Adapting Education to the Age of AI
The World Around Us is Changing Profoundly
The world is changing rapidly, and education must adapt to it. In an age of growing uncertainty, a wise strategy would be to hedge against upheavals by embracing versatility. A K-12 education today must equip learners with the abilities to tackle life challenges, ranging from social and political issues to technology’s evolution.
Redesigning the "What"
Education hasn’t yet fully adapted to the Information Age. For example, though called "STEM," only "St_M" is taught in K-12—very little Technology and no Engineering. Modernity requires rapid adaptation to changing information, and dealing effectively with a diversity of languages, cultures, and lifestyles. As a result, some will argue that the "What" doesn’t matter "as long as you learn." However, we profoundly disagree: why focus the teaching on old content if better options are available?
All Four Dimensions Matter
Harvard’s Chris Dede summarizes the situation well: "The current curriculum and high-stakes tests often prioritize fostering skills at which AI excels, such as reckoning skills involving calculative prediction and formulaic decision-making. However, AI cannot easily replicate human judgment, which is a deliberative thought process that is flexible and contextual based on experiential knowledge, ethics, values, relationships, and culture."
As described in CCR’s 2015 book Four-Dimensional Education, this means paying attention to all four dimensions of Education: Knowledge, Skills, Character, and Meta-Learning.
Knowledge
Declarative knowledge is more challenged than ever by large language models (LLMs), which amplify historical trends. As explained earlier, it doesn’t mean that humans don’t need base knowledge, it means they need to be a lot more discriminant about what is essential and relevant. Counterintuitively, there is a need for a broader set of declarative knowledge to respond to the need for versatility.
Competencies
- Skills: Both challenged and augmented by AI.
- Character: Some remain significantly human (for instance, ethics) and must be leaned on, while others are helped and pushed (for instance, curiosity).
- Meta-Learning: Learning how to learn is more critical than ever, as are metacognition and metaemotion.
Personalization
In addition to the goals of modern education, there’s also a growing need to personalize education. This personalization comprises four drivers: Motivation, Identity, Agency, and Purpose—of which motivation and purpose will remain quintessentially human.
Conclusion
To fully embrace the transformative potential of AI in education, we must rethink both what we teach and how we teach, ensuring that students are not only prepared for the jobs of tomorrow but also equipped to navigate the complexities of life with wisdom. Adaptability and self-directed, continuous learning are key. This also means fostering both depth and breadth in learning, where students develop specialized expertise and activate transfer, while also gaining the skills, character, and meta-learning abilities needed to thrive in an unpredictable world.
FAQs
Q: What is the importance of adapting education to the age of AI?
A: Education must adapt to the age of AI to equip learners with the abilities to tackle life challenges, ranging from social and political issues to technology’s evolution.
Q: Why is it necessary to redesign the "What" in education?
A: Education hasn’t yet fully adapted to the Information Age, and modernity requires rapid adaptation to changing information and dealing effectively with a diversity of languages, cultures, and lifestyles.
Q: What are the four dimensions of Education?
A: The four dimensions of Education are Knowledge, Skills, Character, and Meta-Learning.
Q: What is the importance of personalization in education?
A: Personalization in education is necessary to ensure that students are motivated, identify with their learning, and have agency and purpose in their education.
