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Could AI Democratise Education? Socio-Technical Imaginaries of an EdTech Revolution

Sahan Bulathwela, María Pérez-Ortiz, Catherine Holloway, John Shawe-Taylor

This paper starts by synthesising how AI might change how we learn and teach, focusing specifically on the case of personalised learning companions, and then move to discuss some socio-technical features that will be crucial for avoiding the perils of these AI systems worldwide (and perhaps ensuring their success). This paper also discusses the potential of using AI together with free, participatory and democratic resources, such as Wikipedia, Open Educational Resources and open-source tools. We also emphasise the need for collectively designing human-centered, transparent, interactive and collaborative AI-based algorithms that empower and give complete agency to stakeholders, as well as support new emerging pedagogies.

Workshop on Machine Learning for the Developing World (ML4D) at the Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems 2021; 2021

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Abstract

Could AI Democratise Education? Socio-Technical Imaginaries of an EdTech Revolution

Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Education has been said to have the potential for building more personalised curricula, as well as democratising education worldwide and creating a Renaissance of new ways of teaching and learning. Millions of students are already starting to benefit from the use of these technologies, but millions more around the world are not. If this trend continues, the first delivery of AI in Education could be greater educational inequality, along with a global misallocation of educational resources motivated by the current technological determinism narrative. In this paper, we focus on speculating and posing questions around the future of AI in Education, with the aim of starting the pressing conversation that would set the right foundations for the new generation of education that is permeated by technology. This paper starts by synthesising how AI might change how we learn and teach, focusing specifically on the case of personalised learning companions, and then move to discuss some socio-technical features that will be crucial for avoiding the perils of these AI systems worldwide (and perhaps ensuring their success). This paper also discusses the potential of using AI together with free, participatory and democratic resources, such as Wikipedia, Open Educational Resources and open-source tools. We also emphasise the need for collectively designing human-centered, transparent, interactive and collaborative AI-based algorithms that empower and give complete agency to stakeholders, as well as support new emerging pedagogies. Finally, we ask what would it take for this educational revolution to provide egalitarian and empowering access to education, beyond any political, cultural, language, geographical and learning ability barriers.

Could AI Democratise Education? Socio-Technical Imaginaries of an EdTech Revolution

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Type

Workshop

Themes

Assistive & Accessible Technology
Towards Proactive Information Retrieval in Noisy Text with Wikipedia Concepts

Tabish Ahmed, Sahan Bulathwela

The informational needs of people are highly contextual and can depend on many different factors such as their current knowledge state, interests and goals [1, 2, 3]. However, an effective information retrieval companion should minimise the human effort required in i) expressing a human information need and ii) navigating a lengthy result set. Using topical representations of the user history (e.g. [4]) can immensely help formulating zero shot queries and refining short user queries that enable proactive information retrieval (IR). While the world has digital textual information in abundance, it can often be noisy (e.g. extracted through Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), PDF text extraction etc.), leading to state-of-the-art neural models being highly sensitive to the noise producing sub-optimal results [5]. This demands denoising steps to refine both query and document representation. In this paper, we argue that Wikipedia, an openly available encyclopedia, can be a humanly intuitive knowledge base [6] that has the potential to provide the world view many noisy information Retrieval systems need.

Published at the First Workshop on Proactive and Agent-Supported Information Retrieval at CIKM 2022; 2022

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Abstract

Towards Proactive Information Retrieval in Noisy Text with Wikipedia Concepts

Extracting useful information from the user history to clearly understand informational needs is a crucial feature of a proactive information retrieval system. Regarding understanding information and relevance, Wikipedia can provide the background knowledge that an intelligent system needs. This work explores how exploiting the context of a query using Wikipedia concepts can improve proactive information retrieval on noisy text. We formulate two models that use entity linking to associate Wikipedia topics with the relevance model. Our experiments around a podcast segment retrieval task demonstrate that there is a clear signal of relevance in Wikipedia concepts while a ranking model can improve precision by incorporating them. We also find Wikifying the background context of a query can help disambiguate the meaning of the query, further helping proactive information retrieval.

Towards Proactive Information Retrieval in Noisy Text with Wikipedia Concepts

Colour photograph of Daniel wearing a white checked shirt and sitting at a desk facing the camera

Type

Article

Themes

Assistive & Accessible Technology
These tools help visually impaired scientists read data and journals

This article was featured in Nature and discusses tools that help visually impaired scientists read data and Journals. Innovation Manager, Daniel Hajas, was interviewed as part of this piece and highlights the need for an ecosystem approach, and access to data / visualisations for blind members of the research and science community.

Nature; 2023

These tools help visually impaired scientists read data and journals

Kenyan man holding a prosthesis

Type

PhD

Themes

Assistive & Accessible Technology

Research Group

Disability Interactions
Specifying a Hybrid, Multiple Material CAD System for Next Generation Prosthetic Design

Troy Bodkin

Doctoral Thesis. This work is one of four multidisciplinary research studies conducted by members of this research cluster, focusing on the area of Computer Aided Design (CAD) for improving the interface with Additive Manufacture (AM) to solve some of the challenges presented with improving prosthetic socket design, with an aim to improve and streamline the process to enable the involvement of clinicians and patients in the design process.

Loughborough University

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Abstract

Specifying a Hybrid, Multiple Material CAD System for Next Generation Prosthetic Design

For many years, the biggest issue that causes discomfort and hygiene issues for patients with lower limb amputations have been the interface between body and prosthetic, the socket. Often made of an inflexible, solid polymer that does not allow the residual limb to breathe or perspire and with no consideration for the changes in size and shape of the human body caused by changes in temperature or environment, inflammation, irritation and discomfort often cause reduced usage or outright rejection of the prosthetic by the patient in their day to day lives. To address these issues and move towards a future of improved quality of life for patients who suffer amputations, Loughborough University formed the Next Generation Prosthetics research cluster. This work is one of four multidisciplinary research studies conducted by members of this research cluster, focusing on the area of Computer Aided Design (CAD) for improving the interface with Additive Manufacture (AM) to solve some of the challenges presented with improving prosthetic socket design, with an aim to improve and streamline the process to enable the involvement of clinicians and patients in the design process. The research presented in this thesis is based on three primary studies. The first study involved the conception of a CAD criteria, deciding what features are needed to represent the various properties the future socket outlined by the research cluster needs. These criteria were then used for testing three CAD systems, one each from the Parametric, Non Uniform Rational Basis Spline (NURBS) and Polygon archetypes respectively. The result of these tests led to the creation of a hybrid control workflow, used as the basis for finding improvements. The second study explored emerging CAD solutions, various new systems or plug-ins that had opportunities to improve the control model. These solutions were tested individually in areas where they could improve the workflow, and the successful solutions were added to the hybrid workflow to improve and reduce the workflow further. The final study involved taking the knowledge gained from the literature and the first two studies in order to theorise how an ideal CAD system for producing future prosthetic sockets would work, with considerations for user interface issues as well as background CAD applications. The third study was then used to inform the final deliverable of this research, a software design specification that defines how the system would work. This specification was written as a challenge to the CAD community, hoping to inform and aid future advancements in CAD software. As a final stage of research validation, a number of members of the CAD community were contacted and interviewed about their feelings of the work produced and their feedback was taken in order to inform future research in this area.

Cite

Specifying a Hybrid, Multiple Material CAD System for Next Generation Prosthetic Design

Bodkin, Troy L. (2017): Specifying a hybrid, multiple material CAD system for next-generation prosthetic design. Loughborough University. Thesis. https://hdl.handle.net/2134/25...;

Specifying a Hybrid, Multiple Material CAD System for Next Generation Prosthetic Design

Image of a young man in a red t-shirt sitting in his wheelchair inside a community space

Type

PhD

Themes

Assistive & Accessible Technology

Research Group

Disability Interactions
YouTransfer, YouDesign: A Participatory Approach to Design Assistive Technology for Wheelchair Transfers

Giulia Barbareschi

Doctoral Thesis. This thesis makes two contributions to facilitate wheelchair users’ engagement in the participatory design process for ATs, while being mindful of the burden of participation. The first contribution is a framework that provides a modular structure guiding the participatory design process from initial problem identification and analysis to facilitating collaborations between wheelchair users and designers. The framework identifies four factors determining the need and adoption process for ATs: (i) People focuses on the target population, (ii) Person includes personal characteristics, (iii) Activity refers to the challenges associated with the task, and (iv) Context encompasses the effect of the environment in which the activity takes place. The second contribution constitutes a rich picture of personal and external elements influencing real world wheelchair transfers that emerged from four studies carried out to investigate the effect of the framework factors on the design process for ATs.

UCL (University College London)

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Abstract

YouTransfer, YouDesign: A Participatory Approach to Design Assistive Technology for Wheelchair Transfers

Transferring independently to and from their wheelchair is an essential routine task for many wheelchair users but it can be physically demanding and can lead to falls and upper limb injuries that reduce the person’s independence. New assistive technologies (ATs) that facilitate the performance of wheelchair transfers have the potential to allow wheelchair users to gain further independence. To ensure that users’ needs are addressed by ATs, the active involvement of wheelchair users in the process of design and development is critical. However, participation can be burdensome for many wheelchair users as design processes where users are directly involved often require prolonged engagement. This thesis makes two contributions to facilitate wheelchair users’ engagement in the participatory design process for ATs, while being mindful of the burden of participation. The first contribution is a framework that provides a modular structure guiding the participatory design process from initial problem identification and analysis to facilitating collaborations between wheelchair users and designers. The framework identifies four factors determining the need and adoption process for ATs: (i) People focuses on the target population, (ii) Person includes personal characteristics, (iii) Activity refers to the challenges associated with the task, and (iv) Context encompasses the effect of the environment in which the activity takes place. The second contribution constitutes a rich picture of personal and external elements influencing real world wheelchair transfers that emerged from four studies carried out to investigate the effect of the framework factors on the design process for ATs. A related outcome based on these contributions is a framing document to share knowledge between wheelchair users and designers to provide focus and promote an equal collaboration among participants.

Cite

YouTransfer, YouDesign: A Participatory Approach to Design Assistive Technology for Wheelchair Transfers

Barbareschi, Giulia. “YouTransfer, YouDesign : a Participatory Approach to Design Assistive Technology for Wheelchair Transfers / Giulia Barbareschi.” Thesis (Ph.D.)--University College London, 2018., 2018. Print.

YouTransfer, YouDesign: A Participatory Approach to Design Assistive Technology for Wheelchair Transfers

A man holding a bicycle seat with a 3d printed splint on his wrist

Type

PhD

Themes

Assistive & Accessible Technology

Research Group

Disability Interactions
Understanding wrist splint user needs and personalisation through codesign

Charlotte Pyatt

A Doctoral Thesis. Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Loughborough University.

Loughborough University

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Abstract

Understanding wrist splint user needs and personalisation through codesign

Wrist splints are a common treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, however their effectiveness is compromised by patients not wearing splints as often as prescribed. Previous research has identified a number of reasons for non-compliance, but typically lacks insights that could lead to improved splint design.

This thesis investigates the motivators for patients to wear and not wear their wrist splints and, the impact of personalisation of splint appearance on patient wear. The work is based on the premise that digital design and manufacturing processes, such as Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and 3D Printing, can produce bespoke splints on demand.

The research begins with a literature review across the core areas of: splinting, additive manufacture, product appearance and personalisation. This literature review identifies gaps in knowledge from which research questions are established for the work.

The research employs a qualitative, generative design research approach and, follows a codesign framework employing telling, making and enacting tools. The thesis is made up of three studies. The first study is a sensitisation study and uses design probes to prepare the participants for the research and begin exploring the problem space. The second is a comprehensive study into participants splint wear behaviour and uses context mapping and scenario picture card tools to investigate the motivators for participants to wear and not wear wrist splints, along with positive and negative outcomes or wearing/not wearing splints. The final study uses a personalisation toolkit to elicit patient needs for a future wrist splint design and investigate self-reported expectations regarding compliance of patients who used the toolkit.

The research finds that patient compliance is affected by practical and aesthetic limitations of current splints. It identifies 4 motivating factors to wear a splint and 10 motivating factors to not wear a splint. Additionally, it identifies 6 positive outcomes of wearing splints, 6 negative outcomes of wearing splints, 3 positive outcomes of not wearing splints and 3 negative outcomes of not wearing splints. Requirements for an improved splint design are established and form the basis of the design for a prototype personalisation toolkit. Testing of this toolkit reveals that patients are keen to own more than one splint and personalise splints to match the scenario in which it is to be worn. Patients reported that they expected to be more compliant with a personalised splint when compared to their current splint.

Cite

Understanding wrist splint user needs and personalisation through codesign

Pyatt, Charlotte (2018): Understanding wrist splint user needs and personalisation through codesign. Loughborough University. Thesis. https://doi.org/10.26174/thesi...;

Understanding wrist splint user needs and personalisation through codesign