Artificial intelligence is not always the answer when it comes to learning and the pace of change in the education sector is only going to speed up, Instructure Vice President for Global Academic Strategy Ryan Lufkin said during his keynote address in a conference on Friday, September 6.
Instructure, the company behind the Canvas Learning Management System (LMS), hosted the CanvasCon Philippines 2024 event and convened experts and professionals to explore trends and challenges in technology-powered learning.
During his speech, Lufkin discussed best practices and challenges on generative AI and the role of data and analytics in educational technology or edtech.
“AI is incredible in a lot of things, but it’s not be-all end-all. We need to focus on the actual pedagogy of sound learning approach – connecting teachers to students – then figure out how to apply technologies like AI to support that relationship-building because that’s really the core,” Lufkin told Manila Standard in an exclusive interview.
Lufkin, who also co-hosts the InstructureCast podcast with Melissa Loble, lauded the Philippines’ strides when it comes to AI innovation, citing that the University of the Philippines is one of the first learning institutions in the world to establish AI policies and regulations.
“What we’re finding globally is all learning is really technologically-enhanced learning. Students are digitally native, they expect to be able to access learning on their phones…There is so much innovation going on,” he shared.
He also praised the Philippine government’s initiative in creating more credentials programs for upskilling and reskilling employees, especially in technical aspects, which Lufkin believes is the future worldwide.
“I think the Philippine government has been amazing at putting that out there and creating a mandate around that. The government has been incredibly foreward-thinking on AI policy, student data privacy, and making sure that regulation is consistent with what we see across the globe,” he remarked.
By prioritizing the training of educators in the use of AI and focusing on AI literacy for students, Lufkin believes the country will not only keep pace with international peers, but actually lead it.
While funding for these programs poses a significant challenge, he said that there’s a lot of opportunity to provide financing and training for educators through corporate and government partnerships.
“Make it mandatory to prioritize AI literacy for students, that’s something across the globe that is really important. We need to train students to be able to identify deepfake AI-generated content and understand how to use it ethically,” he stressed.
Canvas LMS was launched in the Philippines back in 2017, and is now used in most of the top rated universities in the country including University of the Philippines (UP), Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), De La Salle University (DLSU), University of Santo Tomas (UST), among others.
