TLC 2024: Automation can change students’ lives

New visions that will ultimately shape the future direction of teaching and learning in higher education underpinned and guided important discussions during the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) 13th annual Teaching and Learning Conference. 

Organised by the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHED), the event, a highlight on UCT’s events calendar, was held under the theme: “All about curriculum: new visions and future directions”. It kicked off in the Neville Alexander Building on lower campus on Wednesday, 20 November, and joined members from across the campus community for two days of interactive discussions and debates on reimagining the core of educational practices. 

Delivering the welcome address, UCT Vice-Chancellor Professor Mosa Moshabela commended delegates for their unrelenting commitment to teaching and learning, especially given the university’s research-intensive standpoint. 

“In order to protect the integrity of what we do as educators, these are the kinds of things that we need; [spaces] where we can all come together, [bring] diverse perspectives to think about curriculum change and to think about the future we want [and] how we educate,” Professor Moshabela said. 

Be intentional about adopting change 

In a demanding and ever-changing world, Moshabela said there’s a need to be agile and to adapt current teaching and learning practices. And as the top university in Africa, UCT needs to be at the vanguard of educational development. This means losing old, dated models and being intentional about adopting change and creating a culture where change will thrive. And while doing so, he said, adapting to the needs of today’s students and those who will be part of the university community in the next five years and beyond is important. 

What this means is starting the groundwork and setting the wheels in motion for change now – preparing bit by bit on how best to accommodate future students with teaching and learning infrastructure that is relevant and state-of-the-art. And there will be other things to consider too, like teaching infrastructure, policies, digitisation, and online teaching and learning. Importantly, these elements will need to adapt and align and for it to work, it requires cross-faculty buy-in and input from different constituencies across the university. 

“What kind of changes are we putting into our curriculum and what informs them?”

“We can almost be certain that the student we are going to have five years from now will be a different student than the one we have today. So, that also speaks to our curriculum. What kind of changes are we putting into our curriculum and what informs them? It’s imperative that our students have the best learning experience,” he said. 

“If we want to be celebrated and benefit from being the top institution that we are; if we want the world to engage us on those terms, then we must surely represent that kind of best practice and be deserving of the stature that we claim to have.” 

Automate learning spaces 

It would be remiss to talk curriculum change and how to transform learning spaces without touching on the role technology and automation play in the process. So, Professor Hussein Suleman, the dean of UCT’s Faculty of Science, spent a few moments delving into the topic. His talk was titled “Automation for Transformation in Learning Spaces” and honed in on educational technology and computer science education. 

“Underlining all of this is this thinking that this is all about intent – it’s about how we use the technology and how we think about this. It’s not just about importing some sort of solution from somewhere else,” he said.

“It’s about how we use the technology and how we think about this.”

Professor Suleman used his talk to foreground some of his research projects like a 2010 study that explored whether students would be more open to using Vula – UCT’s learner management system at the time – if it mirrored social media platforms like Facebook. He also presented snapshots of fitting work led by postgraduate students who he described as “experimentalists”. In line with his 2010 study and a few years later, one student’s research highlighted which social media style is more student-centric; as well as the value of developing games to help students learn. 

“Now, I’m not an experimental computer scientist. I build real systems to test ideas to see if we can actually have some kind of impact in how we design technology, and in this particular case, to support the learning process,” he said. 

Understanding transformation 

But to undergo changes in learning, it’s important to understand what transformation means, Suleman added. 

“We know that transformation requires change. I want to argue that it’s reaching a point of continuous change. There is no simple end goal. There’s no such thing as becoming transformed,” he said. “Transformation is understanding the need for continuous change; the need to move away from a system where we have some kind of static notion that this is the norm. [But] there is no norm. It’s about continuous improvement.”

“We have to empower students and staff in every possible way.”

He then proceeded to list several other concepts that tie in with continuous transformation. These, he said, include equality, opportunity and empowerment. 

And it begs several questions: “How do you give people access to equal education using technology? And I always tell people, the most evil thing about apartheid was the denial of opportunity. So, when we think about designing systems for teaching and learning that involve technology, how do we give people opportunity? And the third thing is empowerment. We have to empower students and staff in every possible way.” 

Support the teacher 

To effectively transform learning spaces, the teacher must be placed in pole position. 

“Supporting the teacher [in the process] can have an unbelievable effect. A lot of the time we say, we discard the teacher, and we go straight to the learner and focus on the learner entirely. I think that’s wrong,” Suleman said. “There’s a greater chance for us to have a massive impact if we put some time into focusing on the teacher.” 

He also took a moment to provide his take on the future of automation in the classroom, what it’s likely to look like and the benefits for the teacher and the learner. He said detecting artificial-intelligence-based plagiarism won’t happen. However, computers will soon be able to explain different concepts and will be able to direct student learning and support the student in various ways. Within a few years, software tools will be able to carry out teachers’ final-year marking and in time the machine will also be able to assemble course material with the necessary resources in line with teachers’ requirements.

“Supporting the teacher [in the process] can have an unbelievable effect.”

But what else can computers not do? 

“I don’t think we are going to have a machine that will give us a current view of education. I often go into my classroom and teach about something that was on the news last night and how it relates to what we are studying. We are not going to be able to do this given the way the machines are currently structured. It will give you a general or historical perspective but that’s not the currency of education,” he said. 

“And the last thing is values-driven education, [which is] absolutely critical. We all have value systems; the institution has a value system. We can’t rely on general tools to somehow put across this value system for the students.” 

Automation is not evil 

In closing, Suleman reminded the audience that automation is not evil and despite what many think, computers are not bad. 

“[Everything] is about intent and should be driven by an agenda that is about societal needs and principles. We have to know what we want and why we are doing this. Whatever your intent is, you can amplify that with the appropriate use of technology and that is what we need to be thinking about,” he said. 

Ultimately, automation can change the lives of students. 

“The reason we do it is to improve the experience of the students [and] to think about technology as a vehicle for transformation.”

“The reason we do it is to improve the experience of the students [and] to think about technology as a vehicle for transformation. This is the intent that I’m bringing here. We have to think about the fact that we have this goal, which is transformation, how do we use technology for it and make sure all our students are treated equally … and very importantly, how do we use these tools to empower the students and the teachers?” he asked.