learning. This will place more onus on ensuring that teachers make a concerted effort to personalize learning and provide instant feedback back to the students, parents and administrators.
We are starting to slowly see this shift in education. In Coquitlam, a partnership has developed between, Finger Foods, a tech based company based out of Coquitlam, and the high schools in School District #43. Specifically, Inquiry Hub, an inquiry based high school, has facilitated one on one mentorship with Finger Foods. This sharing of information and personalizing of student learning has helped several students at Inquiry Hub to further pursue their passions in a way that would not have been possible when I was in high school twenty years ago.
However, this was done at a small scale as Inquiry Hub has a student population of fifty students. The ultimate vision of individuals in our district is to provide these opportunities to all high school students in the district. Thus, “Intelligent Things” is one way that could provide administrators the opportunity to reach a large audience, high school students, and provide them with the opportunities to pursue their passions, enhance teaching practices, and increase the feedback between students, teachers and parents.
16 Sep
Thanks for your insights Philip! You make a great point regarding how 'intelligent things' will help personalize learning. I hope you're right in saying this, as it'll help so many, including students with special needs who may require additional engagement or personalized learning activities beyond what a single teacher may be able to provide within their class. This will not only better support the student, but will in theory also alleviate some stress from the educator who now knows that their students who may require additional attention are being equally supported. It's scalability, another big potential of 'intelligent things' could also help provide personalized feedback to large student groups based on aggregate data sets. While researching for my OP, I came across http://www.cognii.com/, a scalable and personalized mentoring tool for students in any school/training environment. It allows open-ended responses between student and AI, provides personalized feedback, and adapts to each student's responses and information provided. I don't know much about this product, but I'll certainly be looking into it further, as the potential is incredible! Like any developing technology, the more resources that become available for users (such as https://ai.google/education/), the more developed it will become. Really enjoyed your reply - thanks again! -Reg
