The onset of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and technology within the educational sector in Malta has accelerated over the past years.
This is particularly the case with AI, which has been popularised very recently and which has fast become something of an “aid” for students at all levels.
Many, even at University level, have resorted to platforms such as ChatGPT to make their lives easier: be it by using it for research or even by asking it to write out assignments from scratch.
It is time that we consider the impact that the use of AI and, to a greater extent, technology within educational settings is having on younger demographics.
AI is in itself a tool, and there is no harm in its use: but its use is ideally in such a manner that it is to one’s ultimate benefit.
Being able to use it to push through a tight deadline is beneficial in the short term, sure, but in the long term we are risking generations of students who have developed no form of critical thinking that readies them for the working world which is decidedly more unkind than school life.
The Malta Union of Teachers earlier this week proposed that AI is introduced as a compulsory component within the national education curriculum. The proposal was among a list of 25 such proposals which the union made to political parties ahead of the upcoming general election.
While the proposal was not elaborated upon meaning that it is difficult to judge, it is an idea which merits both consideration and caution.
AI can be positive for students, but only if it is used well. Students need to be taught about how to harness it as a tool to help them, not do the work for them. They also need to be taught about the dangers that it and over-reliance on it presents.
Speaking of over-reliance, the MUT also proposed a reassessment of how technology is used in classrooms to reduce excessive reliance on digital tools, particularly in early education.
Students in Malta get their first piece of technology very early on, with every boy and girl in the 4th year of primary school – meaning at 8 years of age – receiving a tablet as a learning tool. The programme has been in place ever since 2016 – meaning that it has now been a decade since the first tablets were handed out.
It would be good if a study were to take place to understand the effects – both positive and negative – that measures such as this has had on students. Has it improved the digital skills and literacy of children, hence helping them prepare for a more modern workplace? What about negative effects?
Children – and adults for that matter – nowadays seem to have far shorter attention spans, and it is not infrequent that one sees kids glued to a phone or a tablet to ‘keep them quiet.’ Has technology made our attention spans shorter? Has this over-reliance on technology had adverse effects elsewhere, such as in reading for example?
It would be prudent to consider a study into this, so our educational system can be guided in such a manner that it provides the best possible environment for our future generations.