Chapter 3: Methodological aspects

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AI can change the quality of distance learning by enabling new blended learning modes. Teachers will have tools at their disposal to modify their teaching methodologies and enhance them for the benefit of students.

AI tools will enable learners to take advantage of content increasingly in line with their skills, learning styles, and achievements. It will help them overcome obstacles and barriers through interactive and adaptive tutoring systems. Finally, it will equip teachers with increasingly effective tools for creating learning materials and pathways.

We have identified 3 main areas that will affect the educational approaches:

AI can help instructors create learning experiences that are tailored to each student's individual needs, preferences, interests, and skill level. Some of these adaptive products have been widely available for years, but recent technological advances can now be leveraged to provide even more personalised instructional opportunities for learners and course designers. Instruction can be customised using AI-generated personalised learning to fit specific learning requirements (goals, skills, career paths, etc.). AI-based learning systems allow instructors to access useful information about learners' abilities and progress and provide suggestions for how to customise instructional methods to meet each student's specific needs.

Some examples of personalised learning can be the following:

• Individualised Feedback: a platform like Duolingo for language learning uses artificial intelligence to provide immediate feedback to students, correcting errors and offering personalised tips to improve language skills.

• Customised Content: with the help of tools like Smart Sparrow or Coursera, AI algorithms can create courses and educational materials tailored to students' specific needs, offering educational resources customised to their preferences and proficiency levels.

• Scaffolded Support: a platform such as IXL Learning uses AI to provide scaffolded support to students, progressively increasing the complexity of activities based on their level of proficiency and growth over time.

• Data-Driven Insights: with data analytics tools like BrightBytes or Knewton, teachers can gain deep insights into students' performance, identifying patterns and areas for improvement to further personalise teaching.

• Accessibility and Inclusion: AI tools like Microsoft Learning Tools (i.e. Microsoft Copilot) or Read&Write can provide support for students with disabilities, offering features such as text-to-speech, word highlighting, and translation to ensure accessibility for all students.

• Teacher Support: With Learning Management Systems (LMS) such as Moodle or Canvas, teachers can use integrated AI tools to automate administrative tasks, monitor student progress, and receive suggestions for improving teaching practices.

• Lifelong Learning Opportunities: Through adaptive learning platforms like Brainscape or Quizlet, students can access personalised educational materials that foster the development of self-directed learning skills, preparing them for lifelong and authentic learning in adulthood.

An intelligent tutoring system (ITS) using AI can offer learners tailored guidance and feedback, aiding in the mastery of specific concepts or skills. In tackling challenging subjects, such a system may begin with fundamental information and then present deconstructed examples to assist the learner as required. ITSs are capable of delivering a learning experience akin to human interaction, fostering self-directed learning when suitable and delivering various forms of personalised feedback.

An AI-based intelligent tutoring system can be highly beneficial for both primary school teachers and students. For teachers, it offers personalised insights into each student's learning progress, allowing for targeted interventions and tailored support. This system can help teachers identify areas where students may be struggling and provide real-time feedback to adjust teaching strategies accordingly. For students, the AI tutor offers interactive and adaptive learning experiences, catering to individual needs and learning styles. It can provide immediate feedback, personalised recommendations, and engaging activities, fostering a deeper understanding of concepts and enhancing overall academic performance.

Concrete examples can be:

• Individualised Guidance: Platforms like ABCmouse leverage AI to offer tailored guidance to primary school students, providing immediate feedback on their progress in various subjects and suggesting personalised learning paths to address individual strengths and weaknesses.

• Adaptive Content: AI-powered platforms such as DreamBox Learning can dynamically adjust the difficulty and content of educational activities based on students' performance, ensuring that each child receives appropriately challenging and engaging material.

• Interactive Learning Assistants: Tools like MobyMax use AI to serve as virtual learning assistants, offering step-by-step support to young learners as they tackle maths problems, reading exercises, and other academic tasks.

• Progress Monitoring: AI-driven systems like Khan Academy Kids enable teachers to closely monitor students' learning progress, identifying areas where additional support may be needed and tracking individual growth over time to inform instructional decisions.

• Engagement Enhancement: Platforms such as Prodigy Game employ AI algorithms to enhance student engagement by personalising game-based learning experiences, adapting gameplay elements to match students' skill levels and interests.

• Multisensory Learning Tools: AI-integrated apps like Osmo provide multisensory learning experiences for primary school students, combining physical manipulatives with interactive digital activities to reinforce concepts in subjects like maths, spelling, and coding.

• Inclusive Education Solutions: AI technologies like Tobii Dynavox offer inclusive learning solutions for students with diverse needs, including speech and communication difficulties, by providing customizable assistive tools and adaptive learning experiences.

• Collaborative Learning Platforms: AI-enabled platforms such as Seesaw facilitate collaborative learning experiences for primary school students, allowing them to share their work, provide feedback to peers, and engage in interactive discussions under the guidance of their teachers.

AI-driven tools can assist educators in automatically generating top-tier course content, including quizzes, assessments, and simulations. For instance, a course designer could create highly immersive course material by inputting a few text prompts into a generative AI engine that aligns with student learning objectives. This engine not only suggests content but also designs the learning experience and pathway in some instances.

AI-driven content generation tools can streamline the course development process, alleviating the time constraints often faced by course developers and subject matter experts. This enhancement ensures that the course creation process becomes more manageable, quicker, and adaptable without compromising quality. Automatic translation and localization are among the many ways AI enhances eLearning creation, making it swifter and more effective.

AI can help teachers create:

• Quizzes: AI-powered platforms can analyse students' learning data and automatically generate quizzes tailored to their individual strengths and weaknesses. For example, the platform might create maths quizzes with varying levels of difficulty based on the student's proficiency in different maths concepts. AI-powered platforms such as SMART Learning Suite or Edulastic can analyse students' learning data and generate quizzes tailored to their individual strengths and weaknesses.

• Flashcards: AI algorithms can generate personalised flashcards for students to reinforce learning concepts. These flashcards can include images, definitions, or example sentences customised to the student's learning preferences and progress. Tools like Quizlet or Cram use AI algorithms to enhance flashcard creation and review processes, providing personalised study recommendations based on students' performance.

• Summaries: AI tools can analyse textbooks, articles, or other educational materials to automatically generate summaries tailored to students' reading levels and comprehension abilities. These summaries can help students grasp key concepts and information more efficiently. AI-powered summarization tools like Rewordify or SummarizeBot can automatically generate summaries from educational materials, adjusting length and complexity based on students' needs.

• Language Learning Support: AI-based language learning apps can generate personalised quizzes, flashcards, and summaries to help students improve their language skills. AI-based language learning apps like Duolingo or Babbel provide personalised quizzes, flashcards, and summaries to aid language learning, leveraging AI algorithms for adaptive learning experiences.

• Content Generation: AI-powered platforms such as Smart Sparrow or Labster use AI algorithms to assist primary school teachers in generating simulation scenarios.

• AI-powered platforms such as Legends of Learning can assist primary school teachers in generating simulation scenarios tailored to young learners. For example in science, MEL Science provides interactive virtual experiments suitable for primary students to explore basic concepts such as states of matter, simple machines, or the water cycle. The platform uses AI to create engaging simulations that align with primary science curriculum standards.

• In mathematics, Legends of Learning offers maths games and simulations designed for elementary students to practise foundational skills like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. AI algorithms help adapt the difficulty level of the simulations to match the students' grade level and learning pace.

• In social studies, AI-driven platforms like BrainPOP Junior offer animated movies, games, and quizzes covering topics such as history, geography, and culture. These simulations are specifically designed for primary students to explore various social studies concepts in an interactive and engaging way.

• Presentations: AI can assist in designing visually appealing slides by suggesting layout options, colour schemes, and font combinations, and generating images. This ensures that presentations are engaging and easy to understand for young students. AI analyses content to recommend layouts, colour schemes, fonts and images for visually appealing presentations, enhancing learning for kids.

For example, Canva uses AI algorithms to suggest layouts, colour combinations, and appropriate fonts for presentations. This tool offers a wide range of customizable templates and graphic elements that can be tailored to fit the specific needs of the teacher and their audience. Beautiful.AI uses artificial intelligence to automate the slide design process, providing suggestions on optimal layouts, fonts, and colours. This tool helps teachers create engaging presentations quickly and intuitively.