How AI is Shaping the Classroom of Tomorrow

Jean Mandernach, Executive Director, Grand Canyon University

Jean Mandernach, with over 20 years of expertise in higher education, is the Executive Director of Grand Canyon University's Center for Innovation and Research on Teaching. Before her involvement in online education, Jean was a tenure-track faculty member in the traditional sense. Her provost asked her to dig deep into emerging online learning.

She started doing a lot of research on pedagogy, faculty development, best practices, and online teaching since she was committed to making decisions based on data. This method has continually guided her through major shifts in online education, such as the COVID-19 and post-9/11 surges.

At Grand Canyon University, Jean’s research focuses on faculty development, technology integration and efficient online classroom methods. She provides thorough faculty training, support, coaching, and assessment by examining management systems, faculty behaviors, and student grades.

What are today's main obstacles to faculty and student development? Are there any notable gaps that might require improvement?

Two years ago, the biggest issue in faculty and student development was helping academics prioritize high-impact teaching strategies and managing their time effectively. Time restrictions caused the faculty to become overburdened, which resulted in a disconnect between theory and practice.

The main challenge these days, is keeping up with the quick advancement of technology, especially generative AI (GenAI). GenAI necessitates a total rethinking of teaching approaches, as students can generate knowledge with just the push of a button. Faculty members need to reconsider their responsibilities and the goals of their assignments.

Motivating educators to radically alter their perspectives on education is now very crucial. Since technology is changing so quickly, it is hard to give firm answers and necessitates constant adaptation as well as conceptual changes in teaching and learning methodologies.

Have you recently taken any steps to overcome the difficulties that GenAI offers? Could you provide some advice or lessons you've learned?

We have just introduced the "Education with AI" project to assist faculty in using AI for tasks like creating questions, giving feedback, and improving communication efficiency. This effort consists of asynchronous modules and courses.

To address urgent efficiency demands, our method is divided into two key phases. One is, introducing faculty members to useful AI applications and the other is, using AI in curriculum creation to give students relevant learning experiences.

At the moment, our focus is on increasing teacher and student awareness and competency with AI. This initial stage comes before we intend to question conventional teaching wisdom and investigate more extensive AI applications in the classroom.

What changes should education leaders pay attention to in the next 12 to 18 months?

Education leaders should concentrate on how AI can customize learning for every student, to challenge established systems like semesters and grading. Because of our limitations as human beings, education has always targeted the typical learner. Instead of requiring set deadlines and uniform grades, AI may customize learning to meet each student's requirements. The way we see academic institutions like semesters, accreditation, and financial assistance may change significantly as a result.

Incorporating AI's potential into engrained educational institutions requires leaders to look at new approaches.

What would be your piece of advice to peers and aspiring professionals within the professional development field?

Refer to the data, is my advice. While new technology like AI might thrill us and have great potential, we must not lose sight of the facts. AI has the potential to personalize education, but the amount of data available to us currently prevents us from fully appreciating its effects.

Moving forward, be hopeful, but cautious as well. To ensure that these innovations improve teaching and learning, keep an eye out for evidence. Otherwise, be enthusiastic about the possibilities. To effectively assist teachers and students, excitement must be balanced with a sober appraisal of the advantages and disadvantages.

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