AI in education: Using ed tech to save teachers time and reduce workloads

For much of the previous decade, advocates of education technology imagined a classroom where computer algorithms would differentiate instruction for each student, delivering just the right lessons at the right time, like a personal tutor. The evidence that students learn better this way has not been strong and, instead, we're reading reports that technology use at school sometimes hurts student achievement. So it was interesting to see McKinsey & Co., an elite consulting firm, reframe the argument for buying education technology away from computerized instruction to something more pedestrian: saving teachers time. A January 2020 report by the firm estimated that between 20 and 40 percent of the 50 hours that a typical teacher currently works a week could be saved through existing automation technology, often enabled by artificial intelligence (AI). That adds up to 13 saved hours a week, hours of freedom that could help relieve teacher burnout.