by CHARLOTTE WILKINSON -

Robot ‘teachers’

Of the technological developments I am predicting a time traveller would see within education in 2035, the use of robots instead of or working with teachers is probably the least likely. I think this may be the case due to the mass unwillingness of teachers and general public to see the use of robots within education. I might be wrong as the volume of educational research regarding robotics is rapidly increasing, suggesting there might be some changes on the horizon.

If we are to see robots as a permanent addition to our education system, it is highly likely that they will only initially be used within science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) due to their current experimental stage which is showing encouraging results (Kenny, Lemaignan and Belpaeme, 2016). This use of robots in STEM allows for students to involve themselves in high level thought experiments and discussions regarding highly complicated theories. Robots are able to hold many positions within education, the use of them does not mean the replacement and removal of teachers. Robots are able to be instructors, providing complex materials, or learning companions/teaching assistants. I prefer the notion of robots as teaching assistants, providing children with materials in order to nurture and encourage critical thinking and perseverance with the most difficult ideas (Anwar et al., 2019). 

Another very interesting role of robots within education which is one I am only recently aware of is that it may be possible in the future to have robot teachers who are able to make pedagogical decisions as well as educational policy decisions. My initial reaction to this was that it is a horrible idea with no place in our future, however I now see this to be a very interesting possibility. Due to robots being a mode of artificial intelligence (AI), they use coding to function, this means their outlook on the world is purely statistical. This results in the idea that robots would be able to make these educational decisions based upon the data they observe, data which human teachers would be unable to collect. An example of this type of data is the accuracy of individual student outcomes. This possibly could create an education system which has pedagogical decisions made due to accurate statistical analysis (Zeide, 2019). 

by CHARLOTTE WILKINSON -

Online Learning

Online learning is enormously different to the practice of face-to-face learning, this means that these methods cannot be approached using the same pedagogical principles. When discussing pedagogical principles, the idea of pedagogical artefacts arises, the example given of these are computers. They are referred to in such a way due to their ability to foster the transmission of ideas between learners, without physical barriers. 

This use of computers as pedagogy is a rather corporate idea which does have its benefits, the use of technology to provide knowledge to students, put very simply, cuts labour costs. It does this whilst also removing barriers such as the restriction of admission numbers imposed by face-to-face teaching. This virtual approach, to university learning, in particular, allows more students to enrol, so there are more students paying fees and the institution has fewer outgoing payments on staff wages (Thompson, 1999).

The movement to online learning which I predict will occur within the next 15 years, or possibly sooner due to the approach to education and learning required because of Covid-19 restrictions, is not just a replacement of our current face-to-face system. It is possible and rather likely that this virtual education, with the help of advanced technology available, is able to be providing a higher quality of learning (Turoff, 1995). 

As I mentioned previously, the long-term benefit of online learning is that huge savings are made (Thompson, 1999). This remains true; however, it is important to recognise the initial expense of moving to online learning from face-to-face teaching. This expense is due to the initial cost of proving and using good quality, reliable technology and educators. These high expenses are worth the price due to the effectiveness of the education provided. For the most effective learning, I suggest that in 15 years we will have a blended learning approach, of both asynchronous and synchronous learning. This means that learning will be a combination of materials being available anytime, in any place and having sessions which are live, providing personal connections between pupils and their teachers (Ally, 2004).