Tech Transition: An Exploratory Study on Educators' AI Awareness

Introduction

Information and communication technology (ICT) is evolving at a faster pace today, and it is obvious from the way all dimensions of our lives have been invaded. The role of ICT in the field of education is unbelievable. The digital world has linked the societies of learners and teachers around the globe. Knowledge sharing among these groups occurs at a higher percentage, contributing to a higher level of knowledge resource connectivity. India has remarkably transformed its higher education landscape over the last two decades. It has emerged as an education hub and draws global learners from around the world. Learners and educators are now flocking to India as India has become a pioneer in higher education and the role model emerges to offer high-quality, low-cost education to large numbers (Fetaji et al., 2018). Educators are encouraged to incorporate technology into their teaching activities, as it is claimed that ICT can revolutionize an obsolete education system (Aczel et al., 2008, Jaffer et al., 2007). Although globalization has promoted the use of technology in education, the results which this tech integration has shown are not satisfactory (Coll et al., 2009). In education, the adoption of technology is improving, but not at the required pace. In spite of development in education technology, it is not being used effectively to facilitate classroom instruction. Researchers are therefore seeking to understand and justify potential explanations for the restricted adoption of ICT in teaching by taking the following factors into account:

• 1.

  Lack of awareness of the latest classroom technologies and their potential benefits;

• 2.

  Educator’s stress;

• 3.

  Limited opportunities for educators to use ICT;

• 4.

  Lack of ICT tools in educational institutions;

• 5.

  Limited training to use ICT;

• 6.

  Lack of skills and confidence to use ICT in classroom instruction.

Background Of The Problem

In the last couple of years, there has been considerable discussion around AI policy in different countries. Governments in the USA, France, United Kingdom, China, and Japan have published their strategy documents and policies to implement AI in various areas. India, the fastest growing economy with the second largest population in the world, has an important stake in the AI movement and is given an opportunity to create its own AI leadership brand by the revolutionary nature of the technology. Menon et al. (2017) shared a framework for evaluating the economic effects of AI for G20 countries in a recent study on AI and estimates that by 2035, AI will increase India's annual growth rate by 1.3 percent. The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) (2018) was mandated by the Government of India in 2018-19 to launch the National AI Program to guide the research and development of new and emerging technologies, recognizing the ability of AI to transform economies. It analyzed various sectors that would be impacted by AI in its AI strategy paper, and the fundamental goal of its strategy paper is to create a willingness to learn from the world's best in terms of AI technological innovations.