Innovation in general education, application of AI in social subjects

NDO - Artificial intelligence (AI) is gradually changing the face of modern education, opening up many new possibilities for teaching and learning. However, along with that potential, AI in education also raises issues of ethics, privacy and accessibility.

On the morning of May 30, the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations (VUSTA) organized a workshop on Innovation in general education methods, applying AI in social science subjects.

Speaking at the opening of the workshop, Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Quang Thao, Vice President of the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations, said that in the context of strong digital transformation, educational innovation is an inevitable requirement. Applying AI in teaching not only improves the quality of learning but also contributes to the formation of self-study skills, critical thinking and civic awareness for students.

In particular, with social sciences such as history, geography, civics, and literature, which are considered dry and uninteresting, artificial intelligence can enliven the learning and teaching process.

Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Quang Thao, Vice President of the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations, spoke.

Sharing this view, Dr. Le Cong Luong, Head of the Department of Science, Technology and International Cooperation (Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations), said that with the explosive development of technology, especially AI, general education is facing an urgent need to innovate teaching and learning methods. Innovation lies not only in content, but more importantly in the approach to knowledge, in line with the trend of personalized, flexible and technology-integrated education.

Meanwhile, general education today is still heavily one-way communication, lacking the ability to stimulate critical and creative thinking in students. Especially social sciences such as History, Geography, Literature, Civic Education, although playing a role in shaping thinking, personality, and ethics, are often taught dryly and unattractively.

The application of AI is expected to create a boost for general education, helping to reduce the administrative burden for teachers, enabling them to innovate teaching methods; students can access knowledge according to their abilities, develop self-study and research skills; schools and society can improve training efficiency, contributing to preparing human resources to adapt to the knowledge economy .

Dr. Le Cong Luong recommends that the Ministry of Education and Training soon issue a framework for AI application in general education programs. Strengthen cooperation between schools, businesses and experts to develop AI learning platforms suitable for Vietnam's reality. At the same time, have policies to support teacher training, especially in social sciences.

Dr. Nguyen Thi Nhu, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Vietnam National University, Hanoi) believes that applying AI in teaching is a suitable solution to innovate educational methods, especially for subjects in the social sciences. However, currently, some AI tools use unverified data, which can cause knowledge distortion if not controlled.

Furthermore, students can abuse AI, look up machines, copy without developing independent thinking. Therefore, AI can only be effective when properly integrated, with clear pedagogical orientation and reasonable monitoring mechanisms.

"Currently, the application of AI in teaching in general, and in social sciences in particular, still faces many challenges. However, if there is synchronous coordination between schools, teachers, administrators and the technology community, the application of AI will contribute to improving the quality of education, forming a generation of citizens with the capacity to integrate and develop sustainably in the digital age," Dr. Nguyen Thi Nhu emphasized.

Sharing experiences in innovating Geography teaching at high schools in Hanoi, Master Vu Hai Nam, Faculty of Geography, University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Vietnam National University, Hanoi) said that currently, many schools such as Hanoi-Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, Social Sciences and Humanities High School, Nguyen Hue High School, Viet Duc High School, Kim Lien High School, Phan Dinh Phung High School... have proactively applied information technology, gradually bringing AI into teaching.

Some teachers also use ChatGPT to come up with lesson ideas, create questions, update current knowledge, analyze geographical phenomena or design practice exercises. AI also supports grading, classroom management, helping teachers save time and personalize the teaching and learning process. However, this process also has many shortcomings such as: large differences between schools in terms of implementation conditions; many teachers have basic access to technology, mainly used for illustration and not aimed at developing students' abilities. Preparing lessons with integrated AI requires more effort, and information needs to be carefully checked before teaching.

At the workshop, scientists, educators and administrators shared their opinions and comprehensively looked at the opportunities and challenges in applying AI to general education. Delegates said that innovating general education methods and applying AI to teaching social sciences is an inevitable and urgent trend.

This is an opportunity to improve the quality of education, to prepare the young generation with skills, thinking and ethics suitable to the requirements of the times. The success of this process requires the cooperation of managers, teachers, technologists and the whole society.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/doi-moi-giao-duc-pho-thong-ung-dung-ai-trong-cac-mon-hoc-xa-hoi-post883491.html