Three out of four teachers in Brazil advocate AI as teaching tool

Three out of four teachers in Brazil show support for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) as a teaching tool. They also say that the technology has impacted education both positively, with faster access to information, and negatively, as students lose their focus.

The data can be found in an unprecedented survey by Semesp Institute, an organization that represents higher education providers. The study was carried out between March 18 and 31 with 444 public and private school teachers from kindergarten to high school located in all regions of Brazil.

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In the study, 74.8 percent of respondents partially or totally agree with the use of artificial intelligence in teaching. Despite this, just over a third (39.2%) of them said they always use it as a teaching tool.

Even though educators believe it is important to use AI, they also report structural and pedagogical problems that prevent or hinder its employment. Further issues were reported in connection with its excessive use, especially by pupils. Among these problems are the lack of internet at school, the lack of training for teachers and also greater difficulty in holding students’ attention.

“I sense students have become more dependent on research tools and immediate answers and have a hard time having resilience and patience and acting as problem solvers,” an anonymous teacher who took part in the survey said.

Another one said: “Technology has advanced, but sometimes access to it at school is not satisfactory. Poor internet connection. The computer lab is a restricted space. No Microsoft Office in the mobile lab. The use of cell phones is impractical as students have no internet. Now, even the internet is restricted to teachers.”

Just under half of the teachers (45.7%) declared that both teachers and students have access to computers and the internet where they teach. Another seven percent answered there is still no access to technology in their schools.

Teachers also report that technology has made students lose their focus. “The school can’t keep up with the use of new technologies at the speed that the students can, which leads to a mismatch between the lesson taught and the lesson that the students want. The unbridled use of social media and the high level of exposure of young people to these networks have undermined teachers’ contact with students,” one of the teachers stated.

Young people’s interests

The survey is part of the 14th edition of the Map of Higher Education in Brazil, which also looks into the most common careers young people intend to pursue.

In higher education, the field of IT and communication is the most sought-after (30.1%), followed by health and well-being (18.1%). Computer science stands at the top of the ranking of programs, desired by 11.5 percent of the young people who took part in the survey. Next come Business (10.8%), Law (3.8%), and Medicine (3.4%).