Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

"If we want to know where AI belongs in schools, we have to be honest about what teaching is," writes Allison Littlejohn in this Singapore publication. "Teaching isn't a bundle of tasks. It's a demanding set of cognitive, emotional and social practices that machines can assist with but not replicate." The article looks at a number of things she argues only teachers can do: interpreting "subtle cues such as shifts in attention, hesitation, confusion or sudden insight"; sequencing "concepts and ideas, anticipate misconceptions, frame productive questions and construct sequences"; and shaping "the emotional climate in which learning happens." There's also a plug for Navigo Game, developed to teach children learning English as a foreign language. This tool "demonstrates that teachers, students and their parents are important stakeholders who must be co-creators if the technology is to address their needs." Well, it actually does no such thing, and as important as the three sets of things she describes, there isn't a good reason to believe that non-teachers, or even non-humans, can't or won't be able to perform these functions. Image: Wikipedia.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Jan 15, 2026 09:05 a.m.

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