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Can an Algorithm Replace the Teacher
Can a set of “Ifs”, “then”, “goto”, “return” , “<>=” be complex enough to be able to identify voice tone, understand emotions, imitate laughter and fear, instil passion, all that make us human being. Can a machine replace the teacher?
Mr Gulshan R.A. Teeluck coordinates the Tourism Department at Hotel School Sir Gaetan Duval-MITD. He also actively teaches tour guiding techniques and Communications and Customer care among others. He has been working with the Mauritian youths for 20 years now under the MITD and has helped to build and uphold the reputation of the school locally, regionally and internationally. His best characteristic is that of being able to adapt to people and to adjust to their needs. He holds a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and another in International Tourism Management.
Machines have been made to learn from our actions and to suggest solutions from a set of solutions already predefined in its memory, help us find shortest routes based on information available from the net, draw cyclone trajectories, pilot a plane, perform complex mathematical calculations that have made man walk on the moon etc… All very true and outstanding but when the human kind produced the calculator, the human brain regressed mathematically; produced the coffee machine and from that day we lost the real taste of traditionally cooked coffee; the car made us drive to the shop to get bread every morning less than 500mts away, that made us fat! The effect on our kids: no more playing hide and seek or street football; they play Nintendo, play station or Xbox; worse when the parents decide to give the child a smart phone as companion. Machines have made us silly, unhealthy, anti-social with poor parenting skills, etc… How can these machines teach us? Gathering from my personal experience and observations, it is a matter of obvious fact that the teacher remains the only person responsible for the success or failure of the student. Although some researchers have concluded the contrary: that parents, society, lifestyle, political and cultural environment, all contribute to the growth of the child; the fact is that different cultures have different ways of upbringing. Hence, different environmental, social, technological and economic situations have to be understood and managed differently. In Mauritius and way back in the 1980’s, I can only recall that it was my teachers and school rector that organised seminars, initiated health clubs and gardening clubs, took us out for environmental campaigns or organised programs to help the elders in homes or physically and mentally afflicted children. Our rector also initiated a body of prefects and empowered the students to ensure discipline at school. Was that being done just to keep us busy or was there an agenda behind all these extracurricular activities? Can we do the same now? Can an IR4 in education ever be able to dispense such teaching and learning apart from the academics? 20 years now that I have been teaching, analysing and observing the Mauritian youth and teachers especially those who teach by the new methods of DIY or by the old methods which are too boring for the new Generation. Coupled with the technological advancements from the 3310 to 5G, the cocktail is really explosive! Why write proper English or French when Google will correct it for you; why learn anything when a
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