Product by UNESCO IITE (The UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education)聯(lián)合國(guó)教科文組織教育信息技術(shù)研究所
該報(bào)告為UNESCO IITE新推出的“教育的數(shù)字化轉(zhuǎn)型”(Digital Transformation of Education)系列出版物的第一期。據(jù)悉,“教育的數(shù)字化轉(zhuǎn)型”系列將包括政策簡(jiǎn)報(bào)、分析報(bào)告和反思論文,以探討由于技術(shù)的使用及其對(duì)教育和人類生活其他領(lǐng)域的影響,教育領(lǐng)域正在發(fā)生和正在出現(xiàn)的根本性變化。
1.The Changing Role of Technology in Education
Students and teachers are facing a world of constant, ever-accelerating change. The disparity between the developed and developing world in terms of access to the internet and smart devices was immediately recognised as a ‘Digital Divide; and as technology entered the classroom in schools where the socio-economic conditions allowed for such investments, fears were expressed that disadvantaged students of all nationalities would be left behind.
Conversely, many people held that access to technology and low-cost mobile devices could help close the educational gap caused by failures of the formal education system, and connect those who had left school or never had the opportunity to attend a classroom to rich educational experiences which could address foundational issues such as the global challenge of illiteracy.
In the event, the introduction of devices into the classroom did not bring about a commensurate improvement in exam grades — though it did help to enable new pedagogical modalities such as the flipped classroom — and illiteracy rates remained virtually unchanged. The role of the teacher has been proven paramount, along with the need for adequate professional development supports which incorporate the building of digital skills. Far from technology replacing teachers, the role of the teacher is now recognised as the most important factor in unlocking the potential of technology to advance teaching and learning.
In concert with the emergence of these new technologies was a focus upon what were termed ‘21st century skills. Knowledge-acquisition was relegated in importance, and the ability to work in teams, to collaborate and communicate effectively and to develop analytical and digital skills to better prepare students for the world they would face upon leaving school assumed a primacy in curricular and pedagogical design. Learning how to learn and the importance of lifelong learning were regarded as intrinsically linked to the acquisition of digital skills and experience in the use of basic technologies.
2.Advancements in Technology
2.1 Data, Analytics and Personalized Learning
The promise of technology lays in its ability to support personalised learning pathways: but this could not be achieved through the use of hardware or software alone. To determine whether students were building 21st century skills it would be necessary to measure a variety of data, drawn from disparate sources. The implementation of Student Information Systems and Learning Management Systems provided new digital data sets, but the majority of data pertinent to student progress and performance was still in paper form, and often resided solely in the heads of teachers. Before Artificial Intelligence or Predictive Analytics could be employed to assist in the creation of personalized learning pathways, progress was necessary in how data was gathered, stored, and made accessible.
2.2 Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence begins with data. The ability to ingest data from multiple data sources, interrogate that data and derive insights — using tools such as predictive analytics and machine learning — is what makes AI such an exciting advancement in education technology. In an educational context, perhaps the best way to view Artificial Intelligence is to view it as Augmented Intelligence. The application of AI provides all stakeholders with additional information and with insights which can better inform decisions.
2.3 Cloud Computing
Perhaps the single most important development in the evolution of Artificial Intelligence has been the shift from what is termed ‘on-premises computing? to Cloud Computing, where users access computing resources through the internet, with a virtually unlimited source of computing power that can increase in line with their needs. These resources include tools and applications like data storage, servers, databases, networking, and software. As long as an electronic device has access to the internet, it has access to the data and the software programs to run it.
2.4 Machine Learning
Machine Learning is an application of Artificial Intelligence which enables computers to act without being explicitly programmed, and to learn and improve from experience without human intervention or assistance. It is used to answer questions that cannot be answered by manual research, and is based on the idea that systems can learn to identify patterns and make decisions and can become more proficient over time, learning from previous computations to produce reliable, repeatable decisions and results.
譯文
1.技術(shù)在教育中不斷變化的作用
學(xué)生和教師正面臨著一個(gè)不斷加速變化的世界。發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家和發(fā)展中國(guó)家在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)和智能設(shè)備接入方面的差距被視為“數(shù)字鴻溝”;而社會(huì)經(jīng)濟(jì)條件允許進(jìn)行此類投資的學(xué)校畢竟有限,隨著技術(shù)進(jìn)入課堂,人們擔(dān)心其他弱勢(shì)學(xué)校的學(xué)生會(huì)被拋在后面。
相反,許多人認(rèn)為使用技術(shù)和低成本的移動(dòng)設(shè)備可以幫助縮小因正規(guī)教育系統(tǒng)失衡而造成的教育差距,讓那些已經(jīng)離開(kāi)學(xué)?;驈奈从袡C(jī)會(huì)進(jìn)入課堂的人獲得豐富的教育體驗(yàn),這可以解決一些基本問(wèn)題,譬如降低全球文盲率這一艱巨任務(wù)。
到頭來(lái),將設(shè)備引入課堂并沒(méi)有引起成績(jī)的相應(yīng)提高——盡管它確實(shí)有助于啟用新的教學(xué)模式,例如翻轉(zhuǎn)課堂——而且文盲率幾乎保持不變。事實(shí)證明,課堂上教師的作用至關(guān)重要,同時(shí)教師需要足夠的專業(yè)發(fā)展支持,其中包括數(shù)字技能的培養(yǎng)。技術(shù)遠(yuǎn)不能取代教師,教師的角色現(xiàn)在被認(rèn)為是挖掘技術(shù)促進(jìn)教學(xué)潛力的最重要因素。
隨著新技術(shù)的出現(xiàn),人們開(kāi)始關(guān)注所謂的“21世紀(jì)技能”。知識(shí)獲取的重要性降低,團(tuán)隊(duì)合作、有效合作和溝通以及發(fā)展分析和數(shù)字技能在課程和教學(xué)設(shè)計(jì)中占據(jù)首要地位,為學(xué)生在離校后更好地面對(duì)世界做好準(zhǔn)備。學(xué)會(huì)學(xué)習(xí)和終身學(xué)習(xí)的重要性,被視為與獲得使用基本技術(shù)中的數(shù)字技能和經(jīng)驗(yàn)有著內(nèi)在聯(lián)系。
2.前沿技術(shù)
2.1數(shù)據(jù)分析和個(gè)性化學(xué)習(xí)
技術(shù)的前景在于它能支持個(gè)性化的學(xué)習(xí)途徑,但這不能僅僅通過(guò)使用硬件或軟件來(lái)實(shí)現(xiàn)。為了確定學(xué)生是否在培養(yǎng)21世紀(jì)技能,有必要測(cè)量從不同渠道獲得的各種數(shù)據(jù)。學(xué)生信息系統(tǒng)和學(xué)習(xí)管理系統(tǒng)的實(shí)施提供了新的數(shù)字?jǐn)?shù)據(jù)集,但與學(xué)生進(jìn)步和表現(xiàn)有關(guān)的大多數(shù)據(jù)仍然是紙面形式,而且往往完全由教師負(fù)責(zé)。在使用人工智能或預(yù)測(cè)分析來(lái)幫助創(chuàng)建個(gè)性化學(xué)習(xí)路徑之前,必須在數(shù)據(jù)的收集、存儲(chǔ)和訪問(wèn)方面取得進(jìn)展。
2.2人工智能
人工智能始于數(shù)據(jù)。利用預(yù)測(cè)分析和機(jī)器學(xué)習(xí)等工具從多個(gè)數(shù)據(jù)源獲取數(shù)據(jù)、查詢數(shù)據(jù)并得出見(jiàn)解的能力,是人工智能在教育技術(shù)方面取得如此令人興奮進(jìn)步的原因。在教育背景下,也許看待人工智能最好的方法就是將其視為增強(qiáng)智能。人工智能的應(yīng)用為所有利益相關(guān)者提供了額外的信息和見(jiàn)解,這些信息和見(jiàn)解可以更好地為決策提供信息。
2.3云計(jì)算
可能人工智能發(fā)展最重要的方向,就是從所謂的本地計(jì)算向云計(jì)算轉(zhuǎn)變,用戶通過(guò)互聯(lián)網(wǎng)訪問(wèn)計(jì)算資源,擁有可以根據(jù)需要增加的幾乎無(wú)限的計(jì)算能力。這些資源包括諸如數(shù)據(jù)存儲(chǔ)、服務(wù)器、數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù)、網(wǎng)絡(luò)和軟件等工具和應(yīng)用程序。只要電子設(shè)備能夠訪問(wèn)互聯(lián)網(wǎng),它就可以通過(guò)訪問(wèn)數(shù)據(jù)和軟件程序來(lái)運(yùn)行。
2.4機(jī)器學(xué)習(xí)
機(jī)器學(xué)習(xí)是人工智能的一種應(yīng)用,它使計(jì)算機(jī)能夠在沒(méi)有明確編程的情況下自行操作,并在沒(méi)有人為干預(yù)或幫助的情況下從經(jīng)驗(yàn)中學(xué)習(xí)、改進(jìn)。它用于回答人工研究無(wú)法回答的問(wèn)題,并且基于這樣一種理念——系統(tǒng)可以學(xué)習(xí)識(shí)別模式和做出決策,而且能從以前的計(jì)算中學(xué)習(xí),并隨著時(shí)間的推移變得更加精通,從而產(chǎn)生可靠的、可重復(fù)的決策和結(jié)果。