Highlighted Presidential Session: Digital Societies and Learning Equity: Exploring our multiple futures

Group Submission Type: Highlighted Presidential Session

Description of Session

In a global and interdisciplinary perspective, the rapid expansion of Internet connectivity and use of devices and advanced digital applications (such as AI) are fostering transformations in education. They are also changing the ways that differing societies will face the future. This diverse panel will address a variety of aspects of new “digital societies” with focus on learning equity. Our multiple futures will be explored and debated.

The first paper considers problems and prospects for a more equitable learning future with technology. It briefly describes where we have come from on education and technology over the past half-century, moving from radio and TV to cutting edge AI approaches to personalized education, while touching on MOOCs and remote learning as well as handheld devices in support of education. Considering the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic which has led to a strong interest in the relationship between technology and schooling, it then reviews the concomitant challenges for teacher preparation, remote learning, and ethical dimensions of Ed Tech and AI. The paper draws on recent research to describe the pros and cons of anticipated changes that will impact an equitable future for education.

The second paper describes the debut of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and how generative AI has captured educators’ attention. Initial fears, particularly about cheating prospects, are now often giving way to innovation across the pedagogical spectrum. The impressive power of AI to edit and write has meant that students (and others) rely upon bots as sources of efficiency and authority. Chatbots function in a wide array of languages. While the largest datasets in major large language models are primarily comprised of texts in English, issues with trusting AI’s advice are applicable when writing across the language spectrum. for less fluent speakers or those with less confident writing skills, the temptation is to assume AI’s advice is sound, sometimes resulting in unfortunate errors. Discussion will illustrate the sorts of problematic advice that AI conjures up, situating the challenge in the context of global learners who rely upon AI for accurate guidance.

In paper three, the author explores implications of AI in education based on recent UNESCO research and findings on remote digital learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The presentation aims to explore topics that have not been widely covered in writing about the ripple effects of technology integration in teaching and learning. Issues to be overviewed include: the distillation and homogenization of knowledge, treating AI as modern oracles, and AI that is used for both the completion and assessment of assignments, in addition to digital borders, pattern-dependent personalized learning, and demotivation.

Paper four focuses on whether AI can be a teacher or is simply a tool. Will AI-driven education bridge the learning equity gap between developed and developing nations, or will it widen existing disparities? The author examines two potential futures: one where AI becomes the primary educator in resource-constrained regions, potentially compensating for the lack of qualified and trained teachers, and another where AI serves as an assistant to human teachers worldwide, enhancing educational experiences without replacing human connections. This presentation aims to provoke thought on how we can harness AI's potential to create a more equitable global educational landscape while preserving the irreplaceable human elements of teaching.

Overall, the symposium seeks to raise a set of key ideas and debates around wheat it means to be a digital world today, and how differing approaches to learning can impact learning equity. Multiple possible futures lie ahead and panelist will provide windows on some of these and invite the audience to engage in this cutting edge moment for technology and education as we enter the era of AI.

Sub Unit

• General Pool

Organizer

• Halla B Holmarsdottir, Oslo Metropolitan University (OsloMet)

Chairs

• Daniel A Wagner, University of Pennsylvania

• Nathan M. Castillo, University of Illinois

Individual Presentations

• A more equitable learning future with technology? - Nathan M. Castillo, University of Illinois

• AI as Editor and Author: Implications for Global Learners - Naomi S. Baron, American University

• Digital borders, pattern-dependent personalized learning, demotivation and other lesser explored implications of AI in education - Mark West, UNESCO

• Teacher or Tool? The AI Dilemma in Education and Its Impact on Learning Equity - Alex Twinomugisha, World Bank

Discussants

• Asyia Kazmi, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

• Kwame Akyeampong, The Open University

• Stefania Giannini, UNESCO