The Influence of Digital Technology and AI on Higher Education, Research Paper Example

Introduction

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital technologies have enormous potential in addressing higher education challenges of ineffective content delivery and timely access to the lectures. Audiovisual learning, virtual learning environment, flipped classrooms, and MOOCs are some of the ways through which this feat is being realized.

Audiovisual Learning

Audiovisual learning covers a number of digital resources that are directed to the sense of hearing and the sense of sight, including PowerPoint presentations, projectors, interactive whiteboards, and video conferencing. Each of the learning materials contributes uniquely to the learning experiences of university and college students.  The use of electronic slide presentations, usually through PowerPoint enables professors to simplify the nature of the content they deliver to the students. PowerPoint slides often focus only on the most relevant concepts about a topic, thereby providing the students with the skeleton of the concept for which the students can build on later on their own (Ferreira, Santos & Serpa, 2018, p.122). It is also an interactive learning technique that gives the students an opportunity to present their ideas to the rest of the class and to welcome critics. In the long run, the interactive participation in presentations fosters active learning (Ferreira, Santos & Serpa, 2018, p.122). Similarly, projectors can be used in higher learning to share notes digitally on a cast screen. Projectors make teaching to be more visually engaging, which, in turn, helps to increase the attention span of the students and their absorption capacity.  Scientists have proven that the brain better absorbs information fed to it via visual cues, indicating that projectors enable video content, images, and the appealing presentations to be better understood by students as compared to the traditional whiteboards (Shabiralyani et al., 227).

Another essential electronic learning material is the interactive whiteboard. An interactive whiteboard comprises an electronic whiteboard which is connected to a networked computer and a data projector (Benoit, 2018). The whiteboard then acts as an interactive interface from where all the files stored in the computer can be accessed by simply touching on the board using a special pen or the finger. Through it, professors can access and display learning content from word documents, PowerPoint presentations, photographs, and online materials. Interactive whiteboards ensure convenient and time –saving delivery of contents to a larger audience. It also engages the different types of learners, from those who respond to visual aids to those who respond well to physical interaction. The rich multimedia capabilities of interactive whiteboards capture students’ interests, thereby ensuring that they are more engaged in the learning session (Benoit, 2018).

However, the use of PowerPoint presentations, projectors, and interactive whiteboards are limited to the classroom setting. The benefits can only be enjoyed by students who are able to attend classes, and cannot be used effectively for long-distance learning (Benoit, 2018; Ferreira, Santos & Serpa, 2018, p.124; Shabiralyani et al., 231).  It is the main disadvantage of these audiovisual learning materials, but one which can be solved by the video conferencing technology. Video conferencing is a digital technology that enables users to confer audio and video data between participants at different sites over a computer network without necessarily having to gather at a common point (Candarli &Yuksel, 2012, p.357). Free platforms such as FreeConferenceCall.com have been extensively utilized by faculty and students to assemble virtually and share learning information across the screens (Alharthi, Spichkova & Hamilton, 2019, p. 529; Martin, 2005, p.400).

In its advantages, Students and lecturer’s caught up in circumstances that hinder their ability to attend the lectures can resort to video conferencing as an alternative. Instructors and students who are incapable of attending lectures due to illness or travel complications can also host video conferences (Doggett & Mark, 2008, p.3). The second advantage of hosting a video conference is the opportunity to connect students with subject-matter experts. Professors set up conferring sessions with the specialties in various fields, and students can engage with them face to face without having to go through the hassle of travel (Fitriyana et al., 2018, p.2). Thirdly, the videoconferencing increases the office hours for the faculty.  It is typical in most higher learning institutes that the professors only allocate a contracted span of office hours (Candarli &Yuksel, 2012, p.360). Professors can mix office hours with video conferencing, and students who fail to make it physically to offices in time may request conference calls (Clarke, 2015; Pandey & Pande, 2014, p.311).

Video conferring also comes with a variety of negative implications for learners and professors. The most significant challenge is the susceptibility of the equipment to technical problems.  Failures often result from hardware, software, and internet connectivity issues, which require the interventions of technical support teams.  The severity of this challenge can always lead to excessive time wastage.  Secondly, to meet the quality and quantity needs of video conferencing, the participants end up investing heavily in the equipment and data, which results in high costs of learning. Lastly, video conferencing rules out the aspect of personal interaction. The participant of streaming sessions may miss out on the important body languages (when the videos stutter or presented images are pixilated).

The Future of Audiovisual Learning

Currently, there are developments to involve text-to-speech transcription in video conferences; the breakthrough is not widespread and has not gained considerable applications in learning (Talty, 2018). Regardless, AI promises to redefine learning through audiovisual learning within the next five to ten years. Features such as the use of voice-based AI will be utilized to simply speak a command and start, join, or end a conference (Shabbir & Anwer, 2018;  Zeide, 2019). Looking ahead, text-to-speech transcriptions in audiovisual materials could be essential to higher learning for simplifying complicated tasks such as language translation (Tuomi, 2018; Zeide, 2019).  Recent conceptions of video compression and codec technologies are enabling the use of relatively low bandwidth display formats, meaning that video conferring expenses are going to keep lowering to affordable levels.

Virtual Learning Environment

Virtual learning environments (VLE) are digital learning tools at universities and colleges, which provide the students with online portals to access resources such as assignments, lecturers, forums, and assessments (tests) (Kurt & Tingöy, 2017, p.26; Wangchuk & Phu-ampai, 2017, p.767). A standard VLE package comprises of curriculum maps, student tracking, online teacher-student support, links to educational resources, and communication channels such as emails, chat, and Web publishing (Qvist et al., 2015, p. 66). The professors and the students can access the same information, only that the professors have additional privileges of modifying the contents of the curriculum and to keep track of the student’s performance to manage the learning process.

Being a web-based platform, VLE has an advantage of unlimited access to learning content because it can be accessed on and off-campus. This availability ensures that VLE supports uninterrupted learning each day of the calendar (Alves, Miranda & Morais, 2017, p.521).  Additionally, the availability of VLE enables higher learning institutions not only to teach the full-time students but also those with difficulties visiting the campus regularly. In this, VLE ensures that higher learning continues regardless of the geographic or time restrictions for the students on distance learning courses or workers who are studying part time (Costa et al., 2018; Demian & Morrice, 2012).

Demian and Morrice (2012) further noted that flexible scheduling of the learning programs comes as a huge disadvantage in VLE. Students struggle in a virtual learning environment due to the lack of motivation and self-discipline. The struggle comes from the lack of peers to constantly remind the students about the assignments, projects, and tests, and only a few determined students pace themselves and set aside ample time to complete learning activities (Casquero et al., 2016, p 51; Lyndon & Hale, 2014, p.61). Secondly, the reduced instructor interaction and the isolation that comes with VLE reduce the effectiveness of content delivery. Communication through emails alone does not ensure proper listening and understanding. Coupled with delayed message feedbacks, VLE could lead to the unsatisfactory grasping of concepts when compared to traditional classroom learning (Davis & Wong, 2007, pp .138-140).

The Future of VLE

AI has been an integral part of VLE and experts see it as a factor to consider in the future of VLE due to the increasing number of students enrolling for e-learning (Boulton, Kent & Williams, 2018; Costa & Harris, 2017, p.560; Parker, 2018; Popenici &Kerr, 2017, p.22).  In the next decade, progress in the use of EI will see a conception of an automated assignment grading system, where the instructors will forego repetitive tasks such as grading and dedicate their time to other useful work. Again AI could be used to manage the learning system, where it will categorize the individuals into learning groups: visual, text, auditory, to provide effective personalization of learning content. Further, the AI platforms could be used to break long-term lecturers and reading material into smaller, understandable contents that are easily grasped by the students. International students barred with language challenges could also benefit from AI due to the advances in text translation and machine learning technologies that can translate English to their native languages with a high degree of accuracy (Russell &Norvig, 2016).

Lecture Capture for Flipped Classroom

Lecture capture for a flipped classroom is a learning approach in which students are introduced to the learning content at home via the use of technology and given the opportunity to practice working on the information at the universities and colleges (Låg, 2016). Under flipped learning, the lecturers send the students pre-recorded information about the study topics when they are at home, then the students come to school to complete a discussion and ask questions regarding the topic in which they already have background knowledge about (Shahnaz & Hussain, 2016, p 149; Willis, 2014, p.8).

This approach is advantageous because it blends face-to-face instructor-student interactions with independent student studies. It leads to an active type of learning, where several students participate in a classroom discussion of concepts and let the professors supplement their understanding by polishing on the weak areas (Bishop, 2013; Winter, 2013, p.14).

Another side benefit is the professor’s ability to record brief lectures in video collections and digital slideshows that only emphasize the critical areas in the curriculum.

Professors can customize the video contents to match the specific learning abilities of the students, leading to the personalization of learning. Overall, the traditional passive lectures are automatically replaced by interactive class times, which are more engaging and valuable (Hantla, 2014).

On the disadvantages, the flipped learning is more rewarding to the dedicated and self-driven students than it is to their undisciplined colleagues (Cavalli et al., 2014, p.1; Overmyer, 2014, p. 16); Prefume, 2015, p.23). It takes a great deal of personal responsibility and motivation to engage in research on a foreign topic at the comfort of a student’s home (Greenwood, 2016). In addition, flipped learning only favors visual learners while subjecting the text learners to disadvantaged positions (Amuthal & Balakrishnan, 2015).

The Future of Lecture Capture for Flipped Classroom

Most scholars believe that flipped learning is more effective than traditional teaching models (Joanne & Lateef, 2014).  There is a need to eliminate the passive roles given to the students, especially in higher education institutions, by the traditional teaching models. Professors need to adopt a more active learning-based teaching method (Brewer & Movahedazarhouligh, 2019), just as it is provided by the flipped classroom model. It, therefore, means that flipping will become more widespread in the next decade than it has been in the previous years.

Massive Online Open Courses

The massive online open courses (MOOCs) make higher learning available online to students who cannot access the traditional classroom setting (Brali? & Divjak, 2018). MOOCs present the interested students with online courses in a setting similar to an online class, but which are loosely structured and can often be accessed without committing to an academic program or paying tuition fees (Pappano, 2012).

MOOCs are advantageous because they supplement other learning methods. Students who lack the resources to seek additional academic assistance can, therefore, enroll in a MOOC and get the assistance that would otherwise be unavailable to them (Brali? & Divjak, 2018). MOOCs also do not have the pressure of fixed schedules, making them an opportunity for lifelong learning.  This learning platform also fosters cross cultural relationships because it provides chance for   different students who are enrolled to the same program to share ideas and knowledge on the globally accessible learning resources (Vigentini & Zhao, 2016). The online interactions are better at developing active learning, which is better for student performance.  Research has proven that learn more through active learning (involving discussions and questions than through passive learning which involves listening to lecturers.

On the disadvantage, Brali? and Divjak (2018) noted that MOOCs do not provide credit-earning courses at universities. Similar claims were made by Mackness, Mak and Williams (2010), saying that there is no formally recognized degree or transcript of completion of a MOOC program. In addition, language is often a barrier in MOOCs (Hannon & D’Netto, 2007). An equally significant demerit of MOOCs is the basic nature of the course’s offered.  The MOOCs version of university and college programs are simplified and do not capture the level of detail offered in the standard curricula. Typically, the courses are structured to meet the nee sofa diverse community of online students of varying academic capabilities and some students may find them to be lacking in depth (Hannon & D’Netto, 2007; Vigentini & Zhao, 2016). Lastly, MOOCs do not offer personalized courseware and attention from an instructor (Brali? & Divjak, 2018; Wen, Yang & Rose, 2014).

The future of MOOCs

Already, MOOCs have gained considerable popularity, and many universities in North America and across Europe offer it (Waldrop, 2014). This indicates that MOOCs will rise remarkably in the next ten years due to their supplementary benefits and free access. The potential to offer valuable educational opportunities to millions of potential students will continue to evolve as time goes on (Klobas, Mackintosh & Murphy, 2014), and perhaps lead to official recognition of MOOCs with tangible degrees, certificates, or transcripts of completion.

Conclusion

In retrospect, digital approaches to education such as video conferencing, VLE, and Lecture Capture for Flipped Classrooms have proven effective in enhancing higher education. Coupled with the introduction of AI, these technologies will continue to enhance content delivery and lessen the barriers to the attendance of lectures.

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