Have you ever wondered what learning and assessment will look like in 10, 20 or 30 years from now? We asked a team of education futurists from the Digital Education Futures Initiative (DEFI) at the University of Cambridge to shed some light on the exciting possibilities that lie ahead, as well as critical considerations that must be addressed to ensure a future that empowers both learners and educators alike.
What will digital learning and assessment look like in the future?
The potential answers to this question are many, creating countless scenarios with a variety of implications. Some of these are decidedly negative, like the potential for AI to reinforce systemic biases, and others are refreshingly positive, promising an improvement on our current education system. At DEFI we specialise in exploring these potential futures, both the good and the bad.
How will the new technologies emerging now transform the roles of the teacher and learner?
Generative AI tools have already proven their disruptive power in terms of how digital learning and assessment are approached. In an ideal world, these tools will function as a creative catalyst for learners to overcome ‘blank page’ syndrome, summarise notes and frame outlines. We believe that the process of critically engaging with AI-generated content can teach learners to ask better questions and hone analytical skills. But we must build AI as a means for critical thinking into our pedagogy and enforce its use as an aide – just as a calculator can only take a student so far, so it is with generative AI.
Teachers all over the world are using these tools to assist in assessing and providing bespoke feedback. In Cambridge, where the year-end exam marking period has just concluded, the ability of AI to assist in exam marking was a popular topic across University lunch tables. This is a simple example of how these tools can ease teachers’ administrative burden and facilitate a first pass at marking, freeing teachers up to focus on teaching.
However, we must emphasise that these tools cannot replace the human element of assessing. We believe that the future of assessment approaches must maintain a ‘human in the loop’ structure. In these models of the future, humans must be engaged in continuously providing direct feedback to improve the predictive confidence of AI systems. This does not just apply to the example above, which involves a single teacher marking an essay, but also to widely deployed high-stakes assessment scenarios.
What does this mean for the future of jobs and skills?
Future employers will become increasingly interested in assessing the qualities such as collaboration, adaptability and communication rather than simple assessments of knowledge. New (and some current) assessment tools will help achieve this. For example, AI tools can capture process data generated by students working together, assessing how students (and therefore future employees) work in collaborative environments. Simulated environments through AR and VR will provide students with a safe space to take risks and test new skills whilst receiving real-time feedback for improvement.
How we gather and store assessment data will also change; for example, digital assessment ‘portfolios’ will be crafted for each student and added to as students progress throughout their academic journey. Centrally storing and customising these systems will allow students to craft CVs tailored for different jobs and provide a comprehensive profile accessible directly by employers. In the era of lifelong learning, these records could continuously update, creating a living portfolio of a person’s skills and achievements.
What are your predictions of future challenges that education will face?
The increased use of digital tools for learning and assessment does increase concerns over data breaches, secure storage of information, and potential threats from viruses or hacking of state systems. Information security will increasingly become a paramount concern across all levels of education, and we emphasise the need for these protection systems to advance just as quickly as the possibilities afforded by these new technologies.
What can teachers do now to prepare themselves for the future?
Beyond keeping abreast of news from exam boards, innovators in the education space, and reputable journalism outlets, we believe we must all maintain an open mind and curiosity about the future. The future of learning and assessment promises to be exciting, complex, and transformative. As we navigate this landscape, we must embrace change, be adaptable, and maintain our commitment to providing quality education. The potential of technology to transform how we learn, teach, and assess is profound. Our collective responsibility is to ensure this transformation leads to an improved, more inclusive, and effective education system.
Are there any interesting innovators that we should look to as leading the way to the future?
At DEFI we have looked to innovators in this space for inspiration and insight as to how these futures might unfold. Generative AI projects by leaders in the field, such as Ethan Mollick (US), Dan Fitzpatrick (UK), and Maria Andersen (US), provide exciting insights. New initiatives like London Interdisciplinary School (LIS) and MK:U in Milton Keynes have been pushing boundaries with their innovative approaches. Notably, Norway stands out for its forward-thinking approach, having implemented all-digital exams this year.
Thank you, Prof Rupert Wegerif, Dr Imogen Casebourne, Prof Bryan Maddox, Judith Hannam, Dr Fawaz Abu Sitta and Dr Kevin Martin for sharing your thoughts and insights on this fascinating topic.
If you want to learn more about how emerging technology is affecting the world of education, take a look at “Teachers Talk Tech #1: Can we trust AI?“.