Interest in artificial intelligence (AI) applications is high in the K-12 field, with many experts considering applications for both students and teachers.
However, in the field of early childhood education and care (ECEC), this interest is more complex and less advanced.
Isabel Howe Executive Director of the Stanford Accelerator for Learning, he recently commented on the potential benefits and challenges of AI in early learning.
Excerpts from these comments are shown below.To access the full text, originally shared with The Hechinger Report is a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. See here.
Early AI trends
When asked about her observations of the use of AI in early childhood classrooms, Ms. Howe said the main use she sees is for assessment, along with other “pain points” in the average educator's day-to-day life. shared their observations.
“Observational evaluation takes a long time,” she says.
“Innovations are starting to materialize that will at some point make assessment less obtrusive, or perhaps even invisible. Discussions are taking place about how to utilize it.”
One example is a tool developed by Dr. Philip Fisher that is not currently used in classrooms but has powerful potential. search.
FIND is currently an application for early childhood educators that observes interactions between children and adults and captures videos of those interactions.
“It's very expensive for humans to watch these videos and analyze the special moments in those interactions,” Howe explained.
“Artificial intelligence can now perform at least the first pass of these interactions in a more efficient way.
Another application, also from Stanford, is: Google glasses It can be worn by children who have difficulty recognizing emotions, such as some children with autism spectrum disorders, and can help them sense the emotions of adults and other young people they are interacting with.
“The feedback from parents and families, especially those with young children, is very moving, because for some young children this is the first time they can actually recognize the emotions of their loved ones,” said Howe. explained.
Other AI innovations that can be applied in early childhood focus on language.
“Language is a complex subject because more and more children in the United States speak multiple languages. As a teacher, it's very complex. You may be bilingual or trilingual at best, but with a Vietnamese-speaking child… “If you have kids who speak Mandarin or Spanish, you can't speak all those languages as a teacher,” Howe continued.
“So how do we best support children who have so much potential to grow and who may not be fluent in English when they come into the classroom? Language is a very interesting topic for AI. This is a usage example.”
cautious approach
There's a lot to be excited about when it comes to the world of AI products and tools, but Howe cautioned that they're vulnerable for the first five years.
“While we're excited about the possibilities, there are also many risks,” she says. “We're excited about the potential for these technologies to support adults. There are many questions about exposing young children.”
As legality and ethics catch up with powerful AI tools, she preaches caution and urges ECEC educators to avoid inputting personally identifiable information into AI systems and to always focus on inherent biases. I'm telling you.
“At Stanford University, we did some research on bias sentiment in these systems and found that current systems are biased against multilingual learners,” she explained. .
“I think so myself, as a non-native English speaker. Whenever I use these systems, especially when I use voice, my voice and accent always gets messed up. Biases exist everywhere. But it certainly exists. [AI] system. ”
eyes to the future
When asked about other ways AI can meet ECEC's needs, Howe said AI could be an integral part of helping health care providers find enrollment and parents find care. suggested. This is an area where she is looking forward to “better solutions leveraging technology.”
“If you want to eat at a restaurant in Palo Alto tonight, this is super easy,” she said.
“Why not let toddlers have this?” “I'm a low-income parent living in X and looking for French-language care. I need 8-5 time.” Or whatever it is.It would be really nice to have it [technology] Join the millions of parents who are trying to find solutions like this. And for now, it doesn't exist. ”
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