Smart Perspectives for the "Smart Lane"

The focus of this blog is various perspectives on Brett King’s book, Augmented: Life in the Smart Lane and the impact of emerging technologies in education. Previously, I considered King’s argument and provided my own commentary on some of King’s predictions. As I’ve worked on this topic, I have wondered what the experts publishing in peer-reviewed journals think about the emerging technologies that are at the forefront of King’s book. There is certainly a significant amount of hype surrounding several of the technologies (i.e. self-driving cars, artificial intelligence and augmented reality) that are commonly referenced in the media. I will definitely dedicate a future post to the portrayal of emerging technologies in the media. This raises the question- beyond the hype, will these technologies be useful in the classroom? For this, I turned to a journal published by the Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers (IEEE). I found one article that discusses augmented reality in the classroom, and one article that discusses artificial intelligence in the classroom. The article on artificial intelligence (AI) is a highly statistical study about using AI as a teaching assistant in the classroom. AI “teaching assistants were used in the classroom, and surveys regarding their effectiveness was given to students. The conclusion of the study has that, “the overall message of these evaluations is that blending AIED technology with other forms of teaching is beneficial, particularly for older pupils and college-level students studying STEM subjects” (P. 80). The AI was not quite capable of replacing teachers, and the AI really only worked in certain regimented subject areas. While AI probably will have a role in the classroom of the future, the article is realistic about the affordances related to AI in the classroom. The article on augmented reality (AR) is quite similar. The author here notes that, “Providing AR experiences does not necessarily mean that people are learning more effectively from them” (P. 58). I would generally agree with the conclusion that the affordances of these emerging technologies must be examined. While AR can bring a place to life without leaving the classroom, is this the best use of time? I think that King would disagree. It is also possible that some educators have figured out effective ways to use new technologies. These technologies will definitely be adopted by mainstream consumers, but whether or not they end up in the classroom is a matter of how well teachers can integrate them into their designs.

References:

Billinghurst, Mark, and Andreas Duenser. “Augmented Reality in the Classroom.”
Computer, vol. 45, no. 7, 2012, pp. 56–63., doi:10.1109/MC.2012.111.

Du Boulay, Benedict. “Artificial Intelligence as an Effective Classroom Assistant.”
Intelligent Systems, IEEE, vol. 31, no. 6, 2016, pp. 76–81., doi:10.1109/MIS.2016.93.