AI: The Ultimate Study Buddy – Gamechanger for education in India

Picture this: A classroom where each lesson feels tailor-made for every student, where teachers are empowered by intelligent tools to elevate their craft, and where learning transcends the confines of traditional methods. This isn’t a distant future – it’s the promise of Artificial Intelligence in education. As AI begins to weave its way into the fabric of teaching, it is set to transform how knowledge is delivered and absorbed, revolutionizing the role of educators and redefining the student experience.

In this series, Adgully dives into the AI-driven evolution of education, exploring how this technology will not just enhance, but fundamentally reimagine, the way we teach and learn. From personalized learning pathways to interactive, data-driven classrooms, discover how AI is poised to unlock new potentials and challenges in the world of education.

In this series, Adgully brings together compelling insights from leading educators, faculty members, and ed-tech innovators, offering a comprehensive look at the future of education.

Shrinidhi RS, Founder and CEO, Cherrilearn, reckons that AI can revolutionize the education field.

“In terms of impact on teaching methods, imagine a classroom where AI tutors analyse student performance data and create customized learning plans. This is no longer science fiction in today’s world; adaptive learning platforms powered by AI adjust the difficulty, pace, and format of learning materials (text, video, games) to suit each student's strengths and weaknesses. A 2023 study by Pearson (Source: Pearson survey on AI in education 2023) found that 78% of educators believe that AI can personalize learning, leading to a significant increase in student engagement. Today, AI can analyse student work, identifying areas needing improvement and offering suggestions for revision. This real-time feedback loop allows students to adapt their learning strategies on the fly, leading to better understanding and retention. Grading essays, multiple-choice questions, and administrative tasks can be tedious and time-consuming for teachers. AI can also automate these tasks, freeing up valuable time for teachers to focus on what they do best – providing personalized instruction, facilitating discussions, and fostering a positive learning environment,” he adds.

AI can tailor tough content appealing to students.

“A struggling math student might benefit from interactive games that make practising skills fun, while an advanced science student could delve deeper into complex topics with AI-curated resources. This variety caters to different learning styles and keeps students motivated. AI tutors and chatbots provide 24/7 support, offering constant access to learning resources and allowing students to get help with homework concepts or clarify doubts outside of class hours, thus extending learning beyond the classroom walls. Additionally, AI-powered simulations and virtual reality create realistic learning environments for practising skills in various fields, from science experiments to public speaking, enabling students to gain practical experience without real-world risks, such as practising surgery in a safe, virtual environment before operating on a real patient,” explains Shrinidhi.

Traditional education, often characterized by a "one-size-fits-all" approach, is undergoing a significant transformation thanks to AI, opines Rohit Agarwal, Chief Delivery Officer, TalentSprint. This shift, he adds, promises a more effective and engaging learning experience for all students, while simultaneously empowering teachers with valuable tools.

“As a global deeptech company powered by AI, this is where we are seeing a completely different approach we can take to learning, with AI. The rigid structure of traditional classrooms is giving way to a dynamic, student-centric environment fueled by AI. Imagine a system that analyzes a student’s strengths, weaknesses, and learning style. This data can then be used to create personalized learning plans, where students receive targeted practice for areas they struggle with, while those who grasp concepts quickly can move on to advanced materials. This ensures focused and efficient learning, eliminating the need to slog through irrelevant information. The power of AI lies not in replacing teachers, but in augmenting their capabilities. AI tools can handle repetitive tasks like grading and basic instruction, freeing up valuable teacher time. This allows educators to focus on what they do best: providing individualized attention, fostering critical thinking, and nurturing a love of learning,” he adds.

AI is helping professors in curating new courses, helping them with content, presentations, says Prof (Dr) Sangeeta Shah Bharadwaj, Professor Information Management, Management Development Institute, Gurugram.

“AI is significantly enhancing faculty capabilities by assisting in the creation of multiple-choice quizzes (using platforms like Quizlet and ScribeSense), generating question papers, and curating cases, role plays, and immersive learning experiences (such as those offered by zSpace and Google Expeditions). These tools help make classes more engaging for students. AI-based platforms can also evaluate case discussions, group discussions, and assignments using well-defined rubrics. This means that classrooms, faculty, and their teaching methods will have digital twins, with AI tools supporting student responses and engagement. While it's easy to imagine these scenarios, the actual implementation will depend on how innovatively faculty members use AI tools in various teaching activities. By integrating AI services, faculty will enhance student learning through increased engagement in both teaching and evaluation processes,” says Bharadwaj.

Ravi Bhushan, Founder and CEO, BrightCHAMPS, points out that AI can make education affordable to all sections of society. One of the biggest challenges within education has been the problem of access to high-quality learning at price points affordable by the masses, he adds.

“With AI, it is now possible to create high-quality content affordably and at scale, deliver it in multiple languages, and tailor it to a child’s specific interests and learning needs. For instance, if Child A enjoys history while Child B prefers science, AI can integrate coding projects and exercises on the same topic but use history as the storyline for Child A and science for Child B. Additionally, if Child A learns best through video and Child B through simulation, AI can cater to these preferences as well. Sophisticated AI learning platforms like BrightEDGE continuously learn from the latest student data, customizing the learning experience accordingly. This technology will impact teaching by reducing reliance on human resources – a key factor in affordability – allowing teachers to focus on their core skill of teaching. AI will handle the heavy lifting of analyzing and assessing students objectively, providing teachers with insights on each student’s current learning stage and needs,” Bhushan says.

AI’s transformative impact on education lies in its ability to personalize learning experiences, enhance teaching methods, automate administrative tasks, and support continuous improvement in educational practices, says Jimmy Ahuja, VP Academics - STEM, Orchids The International School.

Personalized Learning and Support for specialized education: AI algorithms like those used in Gradescope can analyze a vast variety of student data to help educators tailor educational content and pace according to every individual’s learning needs and preferences. This adaptive learning approach can be adopted to help learners with special needs helping them to participate more fully in educational activities and achieve academic success.

Adaptive Learning Systems: AI-powered adaptive learning systems can provide real-time feedback and adaptive pathways based on student responses and performance by adjusting the difficulty level of tasks and enabling learning activities dynamically, while ensuring that students are offered practice and are appropriately challenged and supported throughout their learning journey.

Interactive Learning Tools: AI enables the development of interactive and immersive learning tools such as Virtual Reality (VR) simulations, Augmented Reality (AR) applications, and educational games. These tools are exciting and enhance student’s engagement by making learning more experiential, and enjoyable, thereby improving retention and understanding of complex concepts.

Enhanced Teaching Methods: AI provides educators with insights from data analytics that can inform instructional strategies and curriculum development. By identifying patterns in student performance and learning behaviours, AI helps educators tailor their teaching methods to better meet the needs of diverse learners, leading to more effective teaching practices.

AI has the power to transform education by personalising learning experiences and improving teaching methods, says Saily Prasad Lad, Founder and Director, Volksara Techno Solutions.

“In the Odisha Smart Classrooms project that we worked on in partnership with the Government of Odisha, AI is integrated into traditional teaching. It creates a more interactive and personalised learning environment. By analysing data, AI can understand how each student learns best, identifying their strengths and weaknesses. This allows teachers to tailor their teaching methods and content delivery to better suit each student's needs, which enhances engagement and boosts learning outcomes. AI-powered tools also provide instant feedback to both students and teachers, helping to adjust teaching strategies real-time. Virtual tutors and adaptive learning platforms further support classroom instruction by offering tailored assistance based on each student’s learning pace and comprehension level,” she adds.

AI can greatly impact the entire spectrum of education right from engaging learners to enabling educators with content & curriculum to streamlining administrative tasks for institutions, points out Adarsh Sudhindra, VP - Growth and Strategy at Excelsoft Technologies. For learners, it lends itself to creating immersive experiences and enhancing learner participation in regulated real-world situations. AI can greatly expand access to educational resources for all types of learners. Educators, on the other hand, can save time and costs with AI automating difficult tasks and facilitating customized instructions. Institutions can strengthen their backend systems and improve the ease of performing administrative tasks. In essence, AI can exponentially improve the overall efficiency of delivering learning & education.

The history of AI spans several decades, evolving through various phases marked by significant technological advancements, says Prof Fr (Dr) K S Casimir, Director XLRI-Delhi NCR. However, he adds, in recent times, AI has gained much attention due to the emergence of generative AI and large language models (LLMs) such as OpenAI’s language model ChatGPT. Like other industries, the education industry has also not remained untouched by AI, where AI offers transformative changes in both learning experience and teaching methodologies.

“AI has transformed the traditional education system by providing more dynamic, interactive, and accessible services. AI has allowed educators to address individual students' needs by providing personalized learning platforms and intelligent tutoring systems. AI has also helped to improve the overall outcome by providing automated grading and administrative services. With the help of predictive analytics, AI can analyze the student performance data and identify the areas of improvement, enabling early intervention by the instructor,” he adds.

AR/VR technologies are already changing the way students learn, says Nandan Gijare, Managing Director of I2CAN. With AI coming in the mix, the situation is getting even more interesting. AI will have a significant impact on the way content gets delivered to the students in the classroom. According to Gijare, AI can help with:

• Creating dynamic content which can adapt to individual student needs and difficulty levels
• Creating automated assessments and grading based on student profile
• Real-time feedback to students and dynamic changes in course content accordingly
• Perform analytics and provide feedback to teachers on difficult areas in the curriculum so that they can develop better methods for teaching those topics.

(To be continued…)