AI Bridging the 100-Year Education Gap?

In the twenty first century, technology is touted as a game changer in education that is able to revolutionise access, delivery and outcomes. Technologies, such as learning management systems, artificial intelligence and mobile apps, are offered to create an individual, scalable, and inclusive experience of learning. However, the democratization of learning through the power of technology poses both promises and threats, as it can deepen disparities already in place in the event of a disparity in the distribution of digital access (UNESCO, 2023). This begs the big question: is technology in learning narrowing or expanding the gap in 21st-century skills and success? It arose from a coffee table discussion I had with my peers here in Brisbane's George Street (Coffee Iconic). I want to share, via this blog, how technology is helping to solve or is it increasing educational inequalities particularly in regard to closing the UNESCO (2023) “100-year education gap between developed and developing regions”.

QLD Queen Street Comm Bank Summer 2024

Technology is presenting new ways of improving learning outcomes as never seen before. With digital platforms, teacher education, pupil are able to access to resources and a real-time feedback loop, the process of education will be more customisable and student-driven. Check this out, mobile devices are currently allowing access to some learning material outside the classroom enabling education to go on even in isolated remote regions look at what Cheboi Nelly is doing in Baringo- Kenya https://www.africanews.com/2022/10/31/the-kenyan-woman-sourcing-old-computers-to-teach-children-it-skills//. According to World Economic Forum, (2020), these innovations are crucial to the growth of the 4Cs of 21st-century abilities. For instance, through AI, learners are able to participate in virtual laboratories, simulations and even project-based education that mirror the challenges experienced in real life hence preparing the learners for the emerging digital economy.

Digital applications have times and again proven their significance in streamlining learning even in unthinkable situations for example the previous world pandemic. Amid the catastrophic event, when the world was observing social distance, dominant traditional learning spaces like classrooms were disrupted hindering education. However, with the help digital technologies such as Google Classroom, Zoom, and Coursera, nations across the world were able to sustain learning processes by shifting to online classes. Subsequently, this strengthens the idea that digital tools are not secondary to contemporary education systems but are the core of them.

While technology has potential to enhance education, unequal access to digital infrastructure across the world threaten it success. Now there is this report by UNESCO which determined that as of 2022, listen, 2022, low-income countries had invested in digital learning at 25 per cent relative to 96 per cent of high-income countries this is a huge gap, having a direct implication on access to education. This gap is not only concerned with the availability of gadgets or online access but it also goes to teacher preparation, coursework, digital literacy level and policy guidelines. Don't forget we have to make reference to the World Bank (2020) sustainability report. It showed that over 70% of students in sub-Saharan Africa have no access to basic electricity, limiting internet support and transfer of internet-based learning resources. Overall, these adequacy and inadequacy of digital support material have a far-reaching implications on education access.

JCUB Library 2023

Even then, failing to provide students with equal access to relevant technology in different places within the same territory undermine equal acquisition of critical 21st-century skills and perpetuates a vicious cycle of marginalization in education. Notwithstanding the lack of digital fluency, information literacy, and innovation, which are becoming mandatory requirements in most global labour markets directly translate to an economic crisis. I just checked the Global Education Monitoring Report and it stated that observing the same trend, the poorest marginalised students may never be able to move closer to their more financially able peers, a situation known as the 100-year education gap (UNESCO, 2021).

Despite that, a number of low-income and middle-income countries have shown how strategic use of technology can close the gaps in education. For instance, in Kenya, the Digital Literacy Program, initiated back in 2016, delivered over 1 million tablets in the classrooms of public primary schools and trained more than 60,000 teachers on how to teach digitally (Ministry of ICT, Kenya, 2020), this is pending astute confirmation by GenZ's. The project experienced infrastructural hiccups; however, it paved the way for the creation of access to digital content in unrepresented areas. Likewise, the Indian nation has developed a digital system –DIKSHA platform, which provides selected digital content in more than 30 languages that can be viewed through smartphones and low-bandwidth data networks. This platform gives access to millions of students and teachers throughout the country by bridging the linguistic barrier challenging transfer of knowledge. These two examples emphasis that a localised, inclusive, and policy-infused process of technology can collapse the digital divide and ensure a mass build-up of skills.

By the way, the absence of equity-focused systemic planning, technology can worsen existing disparities. In most low-resource settings, the deployment of digital technologies with no solution to underlying issues such as poverty, language obstacles, or gender discrimination serves what I call an 'elitist minority'. It may also widen the gap in education especially in "digital dumping" situation where governments or donors provide hardware without maintenance plans or teacher/student support. One day I will write about MAINTAINANCE a term missing in an African budget for anything we pursue.

Winter 2024 Park Rd

This frequently leads to either abandonment or spending too much time forcing the most important education stakeholders to engage with technologies they are not familiar with at the expense of quality learning. There is also concerns that biases in education technologies are perpetuating stereotypes and structural inequalities. For example, grading software using computers and AI-driven programs may be biased against students who use non-standard dialects or hail from multicultural linguistic backgrounds thus reproducing the very inequalities these tech aim to reduce ni noma sana.

I think a multidimensional, equity-focused strategy is needed to ensure that technology bridges the education chasm and does not widen it. Haleem shared this thought too. First, investment needs to target infrastructure. Increasing internet penetration, providing constant electricity, and subsidising hardware for excluded learners. Secondly teacher capacity needs to take centre stage. Continuous training not only in digital equipment but also in inclusive pedagogy - (haha 349 Queen Street 2024) could bridge some of these gaps. Lastly, education stakeholders must adopt universal design principles in developing content, ensuring materials are accessible on any device, in any language, or at any literacy level.

Technology has such potential to revolutionize education in preparation for 21st-century success, when it is carefully used. The extreme inequality in the level of investment in digital learning between low-income and high-income countries is one indicator of an urgent demand to investigate the structural conditions that currently hinder inclusive digital learning. What I have experienced in Australia is on another level. The solution to the 100-year education gap will not be to ship devices and the internet to schools simply but rather as a political will, innovativeness, inclusiveness in policy structure, and community actions. As such, technology, when properly wrapped up, can become an excellent equaliser.

Edited/Published by Nehemiah Kipserem MEd-MBA Qld 2024