Digital Transformation of educational institutions advanced automation in an unprecedented way during the pandemic. Automation in education has a clear goal: To minimize manual work in repetitive tasks in order to help faculty and administrators use their time on teaching and their students.
The crucial question is, are teachers going to be automated? Some believe that toward the end of the decade, robots will start replacing teachers whether these robots are in the form of artificially intelligent (AI) software programs embedded in different sorts of devices or humanoid robots serving as professor assistants.
Some others argue that robots will not be able to replace human teachers until at least the next decade. And some studies have concluded that the teaching profession has an incredibly low chance of becoming automated in the future, placing education as one of the lowest on the list of professions due to be automated.
However, humanoid robots able to teach a class can be utterly useful in remote or poor areas where qualified educators are rather hard to find. Humanoid teachers could help solve the education crisis some parts of the world currently suffer.
Areas where automation cannot replace in higher education instruction:
- Mentorship and leadership: These are not skills that can be automated, at least for now Those faculty members who are able to lead and mentor students will become rather valuable in the future
- Innovation and creativity: Toward the future, almost everything will be automated. However, those who create automated programs and innovative education technology will be highly valued
- Socializing: It will take at least another 50 years to create robots able to mimic social interaction at a rather high level
- Teamwork and working with others: Teamwork can only be learned by working with others
- Reputation and accomplishment: Automation cannot replace what an instructor has accomplished in the academic career. This is something students value and admire. In the future, a teacher’s accomplishments will have to be great in order to attract students for their mentorship
With automation, comes more teacher-student interaction:
Some panic when thinking about a fully automated instruction system. They believe instructors will completely be replaced. And while some instructors believe they have some job security and they will not be replaced by robots any time soon, many aspects of their work will continue to be affected by technology in the next few years.
Instructors will increasingly become more facilitators and use special automation software for scheduling the classes, tracking attendance, and grading and assessment. These and other admin routine tasks such as report cards, certificates, pay slips, are time consuming.
Instructors spend an average of 11 hours a week in preparation and other routine activities. The effective use of technology can cut the time to six hours. Once all routine tasks are fully automated, instructors will have other responsibilities and more time with their students for a more personalized teaching and learning experience, guiding, mentoring, and overall leading the students’ learning journey.