6.1 Achievement Gap — The AI-Enhanced Classroom: Redefining Teaching and Learning

Addressing Ethical Implications of AI in Education_ Impact on Achievement Gaps and Access �

Guiding Questions

What effect might AI technology have on educational achievement gaps?
How will existing inequities impact access to AI?
In what ways could AI help mitigate achievement gaps?

Welcome to module 6! In this module, we’re going to focus on addressing some of the ethical implications of AI in education and give some suggestions for how these might be mitigated as the technology becomes more prevalent. In this first lesson, we’ll discuss educational achievement gaps and the ways that AI could either exacerbate or lessen them.

Discussing Impact

When discussing the advent of any new technology’s impact on education, we must recognize that it will be entering a system where deep inequities exist. Additionally, previous iterations of educational AI have been found to reinforce segregation along racial and economic lines. This has been achieved through various means, such as tracking, which sorts students into different academic programs based on their perceived abilities, and by focusing on standardized test performance as a measure of school quality. Additionally, special needs students have often been marginalized by AI-powered systems. So, in this lesson we will discuss the potential impacts, both positive and negative, that new generative AI technologies could have on achievement and opportunity gaps.

The Digital Divide

Not all students have the same access to technology, either at school or in their homes. This means that students will not only have different exposure to AI going forward, but also that current levels of tech literacy are at an unequal starting point as the technology rolls out. The digital divide has been impacting achievement gaps for decades by limiting students' access to tools and information. At the same time, technology has been playing an important role in modern education, and the pandemic only grew reliance on technology to deliver engaging instruction. The introduction of AI in education will further necessitate access to technology. If schools, policy makers, and institutional leaders are not diligent about narrowing the disparity between those who can access technology and those who cannot, we risk a further divide being created between those who have access to AI tools and those who do not.

If we ignore the digital divide, the achievement gap is likely to widen along socioeconomic lines and students from affluent families and neighborhoods will continue to have better access to opportunities. As more and more industries incorporate AI in their work, students who are not exposed to AI will then be disadvantaged in the workforce. This cycle will only perpetuate intergenerational poverty. Also, students without access to these new tools will lose out on the personalized learning benefits of AI, which could harm their academic success in comparison to students who have materials that are tailored to their needs.

Additionally, many schools and districts have reacted to new generative AI tools, like ChatGPT, with bans. This means that students in these districts may be at a disadvantage in the future because they were prevented from engaging with the technology in an educational environment.

Furthermore, access to technology for teachers as well as effective teacher training is required in order to use the technology to its full extent. This means that students who attend schools and districts that don’t have the resources to invest in this training will be at risk of further marginalization. However, the cost of implementing and maintaining AI systems may be prohibitive. While some tools are currently free to use, it is unclear if they will remain that way. Likewise, many comprehensive AI tools for education are costly, again meaning that the school or teacher’s ability to pay determines the student’s learning experience.

The Potential Positive Impacts of AI on Achievement Gaps

While the negatives we discussed are essential to be aware of, new AI technology actually has the opportunity to close achievement gaps if used ethically and responsibly.

Firstly, it could increase access to free or low-cost tutoring and personalized learning opportunities. This would be particularly valuable for students who may not otherwise have access to such resources due to high cost.

Additionally, AI’s potential to provide individualized learning could help ensure that students with different abilities and learning styles don’t get left behind. This could be particularly valuable in low-resource schools and large classroom environments where teachers may not have the time to prepare individualized plans for different students.

AI can also help support teachers in low-resource schools or who have overwhelming workloads by creating lesson plans, automating administrative tasks, and many of the other uses that we’ve discussed throughout this course.

Lastly, as AI continues to impact schools and workplaces, it will also likely impact which skills are most valuable for humans to possess, and which can be easily done by AI. Since it is capable of doing some of the tasks that many people find difficult, it may therefore serve to lessen skills gaps and open up different job opportunities to a wider range of people.

Conclusion

Overall, it is clear that AI has the potential to impact the current achievement and opportunity gaps in both positive and negative ways. The benefits of increased access to information, free or low-cost tutoring, and individualized learning could be transformative for students of all backgrounds. As with any new technology, careful consideration and planning will be required to ensure that it is implemented in a responsible and equitable way.

Key Takeaways

AI has the potential to have both positive and negative impacts on educational achievement and opportunity gaps.
The existing digital divide may only widen as new AI tools are developed and we must be diligent in preventing further marginalization of students.
AI also has the potential to increase access to free and low-cost tutoring and to support teachers in low-resource environments.
How this technology is developed and implemented will ultimately decide who has access and who learns the necessary skills to use it.