In this course, we have been tasked with deciding on a topic to look at more critically. My group has decided to research artificial intelligence (AI) in personalized learning. In a previous post, I discussed the idea of more people using AI to learn English or another language, and that continues to interest me. A topic that has interested me throughout my research has been the credibility and accuracy of the use of AI in personal learning with a lens of language learning. To begin, I took part in a course on Udemy that originally appeared helpful in the team topic. Still, it became apparent that it could have been more informative regarding personalized education and using AI. Instead, we found a Coursera class called Innovative Teaching with ChatGPT.
In this class, Professor Jules White discussed using ChatGPT to personalize lessons and topics to fit the students’ interests (J. White, personal communication, April 12, 2024). While he mentioned that this personalization could be done and that using ChatGPT could help teachers’ lesson plans, he also stressed the importance of reviewing what information you are given to correct errors before using it with students. He gave hints on how to write prompts into ChatGPT to get closer to the information I was seeking. It was great to begin researching the use of AI in the classroom. I also read the book Should Robots Replace Teachers? By Neil Selwyn (2019) to better understand the use of AI in education.
Upon reading the book, Selwyn (2019), much like White, stressed the importance of recognizing that AI is not a perfect tool and that we must also be aware of who the programmers are behind the software. As Selwyn (2019) and Akgun & Greenhow (2021) stressed, we should examine educational technology through a political, cultural, social, and ethical lens. I will keep this in mind as I continue to research AI, personalized education, and its credibility and accuracy in being used with students.
References
Akgun, S., & Greenhow, C. (2021). Artificial intelligence in education: Addressing ethical challenges in K-12 settings. AI and Ethics, 2(3). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8455229/
Selwyn, N. (2019). Should robots replace teachers? AI and the future of education. Polity Press.
Hi, Catherine! I am glad to hear about your framing and the kinds of issues you are keeping in mind as you work on your topic. I am also curious about the accuracy and credibility issue. I think about how upset students are when, for example, a single question is wrong in a quiz and they have to argue the point with an instructor. I wonder about how accountability, etc. get managed in the context of the robot co-teacher and who is responsible for that work. (Maybe I think too much about fights between IT world and faculty world because I live at the intersection. 🙂 ) I wonder how best practices will emerge for these issues?
Hi Brenna,
You make a great point! I did not really think about the idea of accountability when using AI for personalized learning. As I move on to more of a user experience journey, it is still something I will keep in mind as I research.
Cheers,
Catherine
I really appreciate the way you are gathering up some areas of promise for AI (language learning) and some of the knotty problems that exist around the imperfections of software and the humans who create it. I think if you wanted to dive into the world of AI-enabled personalised language learning you might find it quite a rich space, full of political, cultural, social, and ethical considerations. Are certain languages privileged in some of the more common AI tools? What might be the promises and pitfalls of using AI-enabled personal learning with minority languages? I think you’re on the cusp of a really rich research space and I’m excited to see where you go with it!
Hi Anne-Marie,
I have been finding that most research surrounding the world of AI and personal language learning revolves around English as a second language or foreign language, but that could be that I am not using the correct keywords. Since continuing to research the topic, I found that using “AI for foreign language learning” provided more results with various languages versus using “Ai for language learning” which provided more articles about ESL or EFL. For example, one article discusses people using applications to learn Turkish (Kessler et al., 2023). While it is great that I am finding articles on different languages, as you pointed out in your comment, some are more popular than others such as English, French, and Spanish. I hope as I continue to research, I will find more information pertaining to different languages than the three mentioned!
Cheers,
Catherine
Reference
Kessler, M., Loewen, S., & Gönülal, T. (2023). Mobile-assisted language learning with Babbel and Duolingo: comparing L2 learning gains and user experience. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2023.2215294
Hi Catherine,
I am enjoying being an observer and fan of your research journey. As I was conducting my own research, I came across a mapping summary of adaptive learning systems and thought of you. Kabudi et al. (2021) studied AI-enabled adaptive learning systems and presented a systematic mapping of relevant literature. The authors identified the types of AI-enabled learning interventions used and reviewed techniques utilized in AI-enabled learning systems. The article highlights AI-enabled learning systems that deliver learning content and adapt to the individual needs of students, such as intelligent tutoring systems and adaptive learning systems. The content that also made me think of you is the mention of improvements in users’ learning experiences as I know you are interested in this specific topic.
Are you finding research that pertains to the user experience?
Cheers,
~M
Reference
Kabudi, T., Pappas, I., & Olsen, D. H. (2021). AI-enabled adaptive learning systems: A systematic mapping of the literature. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeai.2021.100017
Hi Marni,
Thank for the link to the article, I will check it out! I have been finding articles that touch upon similar topics as this one (especially using ITS) such as Huang and Li (2023) where they going into the pros and cons of using AI tools for language learning. I also have found some research pertaining to user reviews of Duolingo where some like it for its easy to user interface (Munday, 2015), but find the personalization lacking unless they pay for a subscription (Anderson & Charaf, 2020).
References
Anderson, P., & Charaf, A. (2020). The reviews of users of the duolingo application: Usability and objectivity in the learning process. International Journal of Research – Granthaalayah. https://doi.org/10.29121/granthaalayah.v8.i9.2020.1326
Huang, J., & Li, S. (2023). Opportunities and challenges in the application of chatgpt in foreign language teaching. International Journal of Education and Social Science Research, 06(04), 75–89. https://doi.org/10.37500/ijessr.2023.6406
Munday, P. (2015). The case for using duolingo as part of the language classroom experience. RIED. Revista Iberoamericana de Educación a Distancia, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.5944/ried.19.1.14581