AI has already had a major impact on how students approach their learning, yet the technology is only just getting started. Wondering what else is on the horizon?
We’ll cover a few emerging trends and what educators can expect from AI lessons of the future. Hint — classes may not be limited to the classroom forever.
AI Lessons: Future Trends and Technologies
If you’ve ever wondered what AI lessons would look like, we’ve got you covered with the analysis below.
Virtual Avatars
Online educational content isn’t new. But until now, it has generally relied on “real” educators and actors to teach courses, or sometimes animations with voiceovers. Thanks to AI, another possibility is emerging — virtual avatars.
Using this technology, one photo of an educator can be used to create an avatar based on their likeness, and this avatar can teach the lesson thanks to AI.
These virtual avatars may also have AI voices, which are especially useful when adapting educational content to multiple languages.
Emotion Recognition
A longstanding problem for teachers is tracking whether their students are truly following the lesson or just pretending to understand. This has led to the creation of various systems allowing students to signal whether they’re comfortable with the material, such as holding up a red flag.
Now, there’s a more innovative solution: AI can track their comfort levels automatically by monitoring the emotions of students through their facial expressions.
For instance, it may detect that most students are confused or bored, allowing the teacher to adjust the lesson accordingly.
AI-Powered Tutoring
It’s no secret that tutoring can help students to take their learning to the next level, offering learners the personalized support they need. However, his solution hasn’t always been widely accessible.
AI lessons are set to change this. As long as students can access a device like a tablet or computer in lessons, they have a way to receive the extra support they need. Various learning platforms now use AI to assess how much the student is learning by assessing them continuously, such as Khan Academy’s AI “tutor” Khanmigo.
These AI tutors can then tailor content to a student’s needs by adding detailed explanations or refreshers. Alternatively, they can introduce more advanced concepts for students who need to be challenged.
AI tutoring can also help students who get stuck when trying to complete their homework. Large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT often do a great job of providing explanations, especially for tricky areas like math problems.
Virtual Reality
AI becomes even more powerful when it’s combined with other technologies, and one of the most significant is virtual reality (VR). In this futuristic-seeming solution, students put on headsets that transport them to a simulation where they can participate in learning experiences.
For instance, they could visit the Napoleonic era in a history lesson, or watch a scientific experiment that wouldn’t be feasible for the school laboratory.
Virtual reality environments can then be integrated with AI features above to give students a truly interactive experience in real-time. For instance, algorithms might monitor the student’s engagement during a simulation or talk to the student and answer their questions.
Accessibility Tools
AI lessons are also set to even the playing field by making education more accessible. Whether it’s a student with poor vision who needs information read aloud to them, a student with ADHD who needs resources to be adapted to help them focus, or a dyslexic student who struggles with traditional learning methods, AI can cater to everyone. Since it is automated, it is a far more feasible solution than teachers manually attempting to make everything accessible.
For instance, Dysolve AI is an AI platform with interactive games to help those with dyslexia and similar conditions.
Hybrid and Virtual Environments
The pandemic highlighted the importance of preparing for times when students can’t make it to the classroom, and deadly viruses aren’t the only time when virtual learning environments are useful. Extreme weather, ill students, and those who live in highly remote locations are further examples.
A hybrid (or hyflex) classroom allows students to learn both online and in person. There are a few different forms this can take, such as:
- Flipped — students doing certain activities at home to prepare for classes, such as reading or watching content
- Rotation — students rotating between various online and traditional classroom activities
- Flexi — students having the choice whether to pursue online or in-person education, depending on their own needs
While a hybrid classroom doesn’t have to involve AI, this technology helps to facilitate at-home learning. If students are struggling to understand a concept, they can ask their AI tutor or agent for support instead of relying on a teacher.
Charting the Lessons of the Future
From students benefiting from their very own personalized AI tutor to immersive virtual reality experiences, it’s clear that education is evolving rapidly. AI lessons are no longer a distant concept — they’re becoming an integral part of how students learn and engage with content today.
With technology advancing at lightning speed, it’s more important than ever to equip both teachers and students with the tools to navigate this new digital landscape.
At Learning.com, we offer resources to do just that. We’ve created a one-stop AI Resource Center for educators that offers guides, tools and professional development webinars to help you better leverage AI in the classroom. For students, we designed the EasyTech Digital Literacy Curriculum covering everything from online safety to foundational tech skills like coding.