Collaborating with AIed for better student-teacher reconnection

Abstract

The global pandemic has caused much disruption to higher education, but especially that of student-teacher relations as students and teachers struggle to adapt to emergency remote teaching. As the pandemic restrictions ease globally, students and teachers see an opportunity to reconnect. But the development of artificial intelligence in education (AIed) is perceived as a potential disruption to student-teacher relationship. Hence, teachers have understandably viewed AIed with suspicion and with a sense of inevitability. However, teachers should not treat AIed as ‘the enemy’. Working collaboratively with AIed could enhance student-teacher reconnection efforts, and by recognizing where AIed should take the lead and where the human teacher should take the lead in building that relationship, the fear that AIed would disrupt student-teacher relations can be dispelled.

A proposal to include Maori perspectives in AIed

“…The framework posits that there are relationships between each of the various elements and that each of these relationships have to be informed by Māori values and Mātauranga Māori. The AI-Teacher relationship, whilst dynamic, holds the potential to transform the field of education by providing timely support information and analytics to teachers; automating administrative tasks, and further supporting teachers to provide a more personalized instruction and student engagement (Koh et al, 2022). Expanding further on the popularly adopted Te Whare Tapa Whā model, this framework explicitly incorporates more aspects of Tikanga Māori (Māori values and customs) to highlight the importance and significance of tikanga Māori in the building and guiding of relationships.…”