AI is causing a lot of paradigm shifts in societal settings. The world population is growing and to keep up with living demands, technological advancements are helping to make things easier.
No matter how automation is taking over, I have a few things that I wouldn't like to see automated. The one I would like to talk about is early childhood education.
AI has penetrated teaching and learning to a great extent. The use of robots to teach is gaining traction globally. We have different methods of passing knowledge. We have the lecture method, discussion method, brainstorming, and practical-based learning which is more pupil-centered. In the formative years of a child, lecturing or teacher-centered experience is discouraged.
Childhood education has moved to the pupil's pupil-centered type. The pupils are guided to make some discoveries on their own. This makes their learning experience awesome. The interaction between teacher and pupils is so vital at this stage. Making teaching automated at that stage could be counterproductive. That unique bond between pupils and teachers is very important to aid the learning process.
I once had an encounter with a child many years ago. The boy in question was less than 10 years old. I noticed that the boy wasn't doing well in his academics. He was always sad and reserved. I gave the pupils a problem to solve in the class. They solved the mathematics problems in their notebooks and submitted them. After marking the books, I realized that the boy scored nothing out of 10 obtainable marks.
A few minutes after distributing their books to them, a pupil reported the boy to me. He was accused of tearing off the page which I scored him zero out of 20. I collected the book and found that the allegation was true. I was enraged over that kind of habit at that tender age.
When I wanted to punish him, he opened up to me. His stepdad always flogged him whenever he scored less than average in any given task. He went on to tell me the details of the punishment that his stepfather used to throw out on him. I sympathized with him immediately. I understood how the situation made him develop a negative attitudes to cope. I drew him closer to myself that day and I promised to help him navigate through the troubled waters.
I invited the mother to school to discuss the boy. To my surprise, the boy hadn't informed his mother about his stepfather's excesses. He was scared that his mother might end up supporting the man.
My intervention yielded fruits. Gradually, the boy's confidence continued to increase. He believed in me and trusted me to the point of relating what was troubling him with me. Within a short period, the hidden potential of the boy was unearthed. He became one of my best pupils in mathematics within a short while.
If the teaching were to be an automated system, there is no way he would be able to relate his problems to a robot in that manner. He might end up being consumed by the problem.
This is the reason that I want the mode of interaction in early childhood education to remain teacher-to-pupils and not machine-to-pupils. Education in that stage shouldn't be gambled with.
Emotional connection, physical interaction, and nonverbal communication are very important to build the required value in a growing child. Thus, education at this level shouldn't be run automatically.
