E is for Eskwelabs Issue 85 - Teachers with AI Superpowers 🦸
Happy Teachers' Month to the phenomenal educators at Eskwelabs!
We created this newsletter to keep our alums, partners, and anyone interested in learning skills for the future of work updated and connected to our ever-growing community. If you want to read our previous issues, you can check them out here.
Ciao! This is Meg speaking. 👋 As we celebrate Teachers’ Month, we focus on the crossroads that is education. With AI becoming more integrated with traditional methods of education, the current focus revolves around ensuring a transformation that is both equitable and inclusive. 👍 Eskwelabs’ solution? Equip and empower our mentors and instructors with the necessary skills and tools to effectively navigate this new landscape.
Some questions we’ll answer in this issue of E is for Eskwelabs:
What are some potential opportunities and challenges that arise from the integration of AI in education? 🔦
How are human-centered values manifested in our pedagogy? 📚
How can we ensure that no one is left behind in the digital landscape? 🤝
Reading time: 6 minutes
Happy reading! 🙆
Leading the Way in AI-Powered Education 🔦
We’ve come a long way in discussing AI’s role in education. Before, conversations were along the lines of whether it should be integrated. Now, the challenge is how to ensure its inclusivity and effectiveness. 🫂 The imperative now revolves around integrating AI intelligently, leveraging its potential to enhance pedagogy and amplify student engagement rather than replacing the human touch in education.
For this reason, guiding the transition toward AI-fueled education demands leadership that champions the ability to adjust, learn, and evolve in response to change and innovation. ✏️ Effective leadership in AI integration relies on nurturing a culture of collaboration and empathy, especially since the Philippines has varying educational needs.
Former Department of Education Secretary Briones outlined the challenges for Philippine teachers, including the need to change teaching methods, develop a new generation of learners, enhance teacher capacity, and improve educational facilities and equipment. 🏫 (https://www.deped.gov.ph/2019/10/09/briones-rise-of-artificial-intelligence-challenge-to-education-leaders/) She urges educators to teach students how to discern, synthesize, and understand the relevance of data, emphasizing the role of educators in shaping learners' values for a more inclusive and just world. 🌎
Leadership, then, involves creating opportunities for educators to upskill—to provide them with the resources necessary for their learners’ use case. What that looks like in Eskwelabs is we teach data skills and now generative AI skills to typically empower individuals from diverse backgrounds. 🍎 Our CEO Angela Chen-Delantar expounds on this in the recently concluded International Design Conference by the Department of Trade and Industries.
“Imagine you're working in a BPO and the company also wants to move towards higher value work. So how would that work? Because you're now not in school anymore. There's no university, there's no classroom you can go back to. What we see is at the workplace is actually now the new classroom and companies are actually investing in their teams to move to the next level. And the second question, what are the ways in which we incorporate human centric values into what we do?
So other than what we teach, which is quite unique—today we teach data analytics, data science. The way that we teach puts the learner back at the center of education, which I think is quite unique in the world of learning and adult education. In the past, education was a system that was built up by industrialists. It was built to turn out people to do stuff at the factory. So you don't ask questions. You do what you're told and you come out like a cookie cutter. Everybody is more or less the same. What we do is we make sure that the learning process actually encourages our learners, to not just produce the dashboard, but actually ask the questions of what are we trying to show? What is the story here? And then that allows them to learn these evergreen skills. Even when there are new technologies, like ChatGPT version 4, they can still use those same from engineering concepts to engage with AI.”
Shaping Community Values 📚
We share this unwavering commitment to empower learners for the future of work with our mentors and instructors. 🦸 We equip them with the soft and technical skills needed to guide our learners by providing training and opportunities for collaboration.
“As a mentor, we provide guidance and support and direct them to the right and best approach in solving problems/tasks/projects. We also prepare them in the current job environment as we share our best practice and experience to them that is already tested and proven. Giving them insights to the industry that they are interested in."
I’ve seen my students grow by initiating topics and asking burning questions that validates their codings.
They also demonstrate leadership in their own way by suggesting the possible solution to a problem.” - Mentor John Vincent Pabello
We are delighted to see our mission solidify through our learners’ positive feedback. 👏 Hear from those in the current BPI Data Science Cohort:
“I enjoyed the break out sessions the most where my group learned even more from our mentor.”
“I enjoyed when mentors would encourage us to share our code and exercises to be open to help and also maximize gen AI.”
Sole Searching with Data Analytics 👟
The seeds of knowledge we’ve planted in our community continue to bear fruit—their impact echoing in far-reaching ripples. 🌊 Take for example, the very successful event: “The Sole Searchers: Reawaken the Cultural Heritage of Marikina Craftmanship Hackathon”
This Hackathon was made possible in partnership with the Asian Development Bank. 53 participants were challenged with developing a comprehensive branding and marketing campaign proposal to position Marikina-made shoes as unique and desirable in today's competitive market. 🚀 5 mentors and judges evaluated their proposals and ensured their output would leverage digital platforms, engage the local community, emphasize sustainability, and connect Marikina’s rich heritage with contemporary marketing techniques. ✨
The winners can now look forward to their Learning Sprint and collaborate to reawaken and revitalize the cultural heritage of Marikina's shoe-making craftsmanship. 👠
“It was a fruitful experience, crafting strategies to help local businesses thrive in the digital sphere.” - Hackathon participant
“It was an excellent avenue for minds to come together to make solutions for the Marikina Shoe Industry.” - Hackathon participant
We’d like to continue this momentum of innovation and inclusivity by inviting you to Cohort 13 of our Data Analytics Bootcamp! 📣 Here are some words of encouragement from our team:
The Data Analytics Bootcamp will bring about a fun and ever-growing community filled with diverse and dynamic individuals. 🌳
Anyone who will join our program can expect a learning experience that will equip them with the skills and mindset necessary for the fast-changing industry. 🏃
During the bootcamp, we don’t just learn; we flourish. Each step empowers you to evolve and adapt to the world of data. Ready to write your own growth story? We can’t wait to see you bloom into the best version of yourself. ☄️
✅ Sign up for Cohort 13 here! https://eskwe.link/DABootcamp
✅ Find out more about the program in our Open House on November 16. Register here: https://bit.ly/Register-DABC13-OH
You can also experience how Eskwelabs’ mentors and instructors can shape the communities’ values first-hand by attending the Data Science Fellowship Live Experience! 🖥️ Catch real-time demos and get more insights on the fellowship on November 15.
✅ Register here! bit.ly/DSC12LiveExperience
Fostering inclusivity is also an area of concern as AI-powered education requires careful consideration of accessibility. Unequal access to technology, limited digital literacy, and the lack of tech infrastructures not only rob learners of an AI-driven education but may also widen socio-economic disparities. ✍️
To that end, collaboration among stakeholders is another key aspect of ensuring the effectiveness of AI-powered education. Policymakers, educators, and technology developers must work together to shape the future of education. 🗺️ For NGOs and social impact groups passionately advocating for accessible education, a partnership with Eskwelabs offers an avenue to amplify our shared mission.
✅ If you’re an NGO or a social impact group and you’d like to partner with us, you can reach us at: robyn@eskwelabs.com.
Until next time!
💌 Learning with you,
Meg Ruiz
Junior Content Designer at Eskwelabs