The influence of AI in higher education has been rapid and widespread. The impact of Artificial intelligence is undeniable and evident from the way faculties nowadays teach and students learn. Already, smart AI tech. can complete a diverse set of varying tasks. In the kingdom of Bahrain, majority of universities prioritize Artificial Intelligence in their syllabuses and final year projects of students. The Higher Education Council’s vision and guidelines is paving a road to a smart AI implementation in the kingdom.
Let us look at the major benefits of AI in higher education:
1) Student acquisition
Personalization of the enrollment process with the help of AI tech in higher education, allows universities to target students who are most likely to succeed in their programs. Adaptive conversational assistants help institutions cater to students worldwide, round the clock. Such integrations of AI in higher education helps universities boost enrollment numbers.
2) Operational efficiency
Researchers have been flirting with the use of artificial intelligence in higher education for quite a few years. And the outcome is the use of tools such as document recognition, essay and SOP graders, and chatbots in higher education. AI tech like these could use information from multiple campus systems to guide administrative decisions and tailor the university curriculum toward employers’ hiring needs. Thus, increasing the university’s operational efficiency.
3) Classroom learning
Artificial intelligence majorly assists classroom learning by providing a comprehensive educational experience. It allows students to expand their imaginations with tools and technologies such as augmented reality and virtual assistants. These Classroom Assistance technologies for grading and monitoring help the faculty enhance the educational experience and get more out of their class time with the students.
4) Student engagement
AI technologies such as the interactive assistants allow students to communicate their issues right when they crop up consequently, increasing student retention rates. Student engagement can also be advanced by embracing unique AI tech like the student success prediction models. Tech. like Chatbots in higher education also helps educators improve their efficiency in teaching based on the student opinions collected by the conversational assistants.
5) Reminders
With the help of AI tech in higher education, institutions can aid students by sending them helpful emails, text messages or push notifications. These act as gentle reminders for when certain tasks need completing, deadlines are approaching or events are coming up. Such uses of AI will help students familiarise themselves with the tech which will consequently, increase student engagement. We believe that these AI applications mentioned above, are just the beginning of a grand technological revolution, and we’re not the only ones that think so. A recent article from Harvard Business Review theorizes how AI and Data could personalize higher education. We also spoke to another EdTech expert, Smriti Srivastava, Associate Manager, Content, at Analytics Insight, who also believes that the need for AI in higher education is undeniable. She says,
AI has revolutionized several sectors, and amid this, the educational arena cannot afford to remain ‘old-school’. When it comes to higher education, AI can catalyze better personalization, recommendations, automated administration for institutes. Not only does it help customize study patterns and materials for students as per their ability and capabilities, but AI can also enable intelligent-automation for university/institute administrative tasks. The technology can be leveraged to filter the voluminous applications and queries received by institutes. Even for the educational institutions that accept international applications along with domestic ones, AI algorithms can predict the applicants most likely to be accepted and enrolled. Therefore, as we progress towards a more advanced world, one must focus on leveraging technologies like AI to modernize the very place that initiates such advancements – Education.
