Designing educational technologies in the age of AI: A learning sciences‐driven approach
Authors: Luckin Rosemary , Cukurova Mutlu 
Published: July 2019

Interdisciplinary research from the learning sciences has helped us understand a great deal about the way that humans learn, and as a result we now have an improved understanding about how best to teach and train people. This same body of research must now be used to better inform the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies for use in education and training. In this paper, we use three case studies to illustrate how learning sciences research can inform the judicious analysis, of rich, varied and multimodal data, so that it can be used to help us scaffold students and support teachers. Based on this increased understanding of how best to inform the analysis of data through the application of learning sciences research, we are better placed to design AI algorithms that can analyse rich educational data at speed. Such AI algorithms and technology can then help us to leverage faster, more nuanced and individualised scaffolding for learners. However, most commercial AI developers know little about learning sciences research, indeed they often know little about learning or teaching. We therefore argue that in order to ensure that AI technologies for use in education and training embody such judicious analysis and learn in a learning sciences informed manner, we must develop inter‐stakeholder partnerships between AI developers, educators and researchers. Here, we exemplify our approach to such partnerships through the EDUCATE Educational Technology (EdTech) programme.

Practitioner Notes

What is already known about this topic?

The progress of AI Technology and learning analytics lags behind the adoption of these approaches and technologies in other fields such as medicine or finance.

Data are central to the empirical work conducted in the learning sciences and to the development of machine learning Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Education is full of doubts about the value that any technology can bring to the teaching and learning process.

What this paper adds?

We argue that the learning sciences have an important role to play in the design of educational AI, through their provision of theories that can be operationalised and advanced.

Through case studies, we illustrate that the analysis of data appropriately informed by interdisciplinary learning sciences research can be used to power AI educational technology.

We provide a framework for inter‐stakeholder, interdisciplinary partnerships that can help educators better understand AI, and AI developers better understand education.

Implications for practice and/or policy?

AI is here to stay and that it will have an increasing impact on the design of technology for use in education and training.

Data, which is the power behind machine learning AI, can enable analysis that can vastly increase our understanding of when and how the teaching and learning process is progressing positively.

Inter‐stakeholder, interdisciplinary partnerships must be used to make sure that AI provides some of the educational benefits its application in other areas promise us.