Dr. Ali Dewan uses facial recognition technology to detect when students lose interest in their schoolwork, and get them back on track
Online learning is a boon to students looking for flexibility and convenience. But for the teachers trying to support them from a distance, it can be difficult to know how and when learners need help.
Dr. Ali Dewan is hoping his research will offer solutions to the tricky question of how to keep students engaged in online learning. The associate professor in the School of Computing and Information Systems at Athabasca University is studying how artificial intelligence—specifically facial recognition software and deep learning—can help.
His approach is two-pronged, looking at both cognitive and emotional engagement. To measure a student’s emotional engagement, he uses a webcam with facial recognition software that views a student as they engage with content and categorizes their expression as either frustrated, neutral, happy, or tired.
“According to the category, we try to provide support to the students,” he explained.
Using deep learning to measure student engagement
To determine if students are engaging cognitively with the material, Dewan uses deep learning and natural language processing techniques to analyze the posts students make to their course forums.
“We see maybe the student was not very engaged with the content,” said Dewan.
Students may not have adequate background information to understand the lesson, or the concept may not be explained as clearly as it could be.
In the future, he plans to develop a pedagogical agent that will identify a learner’s level of engagement and then automatically create the supports they need, an advancement that may sound far off, but likely isn’t.
Related: Improving learning outcomes with AI
Technology ‘evolving over time’
“In recent years, this technology has improved a lot, and it’s evolving over time,” said Dewan. The application has huge potential to improve online learning and teaching, he added.
“It can really change the education delivery system to the students, which I think will benefit both students and instructors.”
Learn more about Dewan’s research on his Pure profile
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