I found the article attached particularly interesting as it speaks to another direction in which the conversation about AI and its impact on Education can be taken. John seeks to highlight the benefits that AI can bring to the teacher, student, and parents, rather than the often-explored perspective of how AI will encourage plagiarism or cheating or inhibit independent thinking among our students.
I find this even more interesting as I examine the article from the perspective of an educator whose background is rooted in a developing country. Without question, only in a few schools is AI utilized by teachers and students. This is so both at the secondary level and in the teachers’ colleges. My thoughts therefore are centered around how far behind some developing countries are on the “information highway”
What is the level of penetration in other developing countries?
https://www.edweek.org/technology/opinion-skip-the-ai-hype-what-can-educators-do-with-it/2023/09
Hi George. I think you bring up a fantastic point here when thinking of the lack of equity that can be seen in digital citizenship issues. We cannot assume that access to technology is the same everywhere in the world, and I think oftentimes we can lost sight of that if we come from a Western, eurocentric perspective.
I really appreciate this insight because the idea of “progress” is something I have been thinking a lot about lately in this class. You use the idea of “being behind” which I think points to some engrained ideas of progress in our society.
Hi George,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I feel AI could widen the gap between rich and poor countries. New technologies such as AI, machine learning, robotics, big data, and networking are expected to revolutionize production processes, but they could also have a significant impact on developing economies. New technologies could shift more investment to advanced economies that have already automated, widening the gap between rich and poor countries. This, in turn, could have an adverse impact on the employment situation in developing countries, substituting rather than complementing their growing workforces, a traditional strength of less developed economies. To prevent this growing divergence, policymakers in developing economies need to take action to raise their productivity and the skills of their workers.
Echo
Great point that I hadn’t considered; AI and equity. Here I am thinking about the barriers that prevent me from understanding, effectively utilizing and implementing the use of AI in my classroom, meanwhile not even considering the divisiveness possibly created in developing countries. Thanks for the article and insight to this.
Hi Kendyll
Thanks for your thoughts. I am relating it to my own lived experience.