2019 # VWEDU: Will the Digital Teaching Assistant (DTA) need artificial intelligence?

Will the Digital Teaching Assistant (DTA)  
need artificial intelligence?

Consideration of the need for artificial intelligence (AI) services to make DTA work effectively.  Conclusion: no evident need at this time.   This article is explicitly licensed Public Domain (CC0).

The Empty Classroom

• No.  Not the expensive kind of artificial intelligence you read about in tech news.  
• Yes, some of the low cost things that used to be AI until the became low cost.
• The capabilities in my articles are limited to what can be done with current technology.
• DTA interaction with students would be with a chatbot.
• The DTA might be improved with more built-in intelligence.  
• But that would be human intelligence (HI), not artificial
• The closest the DTA would come to using AI would be Google search.
• That uses AI and DTA could teach how to use it effectively.
• A Digital Teaching Assistant (DTA) in MUVE (virtual world): What would it do?
• A digital teaching assistant (DTA) in a virtual world. Can it be done?
• The Digital Teaching Assistant (DTA) for MUVES (virtual worlds): Summary

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DTA services that need no AI

Record keeping

• Record keeping support is already available.
• The code just needs to be put together in an operating virtual environment.
• And the system needs to attend to FERPA requirements (or the equivalent).

Quiz administration and recording

• Quiz administration scripts are available in OpenSim language.
• They would need to be tested and augmented with recording code.
• The recording part needs to attend to FERPA requirements (or the equivalent).

Direct teacher aid

• The only AI needed here is Google search
• The digital search coach might assist.
• The DTA might provide search of virtual world resource like CVL
• Or prepared searches: teaching resources in virtual worlds.
• Or links to relevant organizations: ISTE Virtual Environments Network
• None of these services would any AI.

Subject matter aid

• This aid would be links to content and possibly to search support.
• The links would be curated by the teacher, not by any AI.

DTA Services that might benefit from AI support

• Digital coaching is needed for the DTA: Do we have the technology for that?
• The coaching services rely on interaction with people.
• They might be more effective if they can act more like a person.
• For now, they would  use chatbot technology.
• Chatbots speak only when asked and use key words to pick a response.
• They speak (and read) in text.; they might use text to speech if needed.
• They are limited to a specific topic and situation--that makes the task easier.
• Still, the performance might be improved by studying the previous performance.
• So they should be able to store anonymous conversation records (with permission).
• Other AI capabilities might be added to DTA, but by the time they are available they will  probably not be considered AI.

Related

• Digicoach can support homework in virtual worlds with JIT learning, immediate feedback
• A Digital Teaching Assistant (DTA) in MUVE (virtual world): What would it do?
• A digital teaching assistant (DTA) in a virtual world. Can it be done?
• Digital coaching is needed for the DTA: Do we have the technology for that?
• Just-In-Time (JIT) learning in virtual schools, maybe with DTA coaching. Language as an example
• Digicoach for project-management in self-managed teams: (Note: skills to be learned in doing these tasks)
• Online education, sure. But why a virtual campus? Why in a virtual world (MUVE)?
• Suppose the real objective in school is to pass multiple-choice tests. Can a digital TA handle test-based learning?

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License

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• Use as you please with attribution: link to the original.
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