Artificial Intelligence Boosts Authentic Learning in Higher Education

Educational practices have always been steadily evolving, punctuated by brief eras of sharp reform based on current trends and emerging research. Historically, education reflects the social norms and needs of its time. As culture changes, so must we change the way we teach.

Computers have revolutionized the classroom, no doubt. In the 1980s it became common for each college or university to house a computer lab. Less than forty years later, most colleges require that students bring a personal laptop to class each day.

Not only are personal computing devices commonplace, but teaching technology continues to advance as well. Not only is distance learning growing at a lightning pace, but every brick-and-mortar college classroom also has a corresponding digital component. And on-site, from white boards to glassboards, to streaming and interactive projection devices, the days of banging erasers are reserved for the history books.

With today’s trend toward personalized education, emphasized by the social needs of Millennial learners, the goal of educational technology has become an individualized experience for each student. That’s where AI, or Artificial Intelligence comes in. AI technology can facilitate personal learning without adding demands to teachers. AI can, among other things, accommodate online tutoring, help teachers find gaps in student achievement, and shape academic content, all leading to higher retention rates, even with previously troublesome populations such as diverse learners.

According to Dr. Joseph Auon, author of Higher Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, and President of Northeastern University, “the integration of classroom experience with world experience” is the best way for students to achieve “experiential learning.” While the concept of lifelong learning is certainly not new, its operational definition and methods for attaining it are changing every day, and education must adapt in order to produce individuals who can continue to evolve our planet at the pace to which we have become accustomed.