Running head: FUTURE TECHNOLOGY AND LMS-AI 1

Future Technology of Learning Management Systems and Artificial Intelligence

Christina Bolden
University of Arkansas
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Learning management systems (LMS) are great for facilitating courses and course
content. Many systems allow the instructor and the students to interact through discussion
boards, wikis, and collaboration software all while still providing a management system to
organize resources, assignments, and provide help. All of these features can be accessed at any
given time which makes it a great asset for non-traditional classrooms. However, most of the
features that an LMS provides focus on the needs of the learning designer and the facilitator, and
not as much on the learner. With some improvements and enhancements, LMS can provide an
education that is individualized and suitable for every learner.

Technology
Learning management systems are very useful for basic output-input courses where the
instructor puts out assignments and the learner completes and submits them back. But as
teachers and students embrace 21st-century technology skills the LMS proves to be lacking.
According to a 2017 study, the most negative aspects of Blackboard, a commonly used LMS,
that student’s listed were communication, interaction, and feedback (Alhosban & Ismaile, 2018).
Communication and interaction are a challenge for students using an LMS in distance learning.
When students have questions over an assignment it could be several days before getting a
response from the instructor. This is of no fault to either party, but an inconvenience that is a
disadvantage of distance learning. Students are also left stagnant once they submit an
assignment. It’s difficult to move on to a new assignment if students are still unsure about their
comprehension of the previous one. Due to the increased number of students enrolled in online
courses, instructors are overwhelmed by the number of students in each course. This
overcrowding further delays the necessary feedback that students need to help them successfully
progress through a course.
Even though LMS have some faults, the overall convenience that they provide is quite
valuable to students that cannot further their education in a typical classroom setting. To better
suit the needs of learners, LMS will soon incorporate artificial intelligence. Adding an AI
component to the LMS will place more focus on the learner and allow the learner to have more
options in the learning process. “AI doesn’t just enhance the LMS, it makes it truly responsive to
learners’ needs: a system that adapts intelligently to learners’ requests and allows them to take
control of their own learning” (Healy, 2018). In combination with learning analytics, AI
algorithms will be used to design a course in real time for each student. The assignments,
assessments, and resources provided will be based on student’s performance on previous
assignments, search history, types of media used, and length of time using each type of media.
These assignments and assessments will be based on the objectives and standards that are
provided by the course instructor. This new system will be referred to as a learning management
system with artificial intelligence, or LMS-AI.
The LMS-AI will not only create a course that is mapped for each students’ needs but
will also provide students with instant feedback and communication. If students struggle to
understand the content of the provided resources, the LMS-AI can offer other suggestions that
incorporate a variety of media at appropriate comprehension levels that match the learning
objectives. This allows the student the choice of how they want to learn. The LMS-AI will also
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provide immediate feedback on assignments. Soon after an assignment of any type is submitted,
the LMS-AI can evaluate the responses with the learning analytic data of that student and
determine if they have a clear understanding of the learning objective. If so, the student is then
prompted to progress to the next objective in the lesson. If the student did not proficiently
comprehend the objective, the LMS-AI will offer another source for the student to utilize and an
extension assignment. The extension assignment breaks down the information into smaller
sections and uses models to offer more guidance. This method ensures that the student has a
better understanding and is well prepared to advance to the next objective. Using LMS-AI
provides the student with a personalized learning environment that is not probable in the
traditional classroom. Artificial intelligence provides the means that allows all students the
chance to learn.

Technology Integration
The LMS-AI integrated into any subject and most grade levels. Because of the nature of
most science courses, it is dire that students keep pace with instruction and assignments. If
students’ progress through the lesson without mastering the objectives, the likeliness of their
overall success will be low. The artificial intelligence program in this technology combines data
from the student’s responses on assignments and the data gained from the learning analytics
within the LMS to recommend the “next step” for each student. Each step is determined as the
student progresses through the course. The course path for each student is ever changing but is
persistently moving toward the next learning objective. If the LMS-AI program determines that
a student does not show sufficient understanding of the current objective, then an alternate
assignment is required. These are called extension assignments. They are designed to divide
information into smaller increments and provide extra guidance to help students master the
concepts. The student will also be provided with supplementary resources. These suggested
resources are also chosen based on the student’s previous work and data from their learning
analytics. Once the system determines that the student has mastered the objective the student
will have to show what they know by completing a formative assessment. Now that the student
has mastered the objective, the LMS-AI will direct them to the next resource and assignment.
This pattern will continue throughout the entire unit and course.
To further clarify how this technology can be integrated a thorough description of its use
is provided. For this example, the LMS-AI is being integrated into a high school level chemistry
class. In this specific course, the LMS-AI will be used to guide students through an introductory
lesson over acids and bases. Before students begin, the instructor must determine the learning
objectives that should be mastered, the initial resources that will be offered, the assignments,
extension assignments, and assessments. This provides a base starting point for all students. To
begin, students will start with the teacher suggested resources and research the information
required to complete lesson one. In this example, the learning objective asks students to describe
and define acids and bases. During the research phase, students will see that there are three
accepted definitions for an acid and three accepted definitions for a base. Students will
summarize these definitions and record them on the sheet for assignment one. They will also
have to use their definitions to pick out examples from a list of formulas and a list of reactions.
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After students complete this research and record their findings they will electronically submit
assignment one through the LMS-AI. The LMS-AI will use the necessary algorithms and
learning analytics to determine if the student’s responses are correct and represent a clear
understanding of the learning objective. Students will receive immediate feedback about
assignment one. If the feedback is marked as proficient or mastery, then the student will
complete the formative assessment. If the feedback is marked as basic or below basic, then the
LMS-AI offers the student an alternate set of resources that are chosen from the results of the
assignment responses submitted and the data retrieved from the LMS learning analytics. The
student is also directed to an extension assignment that provides more guidance than the first
assignment. If the student still does not show an understanding of the learning objective, the
LMS-AI will continue to suggest alternate resources and assignments. At this point, the
instructor may investigate to see if any outside factors are interfering with the student’s learning.
The formative assessment for this objective will also be electronically submitted and analyzed by
the LMS-AI. The assessment for this objective, requires that students submit a post on the class
discussion board that includes their summarized definitions for acids and bases. They must also
include an example of each. After submitting their posts, students will be required to comment
on the accuracy of one other student's post. Students will now be directed by the LMS-AI to the
resources and assignment for the next objective. They will continue to complete the assignments
and assessments for each objective until they have mastered the entire unit. At the end of the
unit, students will be required to submit a summative assessment. For this unit, students will
create a video or screencast that reflects their knowledge and understanding of the stated
objectives. Each student will be assigned one acid-base reaction. They will explain which type
of acid and base is in their reaction and describe how they know this based on the behavior of the
molecules during the reaction. Then they will provide the correct chemical name and formula
for each acid and base in the reaction and identify the acid and base as strong or weak. Students
will also provide an explanation of how the properties of the molecules characterize its strength.
Finally, students will label the acid, base, conjugate acid, and conjugate base in their reaction.
The screencast must include audio, video, and a visual representation of their acid and base.
Students will submit their videos to the LMS-AI where an overall score will be provided.
Teachers will act as classroom facilitators during class time. They will provide one-on-one
assistance when needed. Teachers will now be able to spend planning time developing more
insightful and meaningful lessons for their students.

Multicultural Diversity
Unfortunately, in this day and age, students and teachers still suffer from a lack of
empathy. Because of the hustle and bustle of everyday life, we lose the connections to the
people around us. Students tend to see teachers and classmates as obstacles and burdens as
opposed to aides and supporters. Teachers see students as lazy and ungrateful instead of
overwhelmed and confused. All of these high strung emotions in one classroom can have a very
negative impact on the learning environment. By integrating the LMS-AI, the teacher’s role in
the classroom will change. The teacher will no longer dictate every move of the students. The
teacher will still have authority over the standards and objectives taught, but the LMS-AI puts
more control and responsibility in the students’ hands. This will help students see the teacher as
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more of a guide to their learning and not “the ruler over all things”. Teachers will be able to
spend more one-on-one time with each student. This will allow them to see how much work and
effort the students put into their education. These changes in the teacher-student dynamic will
encourage more empathy and create a more positive classroom culture and environment.
The LMS-AI embraces the classroom community. Students and teachers can use the
LMS-AI to communicate and collaborate with one another at any time, not just during class time.
By increasing the number of interactions students have with one another they will better
understand their peers and be more engaged in the course. Teachers will also be afforded more
opportunities to work with each student and become more cognizant of their academic and non-
academic needs. “To truly engage students, we must reach out to them in ways that are
culturally and linguistically responsive and appropriate, and we must examine the cultural
assumptions and stereotypes we bring into the classroom that may hinder interconnectedness”
(Culture in the Classroom). Utilizing the LMS-AI will also allow increased inclusion of English
language learner students. The LMS-AI will be able to provide a larger variety of resources in
a student’s native language. This will also increase the engagement of the ELL students. By
incorporating artificial intelligence into the learning management system, students are able to
overcome the barriers that typically prevent them from being successful in the regular classroom.

Ethical Issues
One ethical issue to consider when utilizing AI is unemployment. How many jobs will
be eliminated and replaced by AI? If AI continues to become more accurate and easier to utilize
in education, then eventually the job of the licensed classroom teacher may become obsolete.
Substitutes can be placed in the classroom to monitor behavior and technology issues at a
fraction of the cost to pay a full term teacher salary. The substitute could also be replaced by a
robotic classroom monitor that constantly records and reports classroom activity to one central
person. Job roles and duties for educators will have to change with the growth of AI. Teachers
will have to teach in more non-academic areas, such as performance-based courses. Most classes
in the fine arts category are performance-based and will need to be taught by an actual person
and not solely through an LMS. Vocational courses, such as construction and HVAC, are also
more hands-on and performance-based. Teachers can also use their skills to enhance the lessons
that the LMS-AI creates. Teachers can provide emotional aspects and feelings to lessons that
were created by the LMS-AI. Artificial intelligence may take over many areas in education, but
as long as humans have feelings and emotions there will be a place for classroom teachers.
Another ethical issue is the data gained from learning analytics. Many questions arise
about how the data is obtained, what can the data be used for, where is the data stored, and who
is the owner of the data. The uncertainties of data mining can be overcome if people feel that
their personal information is secure and that the data is collected by a trustworthy and reliable
source. If website and digital platform creators are upfront and forthcoming of how the data
from the learning analytics will be used, then users will be more accepting of allowing
companies to collect it. Companies and organizations that collect data should be required to
provide the user with a framework that explains the ethical guidelines that they agree to follow.
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As our society changes and the use of artificial intelligence and data grows, rules and regulations
will have to be in place to prevent corruption and misuse.
Enhancing learning management systems with artificial intelligence and learning
analytics provides a personalized course for each and every student that is not obtainable in the
traditional classroom. Integrating this type of technology will enhance every student’s academic
career and create better and more prepared learners. This technology will also provide an
opportunity for all students to be successful learners no matter the barriers they face.
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References
Alhosban, F., & Ismaile, S. (2018). Perceived Promoters of and Barriers to Use of a Learning
Management System in an Undergraduate Nursing Program. International Journal Of
Emerging Technologies In Learning (IJET), 13(02), pp. 226-233.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v13i02.8085
Culture in the Classroom. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.tolerance.org/culture-classroom
Healy, P. (2018, January 18). The Invisible LMS: Why AI will change your relationship with
Learning Management Systems. Retrieved from https://www.learningpool.com/blog/the-
invisible-lms-why-ai-will-change-your-relationship-with-learning-management-systems/