The New Education System
It is an undeniable fact that every people, especially teenagers, complain about the school and the education system. They continually declare that lessons are tedious, and going to school is annoying. But the problem is, they do not even consider the solution. They do not ask the question of “If the education system is faulty, what should the new system be like?” As famous Turkish professor Celal Şengör stated, “You have to offer a new argument or find an original resolution if you complain about something.” Consequently, when people grumble about the education system, they should keep Celal Şengör’s phrase on their minds, plus they should act based on his quote. Otherwise, they are going to be witnessing the same education system for a while.
If the system is wrong, what should the new system be like? First of all, while planning a new system, we should find today’s methods’ problems because, without problems, it is impossible to come up with solutions. So, the most common thing students fret about is the monotonous lessons. They keep assuming that they do not enjoy the classes. Indeed, they are right, because every human being is different; therefore, every human has various interests. Thus, it is pointless to choose several lessons without knowing students own interests and apply them to the education system.
It is a usual, and a philosophical statement that knowing yourself is the most important and valuable thing in life. If people know their self entirely, their path through success will be much easier. However, unfortunately, at least for humans, defining and understanding their self is tough because their body’s algorithms are a bit complicated. Especially, their brain neurons, and their emotions are hard to understand. On the other hand, logically, if humans find something created by algorithms, it will be simpler to recognize their body and know their self, because their body has algorithms as well.
In the past several years, Artificial Intelligence has been developed a lot. Nowadays, AI is used by millions of people around the world undeniably. For instance, AI is being used to remind, calculate, predict weather conditions, and finally, for medical issues. Accordingly, it is apparent that AI takes an essential place in people’s lives, and without it, it would be impracticable to live. So, why people are not using AI for understanding themselves as well. AI can define humans better than they do. Therefore, students will know what they like or what they do not like and for each people lessons are going to be different. Thus, they are not going to complain about the boring lessons because they will have classes which are prepared based on their interests.
Inevitably, a question pops up in mind. “How is AI going to understand our interests?” Well, at first, it sounds impossible, but although it is complicated, it is possible. First of all, humans have emotions which are appearing because of neurons. As the famous author, Yuval Noah Harari, stated, “Emotions come from calculations, not intuition or freedom. When a monkey or a person sees a snake in front of him, he is afraid because he concludes that millions of neurons in the brain are at high risk of death. Sexual attraction occurs when different biochemical algorithms calculate that the person around it is most likely suitable for successful coupling, social bonding, or any other desired purpose. Moral situations such as anger, guilt, or forgiveness also result from the neural mechanisms that develop to ensure intra-group collaboration. All these biochemical algorithms have been carried out over billions of years of evolution. If one of our ancient ancestors’ feelings is wrong, the genes that shape this feeling are not transferred to the next generation. Thus, emotions do not contradict logic; it contains an evolutionary logic.” So, if the neurons and the emotions do not contradict, algorithms can easily find our interests. For instance, if you wear a watch that observes your heart rate and neurons while having a mathematics class, algorithms can easily say you are talented in math, and you enjoy solving operations because while you are doing these things, you are secreting dopamine, and your neurons are in interaction rapidly.
Based on all of these, imagine a system. Before starting school, every student is taking a test, and the aim is to find capabilities and interests. It is a one hour test, and AI is being used. Before taking the test, every kid should wear a watch so; AI can easily observe their heart rate and emotions. When you complete the test, AI will reveal the answers and announce your interests and talents based on its investigations about neurons. Therefore, every student will have different lessons prepared for them, and that means, if we apply this system, we will avoid judging a fish by its ability to climb a tree.
The second and the most common thing students complain about is the enormous number of exams. They declare that exams are detrimental for their mental health because it causes them to feel anxious during the whole school year. On the other hand, unfortunately, it is an indisputable fact that in today’s system, if exams disappear suddenly, there will be a significant confusion because every school has their capacity and order. Moreover, before schools select students, they have to distinguish some of them based on their grades. Therefore, while finding a solution, people have to perceive these things realistically. So, as a result, people have to create a system without exams, but on the other hand, they should find something else to fill that space. In the previous paragraphs, AI was mentioned a lot. Perhaps, people can find a solution by using AI once again.
It is an apparent certainty that there is a little difference between memorizing and learning. When people memorize, they usually remember something for one month or two months, which is a short time. However, when people learn something, they transfer pieces of information from short-term memory to long-term memory, and unlike two months, they can keep that information in their mind for a long time, such as five years or ten years. Furthermore, while learning, students should have a suitable time case, and they have to calm down and learn slowly instead of memorizing a lot of things at once. If people examine these things, it is not that challenging to recognize the learning method should be used in the education system instead of using the memorizing method. In contrast, education officers are still using the memorizing method, and they are preparing exams, which is ridiculous. Additionally, when students study for an exam for a couple of months with an intensive program, after they take the test, they will forget everything abruptly because the main reason they studied that much was all about the exam and when the exam is over the topics they learned become unnecessary and irrelevant suddenly. So, based on this fact, exams are not the best option for understanding whether students learn the subject correctly or not.
Primarily, people should find something that can realize if the learner transferred the required information to long-term memory or not, because that is the only way to understand did students learn the topic efficiently. To access this, perhaps, education officers can take advantage of AI one more time because it is the best alternative for adequately recognizing the human body. So, assume that humans use the same method, they wear a technological watch, and they allow the watch to observe their hippocampus, which is a curved formation in the brain and contains long-term memory. If they use this system, they will solve the first difficulty (did students learn or not), but on the other hand, they have one more essential problem to resolve. Exams were playing a crucial role in distinguishing students, so in this new system, people should find something to identify instead of exams.
In today’s system, students are being specified based on some numbers which does not have any meaning realistically. When they receive some job invites from companies, company representatives’ priority is students’ grades before learning their personalities. Additionally, it is a well-known thing that these grades represent the results of the exams. The previous paragraphs explained that exams are not the best option for observing if the necessary topic learned well or not. So, logically, these grades are being useless abruptly because the notes are the consequences of the exams, and exams do not show whether students learn the topic.
As included in the previous paragraphs, every person has different features so that they all have various weaknesses, strengths, and AI can easily recognize these things because it is capable of perceiving algorithms. So, while studying or learning the topic, the same watch can clearly identify people’s weaknesses and strengths. For instance, if someone is perfect at learning faster, instead of including grades in the cv, people can add their strengths, which are observed by AI. If a lawyer looks for an aggressive and intelligent helper, he can use AI’s reviews instead of checking grades. Another example, a student took a session about science, and he finished (learned) it quicker than the average, or he took the test aggressively. These attributes will be written in his cv, and companies will prefer employees based on these factors. Consequently, companies will be happier because they will be choosing the best one for their needs. Therefore, categorization will be the most critical thing in the job market instead of numbers.
In conclusion, imagine a system that has various lessons based on students’ affairs and abilities. Free of judging a fish by its ability to climb a tree. Also, building a modern generation and completely different people who are happy because they are working on the things they love and capable of. Likewise, it is free of exams as well. Students will not feel uncomfortable and stressed anymore. They will be satisfied while taking lessons, and companies will give importance to their strengths and weaknesses. If people require these developments and want to apply these to the education system, they should stop complaining and take action as soon as possible. Lastly, people have to be aware of the technological facilities that they have and try to utilize them effectively.
