How AI Has Come to Identify Students in the Classroom

A look at how AI can impact student identities in the classroom.

Isn’t it ironic?

Thanks to “bots” on the Internet, humans now have to identify themselves as humans to these same bots when trying to do anything human-related on the Internet.

Ya, I really do think, it’s all a little too ironic.

Now apply this same logic to how students come to identify themselves while attempting to learn in a myriad of different classrooms available to them.

Students seem to have to be able to identify themselves as students in order to learn in the new AI-driven classroom.

AI-driven classrooms are becoming the future as it is helping to make knowledge sharing easier, but at the same time, it is redefining what it means to be a traditional student.

An unexpected result of AI in the classroom is that it is creating students whose patience and motivation towards learning new material in the classroom is shortening, which is becoming a growing concern to teachers in education.

So how then does patience and motivation connect to student identity?

If SIRI Can Tell Me Then I Don’t Need to Know

I began my teaching career in 2002, and back then SIRI was still a figment of Steve Job’s imagination.

Before AI technology — such as SIRI, it was simpler time as they say, where teachers were the source of all knowledge.

During these times, I never recalled students challenging me as to what I was teaching them as if they knew something I didn’t.

With the advent of AI technology, the students I began to teach were not the students I recognized or had been used to.

These students began to rely on SIRI as the more knowledgeable teacher they could go to in order to help them understand lessons, rather than me, their human teacher.

A little side note, I did a quick google research on SIRI, and here is what I found:

Siri is older than Alexa. Siri was first introduced on the iPhone 4S in October 2011, while Alexa was released with the Amazon Echo in November 2014.

This is why I refer to SIRI and not ALEXA.

I first heard the name SIRI when I was teaching a grade 8 math class in 2016.

I was teaching a lesson on finding surface area in prisms and pyramids.

And, I kid you not, one student actually stood up and said; “Why do I have to learn this when SIRI can tell me the answer in seconds!”

Let me tell you, this wasn’t a one-time occurrence. This particular math class brought me so much grief because they wouldn’t trust a word I said that for the first time in 14 years, I actually considered leaving the teaching professsion.

But I didn’t give up. I did learn, though, that they got used to using AI technology with their 7th-grade math teacher and that they just assumed I would let them do the same, so that’s why they didn’t trust a word I said.

It took me from the start of the new school year until about November to convince them that what I was teaching them was, I would later come to find out, what SIRI would tell them is true.

This struggle taught me that with AI technology students are also struggling with consuming what information is being presented to them and how they can navigate all that is before them.

I managed to make them see that even though SIRI can help with giving them answers, they as humans, need to see how the knowledge can benefit their identities as students.

Just for the record, I do have some authority on student identities since I am, in fact, older than both Google and SIRI and have spent more time around students than either of them!

Recognizing ‘Student Identity’ in the Classroom

So now, what do I mean by student identity?

Student identity: is a set of beliefs, values, and commitments that an individual connects towards being a student.

In an ideal situation, students come into the classroom ready to learn and eager to show what they know.

They see themselves on equal footing with others in the classroom in terms of being physically present in the classroom.

But what begins to separate students in the classroom is their grasp on tools to help their learning.

And as we now know, students who have a better understanding of AI technology, such as ChatGPT put themselves ahead of others by being able to manipulate the knowledge teachers look to share with them in the classroom.

Gaps in learning begin to show as some students know how to use AI to their advantage to retain information, while others are still looking to grasp knowledge the old-fashioned way — writing everything down.

So, as you can see, there can be different types of student identities.

Types of Student Identity

The definition of identity can be perceived as two different identities: assigned identity, that which is given to one by others, and claimed identity, that in which one acknowledges or claims for oneself.

Research has helped with formulating an understanding of the new identities students are expected to take on in an AI-driven classroom.

Student attention spans may begin to decrease among those who have ‘claimed’ their identity as one who can take what is being taught in the classroom and use AI to teach them at their own convenience.

They have become experts in seeing how AI can benefit them and can’t be bothered with normal approaches to classroom learning.

This may even extend to the teacher, where these types of students seem to question the teacher’s approach or offer different tools to use in the classroom on the basis of making all their lives easier.

Those who are not considered versed in AI technology may have their identities ‘assigned’ to them by the others as students who have become ‘obsolete’ in providing any benefit to classroom group work since they can’t compete with what it means to be a student in today’s classroom.

Therefore, it is evident that student identity is closely connected to mental health, and that the issue of mental health is becoming a serious concern in generating new policies around technology and classrooms.

Student Identity and Mental Health

Mental health, as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), is a state of well-being in which individuals successfully cope with the normal stresses of life, enabling them to contribute productively to their community.

It goes without saying that students who experience high levels of stress can dramatically affect their learning in the classroom.

Mental health research of students in changing classroom dynamics has seen growing interest in helping students at any stage in their learning recognize their identity.

An example of rapid and unexpected changing classroom dynamics reached its peak during the 2020 global pandemic and when classrooms worldwide were forced to go online.

Teaching students online was an eye-opening experience for me as a teacher, and one I hope to share with you in the future, but for now I, and any other teacher who taught online and is now back in the classroom, can tell you the difference in the types of students we have is vast.

Let’s just say that the new types of students who came out of the ‘pandemic learning’ include those who now believe their identities are tied to their avatars and want answers to their questions faster than teachers are able to give.

It is, therefore, worth looking into the phenomenon surrounding mental health and student identity in the classroom.

As the topic of mental health is wide-ranging, I will look to two very important factors that, in my opinion, have very significant impacts on student identity and mental health: patience and motivation.

Patience and Student Identity

Patience is one factor that can affect a student’s identity since both these are connected to how students learn.

Patience in understanding the material taught in class means allowing for mistakes to help students with moving forward, rather than making them want to quit.

But times are changing.

The Internet is making it harder for students to find the patience to understand classroom material. They avoid making mistakes by having AI technology perfect what they need to know or how they need to present the material.

But what students fail to realize is that AI does not make things personal, and therein lies the problem. Students learn best when they personalize their learning.

Making what they learn their own means embracing the mistakes they learn, turning them into opportunities for further learning, and helping others avoid the same mistakes.

Students who don’t seem to make mistakes are taking on identities that no other human can recognize, because as we all know, humans are not perfect.

Motivation and Student Identity

Motivation is another factor that can impact on student identity.

It is what helps students build their confidence and enthusiam for learning. It is generally seen as either extrinsic (external to a person) and intrinsic (inside a person).

Extrinsic factors include rewards given by AI technologies and the impacts interactions with others have towards ethusiasm for learning, both of which may go against a person’s “identity” in the classroom.

Intrinsic factors include confidence and self-efficacy, both of which may impact on a person’s “identity” in the classroom.

Self-efficacy: is a set of beliefs in one’s own behaviors and ability to perform well and achieve desired goals.

Where students have to be careful is in allowing for AI to give them a false sense of confidence which can negatively impact on their motivation and patience when it comes to learning.

Challenges to Student Identity

Students may find many internal challenges in the classroom that teachers may not be aware of. Discussing these challenges and ways students can work with their teachers and friends to make things easier, may also help them to claim their own individual identities moving forward.

I. Participation in Class

Students may find it difficult to express their thoughts and feelings about learning in this new world of AI with their teachers, which may prevent them from participating, hindering their identities.

Solution: Teacher Support

In reaching out to their teachers and sharing their thoughts, students may be surprised at just how helpful teachers can be in offering the emotional and learning support they need. After all, teachers can relate to what it feels like to be challenged by the Internet and AI technology.

II. Using EdTech Tools

Students may find it frustrating and isolating having to navigate learning while troubleshooting any technical errors they may have during class.

Solution: Support from Classmates

Helping fellow classmates who may not be used to working with AI or edtech learning platforms helps build strength of character by showing patience for those who are not as versed in technology.

It helps build movitation through confidence and enthusiasm when it comes to helping others in the classroom thrive, which in turns allows more students the opportunities to claim their own identities.

III. Using Their Personal Learning Style

Students should understand that while AI can provide the spark for creativity, it is up to them to personalize and make it their own so that it can benefit them in the future.

Now that the Internet can share with students what they need to know, it is up to the students to benefit from how and why they need to make it their own.

Solution: Space for Individual Learning Paces

Along with teacher support, families can provide the space necessary for the students to express what they are learning at their own pace. This allows students the opportunities to fill in the gaps as they learn.

Final Thoughts…

When students feel that they are all provided the same opportunities by their teachers, then this may allow for students to become more active members in the classroom.

When teachers recognize and acknowledge the benefits to mental health and identity by allowing flexibility in the classroom, students reap the rewards through knowledge that their teachers pass on to them.

By working together, school administration, teachers, and parents can then work to allow for healthy students, with healthy minds, who believe in themselves enough to be able to form their own identities now, and in the future.

With the right mindset and general approaches to learning, students can learn to look past the technology and instead focus on how to establish their style of learning.

The right approach to learning as a student means finding what works best for you as an individual. Encourage students to personalize their learning — all while moving at their own pace and not at the pace of advanced technology.

After all, humans are all one and worth its protecting our identities moving into the future.

If you enjoyed this article, please read my other articles when looking at identities and student learning in the classroom.