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I came across this article. It states that some teachers will lose their jobs in the advent of online courses as well as the learning camps that are sprouting up online. Other articles are not that kind, predicting that machine learning and artificial intelligence could very well take over the profession altogether. While I am not exactly an expert in the machine overlords that will eventually take over my role, I do think that there is a limit as to how we could automate teaching.
I could think of a few reasons and a few ways as to how we humans are much better than the superior machines. Some may disagree, but there is one key skill that machines lack and that is the ability to motivate and inspire.
Driver and Inspirer
Well, maybe not motivate, because one can't exactly be motivational all the time, shouting 'you can do it!' from the side. There are times where a teacher is required to give the harsh truth to the student instead of coddling them. The role of a driver is important because when a student is charged with a teacher, the teacher has no control over what student he or she gets. Some are motivated, some are smart and some are just not as fast. When it comes to being motivated, the teacher will have to drive the student to want to learn, using varying tools and techniques.
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The machine unfortunately, is not able to at this moment. There is a certain human touch required to drive the student to see value in learning. The same goes with the child's intellect. Granted, online courses allows the children to learn at their own pace. However, like any self-learnt skill, once you have tried and fail one too many times, you may be tempted to give up and you can. That's because no one is going to stop you from leaving the class or giving up. However, with real teachers, you may get advice or words of wisdom.
That's because as much as a machine is smart or filled with content knowledge, it is not able to inspire. Students need to be inspired, they need to know what and why are they fighting a particular battle, or studying a rather boring topic. As such, it is important to have a real life teacher to continue to inspire the child to move forward, or else, we may have a large amount of students quitting because playing games on their Playstation just seems more appealing.
Aside from that, the importance of inspiring others is essential, there is more to just teaching than just telling them about knowledge. The student also models after the teacher especially in how he/she commands the class and solve problems. Learning from home, just does not offer the same learning scenario as seeing how a teacher teaches.
Bridge builder
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I remember learning how to code and I could not, no matter how hard I have tried to apply the knowledge that I have learnt. I needed a tutor, but that tutor was not around. I tried Googling, but I just did not understand what they were saying on forums. So, I stopped. I attribute my slow learning progress to my ability to grasp certain concepts as well as the lack of an expert to advice me. This is because a teacher helps the students build bridges linking different knowledge from different context and backgrounds. In other words, the teacher helps the students build their schema or knowledge base. This helps them not only remember, but apply whatever that they have learnt.
Another important aspect of bridge building is building the relationship between a child and the parent. I often have parents come and complain about their child's weaknesses and after talking to the child, realize that perhaps there is a lack of communication between them. A teacher's role in this case would be to explain the parents' thoughts as well as the child's bridging that familiarity between them that has somehow turned into a divide.
However...
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This of course depends on the teacher. I think being contented and not willing to step out of one's comfort zone is the problem with many teachers I see. A lot of these teachers I work with would dismiss me because they have been 'in the service for 30 years'. I respect their service, but keeping up with the times are important. Or else, we would be rendered obsolete. Before we know it, we may end up like the fax machine in the internet era or Fiat currency in the era of cryptocurrency.
That being said, let us ride off into the future by being adaptable, creative and inspirational. Let us be an essential part of a child's development and not some online program. Yes, those are great, but ultimately, I would want my child to be guided by someone who can help her make sense of what is one the screen. If we can do that, then we as teachers, will forever be indispensable.
