What is the Role of Technology in Education?
In the future, will technology act as a supplement or a replacement to the way we teach? The needs of modern students are shifting and so are my views about what education should look like. Fiction, AI-driven apps, and my own experiences with formal schooling and self-directed learning have made me rethink what it means to be “educated”.
Fictional & Real Examples
In Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, students attend school in a virtual reality called the OASIS. For many, this virtual classroom offers access to an education they could never receive in real-life. But is anything lost in this type of virtual learning environment?
That question struck me again when Duolingo announced it would replace human teachers with AI wherever possible. I’ve kept a streak for over a year but the decision made me pause: why would I pay $168 USD a year for AI-teaching when I could use ChatGPT for free? For me, the value of learning comes from human connection- not just efficiency.
These examples- one fictional, one real- illustrate the tension at the heart of technology in education. Efficiency and access are undeniable, but humanity and connection are harder to quantify.
My Shifting Views of Education
This tension feels personal. I’ve always loved learning, yet by the time I finished my master’s degree, I felt disenchanted. The schooling often felt rigid, hierarchical, and more about compliance than curiosity. Despite being a social butterfly, I began wishing for an online education that could adapt to my pace and protect my boundaries.
However, neither format- online or in-person- is perfect, but examining their benefits and drawbacks can help clarify what matters most.
Benefits of Remote/ Online Learning
1. Accessibility
Online classes remove geographic and economic barriers. No commutes, no expensive housing near campus- just access. That’s an enormous leap forward in freedom.
Of course, this also raises the risk of distraction. If learning can happen anywhere, it can also be interrupted anywhere.
2. Scalability
Online, one teacher can reach thousands- or millions. The students don’t even have to learn the lesson in the same timezone or same year as their fellow students. That scale can spread knowledge widely, though it inevitably dilutes individual attention.
Also, online classrooms don’t have the same physical resource requirements as in-person ones; the school does not need to provide desks, writing utensils, a chalkboard, electricity, etc.
3. Self-Direction
In virtual learning, students would have greater potential to craft their learning pace and style. They would need to check-in with a teacher occasionally, but their learning will have more autonomy and flexibility overall.
This would be wonderful for motivated, supported students, but likely disastrous for unmotivated and unsupported ones who require more personalized guidance.
My Own Experiment: The Book Challenge
This year, I have committed to reading 52 books. In many ways, it feels like self-directed schooling. I am currently on my 34th book, and I can already tell it was a wonderful idea. (Although the number is perhaps too high, especially when paired with having to write blog posts.)
During my formal education, I often fell into the habit of trying to please my teachers. I would try to give the right answer instead of allowing myself the space to ask better questions.
With my Book Challenge, the emphasis is on self-improvement, not memorizing facts. And the only person I need to please is myself. This shift from educational compliance to personal agency has been incredibly transformative. I feel more confident and creative as a result.
Also, I believe I have learned a comparable amount to what I did during any one of my years of formal education. And reading books costs me a fraction of the price of a year of university.
Still, I can’t ignore the lingering question: what might be lost when learning becomes entirely self-driven and remote?
Drawbacks of Remote/ Online Learning
1. Decreased Accountability
For me, no one asked me to read 52 books this year. I just did it because I felt the need to improve my life- my desperation ensured my accountability.
But for remote online learning, there may not be this pressure. A student may have more freedom, but that also means freedom from accountability from grades, teachers, and peers. Without accountability, freedom can quickly turn into neglect.
Less motivated learners would find disengagement, distraction, procrastination, and cheating easier than with in-person learning. There is a very real risk of these learners just fading into the background and being left-behind.
2. Decreased Personal Mentorship From Teachers
Are teachers simply conduits for knowledge or does their value come from their proximity to students and the relationships they develop with them?
In-person teachers offer encouragement, correction, and inspiration. Can an online teacher do that- whether human or AI? Are there steps we can take to maintain this closeness online, or will this be an absurd approximation?
Does Gamification = Motivation, or does Prediction = Connection?
The closest an online school can come to motivating students will likely be to gamify the content. But is gamification the same as motivation? It feels more like addiction than inspiration. Does that foster future learning or lead to just going through the motions and having cheap digital accomplishments that don’t feel as fulfilling as real-life ones?
Similarly, is prediction the same as connection? Like when a person develops a “relationship” with an AI. All the AI is doing is predicting the correct response, which is one thing when it comes to facts, another when it comes to emotions. Sure, a relationship can be built with an AI, but is it healthy?
The Genuine Impact of Parasocial Relationships (Human & AI)
For better or for worse, parasocial relationships- with humans, or AI’s- can be genuine and life changing. Impact does not require an in-person connection. For example, your favourite author might affect your career path immensely even though you have never met them.
These parasocial relationships can have value, but they can also present hidden dangers. Could an educational system of entirely parasocial relationships unintentionally prime students to give their trust away to other online figures? The dangers of parasocial relationships should be talked about upfront if education is to rely on them.
3. Decreased Social Learning
Besides the mental learning that takes place in traditional schooling, a lot of social and emotional learning happens there as well: empathy, conflict resolution, teamwork, reading people’s body language, etc. are all essential traits to be successful in the real world. Can these be taught in an online forum?
Most careers- from medicine, to journalism, to business- require these soft skills in order to be successful. And learning these skills is very difficult to do in isolation.
Thriving in the real world requires a lot more than just memorizing facts, especially when the world’s knowledge is at each of our fingertips.
The Future of Education
The pros and cons of virtual learning lie at the philosophical heart of education, not just the practicalities of it.
Imagining a modern-day educational system will entail asking fundamental questions about the role of education. Is it to fill students with information? To prepare them for the workforce? To empower them- socially, emotionally, and intellectually- to thrive in the real world?
Education should be adaptive, creative, and cooperative- not rigid or hierarchical. Integrating technology while not losing the human aspect of teaching will be essential. Above all, students must feel their teachers, humans or otherwise, truly have their best interest in mind. That way, we can foster a healthy love of learning, in whatever form that may take.
What do you think education in the 21st century should look like?
Messy Bun Book Lover
Read Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.
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