AI For Inclusive Education

The role of AI in developing inclusive education with a focus on personalizing learning and meeting the diverse needs of students.

Author:
Mikhail Kalitkin (CPO, Unowa)

Co-authors:
Sergei Strukhetsky (PhD, Ukraine)
Andrey Vyshnyak (CEO, Unowa)

What is inclusion?

Inclusion is the process of actively including people with special needs in public life. This is an important principle in education that supports the participation of all students in general education classrooms, regardless of their abilities or disabilities.

What is SEN?

SEN, or special educational needs, is a condition in which a student has significant learning difficulties or a disability that requires a special educational approach. This may be due to physical or mental impairments that seriously affect the child’s ability to carry out normal daily tasks and attend school.

Why is inclusive education needed?

Inclusive education aims to help students with SEN overcome barriers, achieve their academic potential, and promote their social, emotional, and personal development. It is also a way to provide all children with equal opportunities to learn and develop the skills they need to live a successful life.

What is inclusive education?

Inclusive education is an educational process in which children with special needs acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to become successful members of society in mainstream schools.

What is the difference? (Problems of inclusive education)

Children with SEN learn the same skills as other children, but they require more attention and effort. They require individualized approaches, including specific teaching and assessment methods, as well as additional tools. In addition, specially trained teachers are required to work with such children.

Application of AI in Inclusive Education

Main stages of work

Skill testing, development protocols, and their use
Individual development program (IDP) and adaptation of the academic program
Learning aids
Support team

Skill testing, development protocols, and their use

The main purpose of testing is to identify the child’s baseline level of skills in comparison with typically developing peers in all areas of development (cognitive/academic, speech therapy, sensory, physical, social, and everyday life).

Children with SEN may have developmental delays, skills may develop unevenly, and very often the age of development does not correspond to calendar age. Therefore, to determine the child’s skill level, it is necessary to conduct comprehensive in-depth testing in 6 areas of development.

If a child needs an individual development program, then testing will help:

choose specific goals based on the deficits of each child
analyze the child’s strengths and weaknesses
create an individual training program
track progress

Areas of development:

Cognitive/Academic Domain
Physical sphere
Sensory sphere
Speech therapy field
Social sphere
Household sphere

A developmental protocol is created based on test results and serves as a practical guide for working with specific deficits of the child. This document describes the exact steps and techniques to be followed to develop specific skills.

The development protocol is not static; it involves continuous monitoring and evaluation to monitor the effectiveness of the methods used and adjust them if necessary. Thus, the development protocol is a tool that helps specialists and parents organize the process of child development and learning in the best possible way.

Examples of using AI: Automating data analysis and generating recommendations

In this context, AI can be applied to process large amounts of data collected from testing skills in children. Machine learning algorithms can automatically analyze this data, identifying patterns and correlations, which in turn will allow the creation of more accurate and individualized development protocols. For example, AI can determine which teaching methods are most effective for children with certain types of special education needs and automatically generate recommendations for specialists and parents.

AI: Creation and individualization of development protocols

With the help of AI, a database of effective development protocols can be created that will be constantly updated based on the latest research and practical observations. AI can automatically personalize these protocols for each child based on their unique characteristics and needs. This will not only speed up the process of developing individual plans but also make them more accurate and efficient.

AI: Monitoring and correction of protocols

AI can be used to continuously monitor the effectiveness of applied methods and adjust protocols in real-time. For example, the system can automatically monitor a child’s progress and suggest changes to the development protocol if current methods do not produce the desired effect.

These examples demonstrate how AI can significantly improve the quality and efficiency of inclusive education by making it more personalized and adaptive.

Individual development program (IDP) and adaptation of the academic program

The IPR is a key document for a child with special educational needs (SEN) in a general education environment. This program is developed based on a detailed analysis of the child’s needs and capabilities and is designed to ensure his full development and learning.

IPR development components:

testing of a basic level of skill development
development of development protocols, setting objective goals
following the plan: using different teaching methods
monitoring and correction of IPR
modification and adaptation of the academic program

Examples of using AI for monitoring and checklists:

In modern education systems, it is possible to use AI to automatically monitor the effectiveness of applied methods and approaches within the framework of IPR.

For example, AI can analyze data collected through checklists and automatically suggest adjustments to a child’s development plan. This will allow you to quickly adapt training methods and focus on the most effective approaches.

AI for adapting an academic program:

AI can be used to create adaptive curricula that change in real-time based on a child’s needs and progress.

For example, if the curriculum includes various Pepa Pig-themed activities or materials, AI can automatically tailor these activities for a child with SEN based on their needs and current developmental level.

AI for individualization of IPR:

Using AI, it is possible to analyze large volumes of data about a child’s development and create deeply individualized programs based on it.

This is especially true for children with various forms of SEN since each child is unique and requires an individual approach.

Learning aids

For children with SEN, learning aids often become an integral part of their educational process. These may include medical devices such as hearing and speech aids, as well as educational tools such as visual cues, social stories, and visual strategies.

Examples of using AI to generate a PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) system:

AI can automatically create personalized cards for each child based on their interests, needs, and developmental level. For example, if a child frequently asks for a certain type of food, the AI can generate a card with a picture of that food and a picture of mom, thus helping the child more easily express his needs (“Mom, I’m hungry”).

AI to personalize visual strategies and social stories:

AI can analyze a child’s behavior and preferences to create more personalized visual strategies or social stories that are more effective in communication. For example, if a child has a preference for certain colors or shapes, these options can be integrated into the card design.

AI for performance monitoring:

AI can track which cards or techniques are most effective for a child and suggest adjustments in real-time.

The use of AI in the development and application of learning aids can significantly improve the quality and effectiveness of inclusive education.

Support team

A big part of inclusion success is having an effective team. A team in which each person understands and accurately performs their professional functions.

Support team:

Tutor
Curator
Supervisor
Teacher
Parents
School administration
Speech therapist, defectologist, psychologist, rehabilitation specialist
Teachers of additional disciplines

Tasks of the support team:

collection of information about the child’s developmental characteristics, interests, difficulties, and educational needs at the stages of development, implementation, and monitoring of the implementation of the IPR;
determining the areas of psychological, pedagogical correctional and developmental services that can be provided within the educational institution and ensuring the provision of these services;
development of an IPR for each child with special education needs and monitoring of its implementation to adjust and determine the dynamics of the child’s development;
providing methodological support to the teaching staff of an educational institution on the organization of inclusive education;
creating appropriate conditions for the integration of children with special needs into the educational environment;
conducting advisory work with parents of children with special education needs on the characteristics of their development, education, and upbringing;
carrying out information and educational work in educational institutions among teaching staff, parents, and children to prevent discrimination and violation of children’s rights, and to form a friendly attitude towards children with special education needs.

Examples of using AI: Recommendation systems for teachers:

AI can provide recommendations on methods and materials for teaching children with special needs, based on an analysis of the effectiveness of the methods used and the individual characteristics of each child. AI can classify and suggest the world’s most effective practices and techniques for working with SEN, making them easily accessible to the support team

Training and support for teachers:

Interactive chatbots and AI-powered virtual assistants can deliver course modules to teachers, helping them better understand and implement inclusive teaching practices.

Communication with parents:

AI can automate routine communication between schools and parents, such as sending automatic notifications about a child’s progress, upcoming events, or need for counseling.

Fighting discrimination:

AI can analyze text, audio, and video materials used in the educational process for discriminatory or biased content, and suggest alternatives to create a more inclusive educational environment.

Conclusion

The potential of AI in inclusive education

Artificial intelligence is a promising tool for improving the quality of inclusive education. The use of AI can significantly optimize diagnostic, training, and monitoring processes, making them more personalized and efficient. It can help educators and professionals quickly adapt to each child’s individual needs by providing analytical support and automated solutions.

Encouragement to take action

Artificial intelligence already offers many opportunities to improve the quality of inclusive education. Therefore, we encourage the audience not only to explore the possibilities of these technologies but also to actively apply them in practice, while not forgetting the need to consider ethical aspects.

Examples of real use of AI technologies in education

Source: cyberquantic.com

Personalized Learning

Al adaptive learning platform for personalized learning

For: Students, teachers (content providers), third-party services (via experience API), academic researchers (sets of eduDATA)
Scope: 2,5 million users (247]
Goal: Improved Customer Experience

Train recommendation engine

For: Employees, job requirements, training requirements
Scope: Find skill requirements and relevant training based on an employees
career objectives.
Goal: Improved Customer Experience

Education – Personalized Learning

For: Foreign language learners
Scope: Keeping foreign language learners engaged with Deep Learning in the
Duolingo app.
Goal: Improved Customer Experience, Increase Revenues

AI solution to intelligent campus

For: Students, teachers, schools, governments
Scope: This scheme is a full range of products and integrated solutions for teaching, examination, evaluation, management, and learning.
Goal: Improved Employee Efficiency

Smart Learning Content

Al adaptive learning mobile app

For: All age groups to learn a foreign language.
Scope: A foreign language learning mobile program for all age groups that
adapts to the student and builds an individual learning track based on artificial intelligence.
Goal: Improved Customer Experience

Education – Smart Learning Content

For: Online course creators and online learners.
Scope: Empowering course creators to focus on complex decision-making and creativity with Computer Vision and Natural Language
Processing.
Goal: Improved Employee Efficiency

Intelligent educational robot

For: Students, parents, teachers.
Scope: The robot is designed to support children’s education.
Goal: Improved Customer Experience

Automated Content Generators

IFLYTEK intelligent marking system

For: Marking teachers and technicists
Scope: The system can realize intelligent detection and grading of all
subjective questions.
Goal: Improved Employee Efficiency

Education – Automated Content Generators

For: Online course creators.
Scope: Intelligently generate, curate, and recommend content educational
content.
Goal: Improved Customer Experience

Sources

Artificial intelligence and inclusive education. Speculative future and new practicesArtificial Intelligence and Inclusive Education: Speculative Futures and Emerging Practices | SpringerLink
Personalized education and artificial intelligence in the US, China, and India: a systematic review using the Human in the LSEN model: Personalized education and Artificial Intelligence in the United States, China, and India: A systematic review using a Human-In-The-LSEN model – ScienceDirect
AI has the potential to solve some of the biggest challenges in modern education and can bring innovative teaching and learning methods: UNESCO
AI in inclusive education for minority students. MDPI
The role of artificial intelligence in transforming classrooms. Language magazine
The role of artificial intelligence in education. eLearning Industry
Qualities of artificial intelligence models for educational leaders. Office of Educational Technology
The impact of AI on the future of education. Whitehouse Report
Challenges and opportunities of AI in education. UNESCO document