CIDDL’s Dr. Marino Shares Insight on the Potential of AI in Education with Edweek
Authors: Samantha Goldman; info@ciddl.org
CIDDL co-principal investigator, Dr. Matthew Marino, was recently interviewed by EdWeek about AI’s Potential in Special Education. Dr. Marino discussed how AI can personalize learning for students with disabilities and ease administrative tasks for educators. He emphasized the need to integrate AI with traditional teaching methods to maintain the human element in education, cautioned against over-reliance on technology, and stressed the importance of protecting data privacy. This blog post will highlight key points from his interview and explore relevant and emerging research on this topic.
Existing AI Research
There is very little peer-reviewed research on the connection between AI and education. One reason for this is the fact that the AI landscape is constantly evolving, with new tools coming out almost daily and major revisions every six or so months. Another reason is the speed of the Institutional Review Board approval process. Dr. Marino shares that there needs to be a change in how we do research because it is inhibiting researchers from staying current.
Helping Teachers Embrace AI
Dr. Marino shared that AI will “open a whole new front for education.” Parents and educators agree that AI has the potential to make education more personalized and accessible. According to a report from the Special Olympics Global Center for Inclusion in Education, 6 in 10 teachers and 7 in 10 parents believe that AI will make learning more appropriate for all learners. Parents and teachers also believe that AI can create more adaptive learning opportunities that would provide students with disabilities with opportunities to express themselves.
Parents seem to be more excited about the potential of AI, whereas teachers are more apprehensive. Teachers are responsible for managing the curriculum, meeting district and state requirements, and learning how to use and integrate new technologies into their teaching methods, a challenge known as the “double innovation” problem. In some cases, teachers need to see the power and magic of AI to begin to embrace it. He shares an anecdote of helping students understand the differences between plant and animal cells. He decided to use AI to create an infographic, and within 15 seconds, AI-generated a perfect graphic, saving him 10 to 15 minutes of searching online.
Using AI in Assessment
Dr. Marino shared that a recent study he and Dr. Vasquez, another CIDDL co-principal investigator, completed last winter in a northeastern U.S. school district revealed that administrators were using Excel spreadsheets to collect IEP services data from 100 case managers, each handling 20 students. Traditionally, synthesizing and analyzing this data for budget and staffing projections took months. However, using a generative pre-trained transformer (GPT) called “data analyst,” the administrators completed the task in three days, creating a compelling narrative with graphics. It is important to remember that when using AI to analyze data, whether for writing present levels, IEP goals, or any other capacity, you must ensure data privacy and security. This can be done by sanitizing data, that is, removing identifying information from the data set. These data include names, birthdays, ID numbers, and more.
Key Considerations Before Using AI
Dr. Marino explained that while there are many meaningful ways to integrate AI into education, there are also important considerations for when AI should not be used. Most AI are not trained on data sets of individuals with disabilities, meaning that the resulting models may lack the ability to accurately understand or predict the needs and behaviors of this population. Second, AI should not be used in the teacher’s place, and humans must remain within the loop. He shared that teachers should consider the benefits, limitations, and return on investment before using a tool with students. This includes developing an implementation plan, using AI consistently, and evaluating the AI’s usage.
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