Artificial intelligence can be a teaching tool, study shows

Three out of four teachers agree with the use of technology and artificial intelligence as a teaching tool. Teachers also say that technology has impacted education both positively, with faster access to information, and negatively, making students more dispersed.

The data comes from the unprecedented research Profile and Challenges of Basic Education Teachers in Brazil, released this Wednesday (8), by the Semesp Institute – an entity that represents higher education sponsors. The research was carried out between March 18 and 31, 2024, with 444 teachers from public and private networks, from kindergarten to secondary education, from all regions of the country.

According to the survey, 74.8% of respondents partially or completely agree with the use of technology and artificial intelligence in teaching. Despite this, just over a third, 39.2%, of the teachers interviewed said they always use technology as a teaching tool.

Although they consider the use of these tools important, teachers also report structural and pedagogical problems that prevent or hinder the use of technology in schools. There are also problems regarding the excessive use of technology, especially by students. Among these problems are the lack of internet at school, the lack of training of teachers themselves in the use of technology in teaching and also greater difficulty in capturing students’ attention.

“I notice that students have become more dependent on research tools and immediate answers and have difficulty having resilience, patience and acting to solve problems”, says one of the teachers who participated in the research and who was not identified. Another stated: “Technology has advanced, but sometimes access to it at school is not satisfactory. Poor Internet. The computer laboratory is a restricted space. Mobile laboratory does not have an Office package. The use of cell phones is unfeasible as students do not have Internet. Now, even the internet is restricted to the teachers themselves at school.”

Just under half of the teachers, 45.7%, responded that, at the school where they teach, teachers and students have access to technology, such as computers, internet, etc. Another 7% responded that there is still no access to technology in the teaching units where they work.

Teachers also report that, with the presence of technology, students are more dispersed. “The school cannot keep up with the use of new technologies at the speed that students can, which creates a mismatch between the class taught and the class that students want. The rampant use of social networks and the high exposure of young people to the networks are damaging the contact between teachers and students”, says the teacher who participated in the study.

Interest of young people

The Profile and Challenges of Basic Education Teachers in Brazil survey is part of the 14th edition of the Higher Education Map in Brazil, which brings together official data collected by the institute itself to outline the current scenario of the educational sector in the country. This edition’s main focus is on Bachelor’s Degree Courses: scenarios and perspectives.

The map includes data from a survey carried out by Semesp on which careers young people intend to follow. According to the survey, in higher education, the area of ​​computing and information and communication technologies is the most desired (30.1%), followed by the area of ​​health and well-being (18.1%). The computer science course appears at the top of the ranking, desired by 11.5% of young people who participated in the survey. Administration (10.8%), law (3.8%) and medicine (3.4%) appear next.

To bring students who are still in high school closer to higher education, the executive director of Semesp, Rodrigo Capelato, says that one proposal is for institutions to receive these students on technical courses. He defends that this be done within the scope of the Pé-de-Meia program.

According to Semesp, Pé-de-Meia will have an impact on increasing the completion of secondary education and, consequently, more students will enter higher education. Launched this year by the federal government, the program is a type of savings aimed at low-income students, with the aim of encouraging them not to leave their studies for financial reasons.

“We have some projects for private education to collaborate with Pé-de-Meia, offering students in the program technical courses within higher education institutions. This can help to further reduce evasion. I think Pé-de-Meia will be a great stimulus for this. But, together with the technical course, it helps the student to stay in high school. It also brings you into the reality of higher education, so that you know what you want at this stage of education,” he says.