Josef Guggemos

Smart machines (e.g., chatbots, social robots) are increasingly able to perform cognitive tasks and become more compatible with us. What are the implications of this new situation for the competency requirements in the 21st century? This paper evaluates the underlying paradigm shift with relation to smart machines in education. It discusses the potentials and current limitations of smart machines in education in order to eliminate prejudices and to contribute to a more comprehensive picture of the technological advances. In light of human augmentation, the paper further proposes a possible learning framework that includes the human-smart machine relationship as a normative orientation for new competency requirements.

In education, smart machines (e.g., chatbots or social robots) have the potential to support teachers in the classroom in order to improve the quality of teaching. From a teacher's point of view, smart machines also pose a challenge because the presence of smart machines in the classroom questions traditional teacher and student roles. This paper presents a theoretical basis for the use of smart machines in education. It describes the relative strengths of teachers and smart machines and presents them in a framework, which makes a proposal for an augmented task sharing. In light of human augmentation, the framework proposes ways in which teachers can position themselves with regard to smart machines in a complementary and mutually reinforcing way. It also has implications for knowledge that is necessary for teachers to play an active role in the digital transformation.