EdTech stands for educational technology. It encompasses various ways of applying new devices and methods in the process of acquiring knowledge. The scope of the field of EdTech is huge, starting from projectors that display videos for classrooms, to interactive educational games up to developing AI teaching bots and more. Additionally, it also includes training platforms with online courses: from learning programs for children to complex business courses leading to a diploma organized by the world’s top universities. Educational technologies research AI, so there’s a lot to learn from that field. Today, we’ll look at AI capabilities in creating and optimizing EdTech solutions.

EdTech. Artificial intelligence in education – table of contents:

  1. Introduction
  2. Personalized learning
  3. How is artificial intelligence changing training?
  4. EdTech – New Education
  5. Summary

Introduction

Artificial intelligence has ideal features to tailor the direction of education and the learning process to each individual’s needs. The possibility of a personalized learning path means huge savings in time and energy. This becomes a decisive characteristic in a world where the availability of on-demand content is a matter of course, and lifelong learning a necessity. And not only among education professionals but also other specialists at all levels.

Personalized learning

Instead of applying to college and sleeping through lectures with content to forget immediately after the exam, many students take advantage of online platforms full of dedicated courses. The authors of the report “Global EdTech Market: Thematic Analysis – Perspectives from Industry Leaders & VCs” published by Policy2050.com, call this trend “unbundling.” It means that each modern course is an independent entity. It provides acquiring knowledge straight from the world’s top experts at your fingertips on your demand 24/h. Applying AI to personalize the display of content means that each subsequent course offered by the platform will perfectly suit learners’ needs and interests.

What’s more, AI solves more advanced educational issues, reaching far beyond selecting the most appropriate course for us. First and foremost, it becomes a powerful tool to personalize the learning process, that is, to match the pace of learning and the increase in difficulty level to our progress as well as the amount of time we spend studying. Equally important, AI technologies keep learning regular and motivation in check.

In the business context, we would like to draw attention primarily to two aspects of the development of personalized learning in the EdTech sector, namely:

  • the role of educational technology in employee training, and on
  • companies that are engaged in developing solutions to modernize education

How is artificial intelligence changing training?

The great majority of AI solutions in education came up with remote learning in mind. These include:

  • interactive courses and training
  • learning assistants
  • comprehensive Learning Management Systems (LMSs)
The new reality

Employee and management training have gained functionalities of artificial intelligence and become enriched with:

  • elements of gamification – game-like learning, where collecting points and competing with co-workers improves motivation and learning pace
  • augmented reality (AR) learning – smart solutions like for instance glasses of augmented reality that can superimpose the image projected on the goggles onto reality have opened up many opportunities connected with learning.

Now, everyone can learn how to operate specialized machines without leaving home, and much more. Training courses in general professional competencies or soft skills are available on platforms like Udemy, Coursera, or EdX. What’s more, companies that combine education with technology now offer courses specifically aimed at and tailored for their business clients.

Automatic teacher

The most ground-breaking innovation concerning learning has come with the dawn of chatbots and automatic teachers. They bring forth even more personalized learning provided by teachers that never get sick or tired.

What’s more, the advances in the field of natural language processing (NLP) enable students or pupils to ask automatic teacher questions in the form of text or spoken utterances. The automated teacher can not only answer questions but also take a proactive stance. Instead of waiting for a student to ask a question, an educational chatbot will:

  • ask follow-up questions
  • stimulate curiosity for instance by drawing attention to the applications of the knowledge gained
  • give hints
  • pay attention and reward the tasks solved by the student
  • suggest motivational slogans
  • send notifications and inquiries during student inactivity

A learning assistant may exist solely as a bot responding in a chat room or it takes the form of an animated avatar endowed with a voice. There is even an option to have a real person presenting content, as in Synthesia, an AI-based tool for creating video content based solely on text.

Learning Management Systems

An LMS, or learning management system, is a tool for managing courses and the learning process of many people. It replaces educators in performing the following tasks:

  • recognizing learning styles and selecting teaching methods tailored to a particular person or group of people,
  • grading tasks and checking tests
  • gathering history of individual’s performance from various courses to monitor, evaluate, and assess the ability or readiness to become a specialist in a particular field,
  • suggesting a learning path – to make it as interesting as possible for the employee, and beneficial to the company’s needs.

EdTech – New Education

The major EdTech companies include:

  • Wonderschool
  • MasterClass
  • Duolingo
  • Udemy
  • Coursera

Wonderschool is an activity planning tool for preschool children. Its goal is to identify their talents and optimally develop their potential. The tool is supported by IBM.

The masterClass is an e-learning platform where you can learn from world-class experts, artists as well as business leaders. It has materials in the form of high-quality videos, while the celebrities who turn into course leaders are something that sets it apart from other EdTech leaders, as they include celebrities from all walks of life.

In contrast to the elitist nature of MasterClass, Duolingo is the world’s most popular language-learning platform. It gives aims at giving access to free language education to everyone. It offers a premium version, but even the free version includes features for personalized and gamified learning of many languages.

Udemy is an open platform where you can not only learn, but also offer courses you have prepared. Among other things, it includes courses that introduce the basics of artificial intelligence, as well as machine learning and other AI technologies.

Coursera is one of the EdTech giants. It’s an e-learning platform with access to training developed by major companies and 275 prestigious universities. When starting your adventure with Coursera, you need to fill out an initial questionnaire. Then the platform, through the AI-based CourseMatch tool, proposes increasingly relevant materials. Additionally, it features a personalized learning path for each course. Another innovation of CourseMatch concerns its capability to match academic courses offered by universities in desktop form with the content of online courses from the Coursera catalog.

EdTech. Artificial intelligence in education

Summary

Artificial intelligence has already changed the face of education. Still, we are only at the beginning of the road to fully remote, personalized, and enjoyable learning.

AI-assisted education will develop our potential and connect us to potential employers and entrepreneurs with interests and needs similar to ours. Artificial intelligence will empower us to identify our gaps in skills or knowledge and efficiently fill them. Moreover, it will also provide, among other things: