The more everything changes, the more important it becomes to use those changes to make the world a better place. Perhaps nowhere is this more true than for students in our schools, for those who have lived through the turbulent times since the turn of the century. As the realities of the world around us make education harder for our students, we must work smarter and harder to help them get ahead. This can be done by taking the hard lessons learned from the pandemic to not only make up for ‘learning loss’ from remote but to individualize and improve student learning for the long haul.
As Mental Health Problems Rise, Educational Outcomes Fall
Given that children spend so much of their time at school, and the importance of the education they receive for their future wellbeing, we must work to make sure that our education system takes into account the barriers to that education, especially increasing rates of mental health problems among our students. In looking to overcome those barriers, we must leave no stone unturned.
Most of us remember that one class or subject that gave us struggles, but for many students today those struggles can all blur together. In 2021, a study by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) found forty-two percent of high school students in 2021 reported feeling so sad or hopeless for at least two consecutive weeks in the past year it caused them to stop doing their regular activities, up from 26% in 2009. Students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) face higher levels of difficulty learning but as many as 90% must simultaneously deal with another psychic disorder. These problems existed before the pandemic and were only exacerbated by the learning disruption. Now, in overcrowded and underfunded classrooms, it’s no small wonder students are struggling to get ahead.
Using EdTech and AI To Reverse That Trend
While rates of mental health struggles are rising, fortunately, technological growth is growing apace as well. By taking advantage of the resources available to help our students, we can tailor learning that is adaptive and responsive to the needs of individual students. Remote learning software enabled continued education during a global pandemic, and adopting artificial intelligence (AI) can have a similarly wide and powerful impact on the world of learning.
Even without taking into account the different mental health realities of students today, the different backgrounds and languages spoken at home mean many students experience the same exact lesson in myriad different ways. Specialized AI tools for students with special needs can free hard-of-hearing students from having to rely on classmates for note-taking or can help students dealing with ADHD focus on understanding the lesson while an AI platform takes notes. Such AI assistance enables students to get more from their learning. AI tools can help students, regardless of their backgrounds, build and strengthen learning skills. This means not only will the AI help students learn in the short term, but it will also help them build the resilience to learn and succeed in the long term, in the classroom, and beyond.
While much has been written about the harm AI may do, any tool will do good or ill, depending on the hand that wields it. We have used ours to craft an AI platform that, so far, is helping over 250,000 students tackle their educational needs. We must continue to invest in building and improving EdTech tools, and maximizing the benefits AI can have on giving students the tailored learning necessary for them to get ahead.
AI and other EdTech is narrowing the digital divide in some of the lowest income school districts in the country, and generating tangible results. The pandemic impacted teachers as well, with many feeling overstressed and overworked. With students and teachers alike falling behind, we must rise to the occasion and meet the future of education with the best the future has to offer.
Esan Durrani is the co-founder and CEO of Study Fetch, an AI study tutoring platform.