ROLE OF DIGITIZATION TO IMPROVE EDUCATION SECTORS FOR FUTURE

“ROLE OF DIGITIZATION TO IMPROVE EDUCATION SECTORS FOR FUTURE"

Abstract

The advent of technology has changed teaching styles around the world. The traditional teaching style is nose-diving in developed countries. Countries with acute resources are unable to educate their population. In search of a panacea for this problem, they come up with an idea called digitization. Moreover, the digital arena has revolutionized the education sector. Artificial intelligence has gained the attention of the modern education system. Declaration of digital access should be called a fundamental right in the country. Digitization of the education sector should be taken as seriously as issues like gender inequality, disaster management, and population sprawl in megacities. The need of the hour is to develop freeware and other digital learning gadgets for teachers and students to ensure a steep learning curve. This paper focused on how artificial intelligence can bring revolution in the education sector. STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), DAISY (digitally accessible information system), and TTS (text-to-speech) are used to help the student. There are countries with the successful implementation of artificial intelligence in their education sector. Modern academia required modern technology in their departments.

Keywords:

Traditional teaching, Digitization, Artificial intelligence, STEM, TTS and DAISY.

Introduction

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” -Nelson Mandela.  The race of digitization is started; technology has changed the dynamics of teaching styles. This is the fact for all education levels; digital education has become a need of the hour. Modern education institutes are becoming tech-savvy for matching the technological race. However, the traditional teaching style has been delivered for thousands of years. Renowned scientists and remarkable philosophers are a product of traditional teaching styles.

Every era has its demands, values, and dynamics. This century belongs to digital transformation in every aspect of life. With Elon Musk trying to reach Mars education sector should also change its approach. Classrooms are centered on future engineers, doctors, programmers, etc. How could we expect our generation to contribute in this tech era when we are lagging in digitization? Many of domains are still using traditional methods around the world without implementation of digital technologies. This includes banking sector, education sector, industrial sector etc. Digital education would give people moral freedom to enjoy and participate in other aspects of life. 

Secondary schools have a core responsibility to provide elementary digital know-how and to strengthen the education sector in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) domains. Students should be able to use software for learning these subjects. This would contribute to provide the basics of learning and push students to discover the depth of these terms.

Online Education has become a relatively mature technology and has considerable development prospects in the future. With the wide use of big data, the Internet, and other technologies, artificial intelligence technology has become the forefront of information technology. AI has aided in the automation of various technological domains. Nowadays it helps you write code and fix bugs as well. Many countries have established it as a new national strategic direction. It will determine the future and evolve to be the object of competition among countries. In the face of several international forms and technical containment of developed countries, only China has been exceptional in artificial intelligence. Digitization can aid experts, scholars, and all citizens to work together by using artificial intelligence for betterment the country and society.

In the process of scientific and technological development, talents are indispensable. The development of higher education provides a source of talent for modernization construction. In the background of the rapid development of artificial intelligence, it is necessary that faculty of higher education must be aware of the revolutionary influence of artificial intelligence on the development of education. It strengthens the teaching methods, and provide a platform for cultivation of new teaching skills. Moreover, digital automation and quarterly performance reports delivery to parents are also beneficial in terms of student performance tracking. It increases transparency of student’s education performance and progress. It also decreases the fiscal deficit among parent-teacher relationship.

Problem Area:

The core debate in this research is to show the importance of digitization in changing world. How digitization opens up a gateway of opportunities for mentors and students to enhance their analytical skills and make use of modern resources effectively. Stark examples of developing and developed countries about the implementation of digitization are to be explored. Moreover, How the advent of artificial intelligence has brought a revolution in digital education? This research shows how promptly the education sector is changing the world. How traditional teaching methods were challenged by the pandemic?

 

Research question:

➢ What opportunities does AI provide to enhance education with a new direction for the future?

Literature Review:

In formal educational contexts, such as schools and universities, there has been an initial proliferation of AI applications, including learning analytics systems and algorithm-based decision-making, to support learning and teaching (Agus & Samuri, 2018). These innovations offer promising benefits, such as the early identification of challenges students may be facing (Arnold & Pistilli, 2012), and scaffolding self-regulated learning skills (Fan et al., 2021). It is also becoming evident that AI can make some issues even more pronounced. For example, by measuring the performance of teachers for punitive purposes (Selwyn & Gasevic, 2020), and providing real-time support (Lucas et al., 2021; Martinez-Maldonado et al., 2021). However, many educators are still unsure about how AI may impact teaching and learning (Zawacki-Richter et al., 2019).  STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), DAISY( digital accessible information system), TTS (text to speech) are used to help student with different caliber and area. Some have multimedia support system for catchy presentations and interesting lectures ( Dhanani School Of Science & Engineering (DSSE) 2021, University of Washington, 2022). Profiling students (Selwyn, 2019), and rolling out biased algorithms can recommend misleading actions (Buolamwini & Gebru, 2018). Some authors are starting to question whether AI innovations in education may cultivate certain worldviews that risk perpetuating colonialist ways of thinking (Williansom & Eynon, 2020). Zawacki-Richter et al. (2019) argue that there is a lack of critical reflection on the challenges and risks of AI and highlight the need to strengthen ethical and AI-related education. The power and danger of AI have prompted policy responses globally. Indeed, it is noted that existing AI policy initiatives have not addressed AI capacity building adequately, including learning about AI (i.e., AI literacy and understanding what AI is), learning with AI (i.e., implementing AI in education), and learning for human-AI collaboration (i.e., living in a world that is increasingly integrated with AI) (Miao et al., 2021). Debates around AI and its impact on society have focused largely on the fear of job replacements, while the implications for learning and skills development received comparatively little attention (Luckin et al., 2016). UNESCO (2019, 2020, 2021) has also made several recommendations to harness the power of AI and achieve the global sustainable goal of quality education. In particular, UNESCO’s recommendations call for a ‘humanistic approach’ as the overarching principle for AI in education. This includes protecting human rights, equipping people with skills needed for sustainable development. Moreover, human-machine collaboration in life, learning, and work, as well as fostering human values are needed to develop and apply AI. UNESCO’s key recommendations highlight that the use of AI should:

o   Protect students’ agency and social wellbeing

o   Empower teachers in their work of facilitating co-creation of knowledge, human interaction, higher-order thinking, and human values.

1                Methodology

1.1            Digitization: Best Methods used Around the World

1.1.1     Brazil

 This “Letrus Writing Skills Program” has improved the quality of education for Brazilian students. Assistance in creative writing skills in the national language has encouraged old-fashioned primary and high school administrations to adopt online learning platforms. It is observed that students have sharpened their online learning skills by using the discussed method.

Figure 1: Letrus Writing Skills Program Progress (UNESCO, 2022)

In this case study, there were over million students among 957 schools for the year 2014. Interestingly, this has given remarkable results. It has shown a 10% improvement in student’s creative writing skills.

1.1.2     Spain

 Modern nations follow modern patterns of technology for lasting success in the future. Spain introduced an artificial intelligence-empowered screening tool “Dytective” for dyslexia (people with disability in reading and writing).

For making it more user-friendly, they used a game-based learning scenario. This scenario increased their practicing imperative skills regarding dyslexia learners. The Dytective tool has eased the lives of many dyslexia learners. To understand its success, 0.25 Million people in 42 countries have been helped by Dytective learners for the first in their lives (UNESCO, 2022).  

1.1.3        China 

The Open University of China has announced an initiative for their rural areas “One College Student Per Village”. By using artificial intelligence solutions, quality education in the shape of offline and online courses has been introduced in rural areas of China. It has improved the access to update and urban-based university knowledge for students living thousands of miles away from their dream university.  For measuring the positive impact of this revolutionary programme, 0.825 Million students have been enrolled so far. This initiative has introduced more than 500 offline and online courses in 31 provinces in rural China (UNESCO, 2022).

1.1.4        Finland

The University of Turku has presented a “ViLLE” artificial intelligence-based platform for teachers and students. This project has opened individual learning patterns for students. In 2020, 48% of Finland-based schools adopted this tech online platform. According to an estimate, 0.3 Million students with 14 thousand mentors have been registered. Moreover, four thousand courses were introduced with joint effort and 0.13 Million exercises “From Teachers to Teacher” project. The ViLLE has proved that artificial intelligence is a new fact in the digitization of the education sector (UNESCO, 2022).

1.1.5        India

 “Initiatives for Inclusive and Accessible Education” from Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET) and National Council for Educational Research and Training has been a blow of breeze for rural and urban areas with immense poverty in India. In this initiative, free access to cross-media platforms like radios, online websites, applications, and television channels has been provided.

This initiative has served 240 million students, 1.5 million schools, and 8.5 million teachers across the country. Moreover, language barriers have been minimized as well. Online content is available for learners with special endeavours.  The inclusion of 300 plus digitized textbooks in different local languages has proved the seriousness of the Indian government for the digital education sector (UNESCO, 2022).

 

1.2            Data Usage Methods in Digitization

 Data is like gold dust in the digital world. By using data sophisticatedly, students can access their concerning content and required information. There are some intelligence software’s available in the market for tracking the performance of students. The software is capable to gauge the grip of students on concerned subjects and areas needing improvement in the future.

Education institutions are using analytics for efficient performance and improvement of results. Intelligence software can save precious time and sources. The easier the data manipulation more sophisticated the outcome would be. Students’ data analysis is the new reality in the digital world; this would let us get insights about strengths and weaknesses of students. No student can grasp knowledge until he knows areas where he lacks excellence. In an experiment based on more than 40 classes, data usage helped students and teacher to consume data much more efficiently (Le Pham, 2021).

1.3            Best techniques in the Artificial Intelligence domain

Robotics is no longer the alien concept and stuff of science fiction Hollywood movies. Like many other opportunities, artificial intelligence has changed teaching dynamics in coronavirus. Artificial intelligence-designed systems have been used on large scale. Monitoring of student meetings in the institution and implementation of social distancing measures has helped the administration. It has immensely contributed to tracking the health indicator of students and faculty. This has reduced the headache of manual checking which is time consuming. 

Virtual reality is now a new reality in the education sector. The usage of virtual reality has improved online classroom interaction methods. It provides mesmeric environment in the physical world. The artifacts of the real world have improved with artificial intelligence's inception. On the flip side, virtual reality and hologram technology have created a boom in the technological arena. The simulation of a 3D environment for teacher–student interaction using virtual reality (VR) has been based on real-world scenarios. Biology, History, and Geography had been treated as boring subjects by the student community. VR has made studies of typically difficult subjects very intriguing. The advent of virtual reality has made subjects interesting by embedding simulation of concepts.

Career choice is an Achilles' heel for students after graduation. Artificial intelligence has resolved this mind-boggling question for parents and students. AI based software are developed which are capable to provide fact-based career guidance and recommending options as per students' weaknesses and strengths.

Student punctuality is as important as quality education. Discipline constitutes moral values in students. Parents are regularly informed every time the child is on leave or absent from class. Parents can track their children from the school bus to their homes. With college reports, they are also more relaxed about their child’s security because they are constantly notified every time the child is absent or on leave.

With rapid changes in the information technology sector, teaching workforce requirements are also evolving. Many believe that AI will replace the human workforce in various domains. Teaching might be affected by this. However, some believe that it will just evolve teaching methods rather than increasing unemployment rate. Therefore, sanity should prevail in this situation which is arming our minds with these technologies. Due to low accuracy rate in many AI systems, some institutions are reluctant to adopt this dreamlike technology.  Digitization could save important resources spent on paper imports. Students would enjoy updated courses and interesting developments in the technology sector. Moreover, this would provide quick access to updated material rather than pilling huge sets of books.

2                Limitations of Digitization

2.1      Lack of Face Interaction

Human species are naturally interactive in their environment. Facial interaction is compulsory for human nature to share ideas with their counterparts. Complete ignorance of human interaction creates social connection dormant. Moreover, students are observed to be lethargic due to frequent usage of online classes. Participation in domestic activities like eating, movie watching, and gaming during class lectures is also decreased. This results in lack of interest which affects their understanding of the given subject. Students tend to more sluggish in other social activities.  To add fuel to this complex situation, immense pressure from the mentor for assignment submissions and homework promptes an intense toll on the mood and psychological behaviour of students.

2.2      Lack of Focus

Focus gives us the vision for future endeavors.  Online learning has affected the concentration level of students due to lengthy hour’s sessions sitting in front of the computer screen. It is also challenging for students with eyesight issues to focus on a computer screen for longer durations.

Lack of focus makes them stressed and anxious patients. These elements prompted short-temper issues in students. To address these complex issues educational institutions should come up with innovative solutions. After all, it is all about our future generations.

 

2.3      Dilemma of Zoom Session

The human body is capable of limited online interaction. Exceeding a limited period would make Zoom, Skype, and Meet sessions exhausting as well as fatiguing. Lengthy hours of discussions would engulf the human brain with a frequent flow of information. The human brain is required to digest the bombardment of information from lengthy video conferences. Failure to better understand information creates a problem for students in examinations.

Economic constraints and social fiber of some regions increased parents’ unnecessary involvement in the online learning platform. Noise and human distraction and the electricity crisis in developing nations create students stressed during class sessions.

2.4      Fragile Classroom Ethics

Moral values are the beauty of culture in every aspect of life. Excess use of modern technology-based gadgets has compromised classroom moral code severely. Mostly students are only online while they are not mentally present in the class and are busy somewhere else. They could be eating, scrolling Facebook, or even sleeping while posing to be attending the class.

2.5      Lack of Efficiency

Human efficiency in relevant fields can be measured by ergonomics. Frequent complaints of muscle pull, back pain, and fibromyalgia chronic disorder are occurred by un-administered online learning platforms. Bad ergonomics have created a force of stress, anxiety, and short-tempered student in our community. A saint approach should be required to tackle these chronic issues. 

2.6      Lack of physical activities

Eating patterns are pathways for better health. However, cholesterol, fatty liver, and obesity are now common diseases in our young generation. Thanks to home delivery within 10 minutes fast food and energy drinks are playing a hazardous role. The vicious cycle of eating and watching has made students couch potatoes.  Lack of sports activity has changed body structure with a lack of calcium for bones and hamstring.  The lack of physical activities has caused children to become obese. Thanks to binge-eating and watching, it's only gotten worse. Lack of participation in sports activities due to the gaming revolution in the mobile phone sector has resulted in obesity. The index weight of students increases due to irregular posture in the classroom.

 

Conclusion

To sum up the topic, the Digitization of the education sector is the divine right of our future generations. Education sector cannot excel with the traditional teaching style. Modern realities should be dealt with the modern weapons. Countries with love and hate relationships with technology cannot taste the fruit of prosperity. Although technology has some drawbacks because of its excess use, prudent usage of digitization is a key to a healthy lifestyle. We have observed tech-savvy and developing nations investing in digital education systems. A country cannot achieve its modern goals if its academia is lagging behind modern technology. China and India have proved to the world that education for all is not a dream for developing nations they are chasing their dreams every minute ticking on the clock.

Artificial intelligence is a blessing for mankind. It is the invention of the century and should be ranked as Edison’s electric bulb invention. Mentors are builders of our students. They have to equip themselves with modern technological tools. Otherwise, they soon will be history in the digitized education sector. Moreover, climate change is happening in every corner of the world. Billions of dollars have been spent in the education sector. Digitization can save valuable foreign reserves of developing nations. These foreign reserves should be used for the implementation of digitization in every aspect of the education sector. Digital education for every child should be the mantra of our world leaders.

Reference

Le Pham, , (Online), (Available at: https://magenest.com/en/digital-transformation-in-education/) ,(Accessed on 17 Dec, 2022).

Kai Beckmann, (Online), (Availible at : https://www.merckgroup.com/en/the-future-transformation/digital_education.html), Accessed on 18 Dec, 2022)

Alexis van Schalkwyk, (Online), (Available at : https://www.sovtech.co.za/blog/6-benefits-of-digital-transformation-in-education), Accessed on 18 Dec, 2022)

Cem Dilmegani, (Online), (Available at : https://research.aimultiple.com/digital-transformation-in-education/), (Accessed on 18 Dec, 2022)

(Online), (Avalible at: https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/six-best-digital-learning-practices-rewarded-unesco-prize-ict-education), (Accessed on 19 Dec, 2022)

Roshni, (Online), (Available at: https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/featurephilia/story/effects-of-online-education-on-mental-and-physical-health-1854320-2021-09-18), (Accessed on 19 Dec, 2022)

(Online), (Available at: https://www.readspeaker.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-text-to-speech-for-education/), (Accessed on 19 Dec, 2022)

(Online), (Availible at : https://www.learnetic.com/digital-stem-education/), (Accessed on 21 Dec, 2022)

DHANANI SCHOOL OF SCIENCE & ENGINEERING, (Online), (Available at:  https://habib.edu.pk/HU-news/stem-education-a-pedagogical-tool-to-teach-students-in-a-digital-age/), (Accessed on 21 Dec, 2022)

University of Washington, (Online), (Available at: https://www.washington.edu/accesscomputing/what-daisy), (Accessed on 21 Dec, 2022)

Rui Dinis Sousa1 Beybitkul Karimova2 Sergey Gorlov3 Behavioural Sciences EpSBS, vol. LXXII, pp. 224-234,DOI: https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2019.11.20.

Konstantinov O., E. Kovatcheva, N. Palikova (2018) Gamification In Cultural And Historical Heritage Education, INTED2018 Proceedings ISBN: 978-84-697-9480-7

 Kovatcheva E., Palikova N. (2017) Learning and Gamification In Digitalised Heritage Environment - ICERI2017 Proceedings - 10th annual International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation, Seville, Spain. 16-18 November, 2017. ISBN: 978-84-697-6957-7 / ISSN: 2340-1095, doi: 10.21125/iceri.2017, Publisher: IA https://hospitalityinsights.ehl.edu/author/jean-baptiste-berguerand

Wendy McMahon. (2020) Educators See Positive Impact of Mobile Devices in K–12. In: EdTehcInsider, Available online at https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2018/11/educators-seepositive-impact-mobile-devices-k-12, published 21 Nov 2018, consulted 20 April 2020. Baylari, A., Montazer, G.A.: Design a personalized e-learning system based on item response theory and artifcial neural network approach. Expert. Syst. Appl. 36(4), 8013–8021 (2009) 7. Beck, J., Stern, M., Haugsjaa, E.: Applications of AI in education. Crossroads 3(1), 1

 Agus, R., & Samuri, S. M. (2018). Learning analytics contribution in education and child development: A review on learning analytics.

Asian Journal of Assessment in Teaching and Learning, 8, 36–47. Alexander, C., Ishikawa, S., & Silverstein, M. (1977). A pattern language. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press