AI Application in the Education Industry by Linn Beck

Personalized Overview

linnbeck1 — 2025-10-03 13:18:44 UTC

AI is an increasingly used tool in the education industry. It is transforming teaching by taking over simple tasks and freeing up educators’ time to focus on more meaningful interactions with students. Knowledge is ideally more accessible and systems for schedule-planning or online tutoring help students of all ages and backgrounds. This is the ideal scenario of what AI can potentially do for us in the education sector. I am curious whether the positives outweigh risks, and what we can do to minimize adverse concomitants. Therefore, I created this padlet illustrating three different examples of how AI is used to facilitate learning. This includes its application in administrative tasks as well as studying and grading. Both teachers and students are able to make use of it. I will cover the societal impact, future trends and ethical considerations, to come to a better understanding overall.
Personally, I am interested to learn whether worries surrounding AI are reasonable or related to our human fear of anything new. AI is changing industries and society and of course this can be scary, we don’t know about the long term effects. I grew up in Germany and we still lag far behind when it comes to technology use in schools or public institutions. This is due to a variety of reasons, bureaucracy as well as fear surrounding the impact of AI. With this experience that contrasts what I hear about American high schools from my friends leaves me eager to examine different aspects of AI and how they can both facilitate and impede education.

Education: Ellucian SmartPlan

linnbeck1 — 2025-10-03 13:21:06 UTC

Ellucian SmartPlan is an AI degree planning program that helps college students figure out the pathway for degree completion. It can generate course schedules and make suggestions based on prerequisites, history, and availability (Ellucian, 2024). SmartPlan uses machine learning to tailor recommendations to each user. It brings benefits such as automated and personalized changes to schedules, and frees up time for academic advisors to have constructive conversations with students rather than being overwhelmed by the planning aspect. As a student, I think this is very helpful to get an understanding of one's short and long term path. However, data privacy is a concern, since it has to collect large amounts of personal information. Furthermore, there could be limitations in handling complex individual needs, when the algorithm is trained on generalized data (Moquin, 2025).

Education: Gradescope

linnbeck1 — 2025-10-03 13:21:16 UTC

AI Systems such as Gradescope can be used to grade assignments. These systems use machine learning, Natural Language Processing, and pattern recognition (The Princeton Review, n.d.). AI grading is thought to ideally be impartial and consistent, providing personalized feedback that a professor would not have always had the time to (Balla, 2024). Analytics create an overview of group performance. However, with students using AI to complete assignments and professors using it to grade them, I am worried about a loss of the human component of education. Furthermore, AI needs to be explainable and transparent in how it draws conclusions, so nobody is discriminated against or unfairly privileged.

Education: Fetchy

linnbeck1 — 2025-10-03 13:21:24 UTC

As illustrated in the graphic below, teachers spend a large amount of time doing administrative tasks, such as planning timetables, attendance, gradebooks, and structuring lessons (U.S. Department of Education, 2023). Fetchy is an AI system that can create lesson plans or projects, write emails and generate educational content to be used in class (Fetchy, n.d.). It is powered by machine learning and frees up educators’ time for more meaningful interactions with students. Tools like these are not supposed to replace teachers but rather be an addition, interpersonal connection and experiences are still integral to the teaching process. Moreover, generated worksheets can potentially contain false or outdated information or bias rooted in the algorithms. Therefore teachers should always check materials and edit them for their own use.

Future Trends and Ethical Considerations

linnbeck1 — 2025-10-03 13:23:58 UTC

In the near future, AI can help with the global teacher shortage as it can take over administrative tasks and free up time for in person teaching. Students can also benefit from tailored tutoring based on AI analysis of their strengths and weaknesses. At the same time, digital skills and AI literacy need to be trained in classes to ensure all students have the same ability to take advantage of these technologies. Systems must prioritize equity to not exacerbate digital divides, which means they have to address diverse learning styles, cognitive abilities, or language barriers (Milberg, 2024). With the use of AI in education, the focus is likely going to shift more towards deeper learning, away from memorization. One idea is a constructionist and project-based approach, making use of AI assistance, rather than an instructivist approach, based on teacher lectures. In terms of ethical considerations, bias and fairness are important, as well as upholding the valuable teacher-student relationship. Privacy is another key issue, as systems collect vast amounts of personal information. There need to be regulations as to what these systems are allowed to do with our data, and transparency in the process (James Madison University, 2025). In my opinion, the objective should be to decrease inequality and to ensure personal interactions are still integral to the learning experience. I think we can reap the benefits of AI implementation without taking traditional teaching methods out of the picture. Humans still have characteristics that I see as irreplaceable, such as empathy, mentorship and being a good role model.

Societal Impact

linnbeck1 — 2025-10-03 13:25:16 UTC

AI deployment in the education sector has several influences on society. For one, the personal connection is a big part of teaching, especially in younger students. Grading work and preparing lessons is integral to understanding students and a teacher does not just work as a messenger of information. I perceive AI as a double-edged sword that has the potential to bring many advantages, but also risks lowering engagement in individual teaching moments that rely on human connection. In the education sector, AI reduces the workload on teachers and shifts their role from a main educator to a sort of manager of the experience (Abrams, 2025). Furthermore, there is the notion that AI democratizes knowledge and increases equity, since it makes information more accessible for everyone (Pittman, 2024). Intelligent tutoring systems are also more affordable than conventional tutors and therefore level the playing field. At the same time, one has to be mindful that biased algorithms could exacerbate inequalities and entrench existing societal structures (Abrams, 2025). Additionally, the collection of personal data poses privacy concerns. To minimize risks and avoid data breaches, institutions need proper safeguards and security protection (National Education Association, 2025).

I find the biggest societal impact in the education industry to be the social effect it has on children and young adults. Learning has always been based on interaction and collaboration, explaining and being taught. With the increased use of generative AI to help with assignments, and online tutoring or advising, I am worried students will have much lower interpersonal skills over time. And even disregarding skills, mental health could potentially decline through isolation and online learning. I think AI should be implemented to aid teaching, but that the focus has to remain on personal interactions. After all, teachers are not just informers, but also pedagogues.

Reflection

linnbeck1 — 2025-10-03 13:26:41 UTC

I first conducted research and took notes, to give myself a general understanding of how AI is used in the industry and what the biggest benefits or concerns are. I was struggling to find information about the technologies used in these AI tools. After more searching, some simply mentioned that they use machine learning, or NLP, but not necessarily how it works, which was frustrating. I shifted my focus to the impact of these tools. For studying purposes and taking over administrative and organizational work, I really like AI. Before this, I was not aware that AI is already being used and that there is more to it than generative AI like chatbots, that students use to help with their assignments. This was great in broadening my view of AI in the education industry.

References

linnbeck1 — 2025-10-03 13:28:17 UTC

Abrams, Z. (2025, January). Classrooms are adapting to the use of artificial intelligence. Monitor on Psychology. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2025/01/trends-classrooms-artificial-intelligence

This article provides a comprehensive overview of what AI can be used for in education.

Balla, E. (2024, September 4). How AI is transforming grading? The AI Journal. https://aijourn.com/how-ai-is-transforming-grading/

This is an article analysing how AI is used in grading and the consequences of that.

Ellucian. (2024). Ellucian Smart Plan [PDF]. https://www.ellucian.com/assets/en/solution-sheet/ellucian-smart-plan.pdf

This is a helpful infographic about Smart Plan, made by the developers.

Fetchy. (n.d.). Fetchy: Every teacher’s best friend. https://www.fetchy.com/

This is the website of Fetchy, which explains it in simple terms.

James Madison University Library. (2025, September 16). Ethics in AI & education. James Madison University. https://guides.lib.jmu.edu/AI-in-education/ethics

This article provides ethical guidelines for the use of AI in classrooms.

Milberg, T. (2024, April). The future of learning: AI is revolutionizing Education 4.0. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/2024/04/future-learning-ai-revolutionizing-education-4-0/

This article analyzes the effects of using AI in education and what to keep in mind in order to make it a positive experience.

Moquin, S. (2025, February 5). AI Academic Advising: Benefits and Challenges. Enrollify. https://www.enrollify.org/blog/ai-academic-advising

This article dives into the pros and cons of deploying AI for student advising.

National Education Association. (2025, June 20). Student and educator data privacy. https://www.nea.org/professional-excellence/student-engagement/tools-tips/student-and-educator-data-privacy

It explains the importance of privacy in the age of AI, especially when used in classrooms.

Pittman, M. (2024, June 25). AI and the democratization of knowledge. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2024/06/25/ai-and-the-democratization-of-knowledge/

This article is about AI making information more broadly accessible, it focuses on entrepreneurship.

The Princeton Review. (n.d.). The evolution of education: How AI is reshaping grading. The Princeton Review. https://www.princetonreview.com/ai-education/how-ai-is-reshaping-grading

This article advanced my understanding of the pros and cons of using AI in grading.

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Technology. (2023). Artificial intelligence and the future of teaching and learning: Insights and recommendations [PDF]. https://www.ed.gov/sites/ed/files/documents/ai-report/ai-report.pdf

This is a long source but it contains some helpful information about the role of teachers and how AI influences it.

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Overview Video

linnbeck1 — 2025-10-09 21:34:47 UTC