By Punam Kanodia
News media plays a crucial role in shaping how individuals across different age groups perceive the world and respond to global events. Given its profound influence, it’s vital that future generations, our students, develop a strong understanding of news content from a young age.
Incorporating news reading is not just a tool for awareness; it’s a source of empowerment, personal growth and social engagement. Beyond factual knowledge, it enhances critical thinking, enabling students to analyse information, detect biases and form independent opinions. By understanding the world around them, students develop a sense of global citizenship and become active participants in shaping their communities.
However, some critical bottlenecks obstruct institutions from cultivating daily news reading among young children in a digital-driven news media landscape overloaded with information.
The overflow of information exposes children to irrelevant and objectionable content, negatively impacting their young minds. Distractions within articles’ clickbait headlines lead to another significant challenge of segregating facts from fiction. UGCs in the form of ‘trending’ news and algorithms instigate children to fall for click bait, misinformation, or ‘fake news.’
Lack of motivation to engage in news reading obstructs consistency.
However, AI-driven solutions leverage the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to mitigate these challenges and cultivate the love for news reading among children.
With AI, we can filter news from popular publications into different categories. A second layer of AI filtering helps to eliminate irrelevant articles for children, such as violent, abusive and objectionable content.
AI-filtered feeds ensure age-appropriate articles in various categories. Short AI-driven summaries of these articles help children understand the news content briefly, allowing them to navigate the overloaded information ecosystem and consume relevant news within a limited time frame.
Machine Learning (ML) can help foster personalised engagement through AI-generated interactive quizzes, followed by rewards and incentives. These quizzes transform passive news consumption into an immersive adventure, facilitating a more profound, in-depth, comprehensive knowledge.
Actionable data insights on the news and quizzes help educators identify children’s interest areas and nurture their natural skills.
AI technology holds promising potential in a 21st-century educational landscape. AI-driven applications can facilitate age-appropriate news consumption, conduct digital assessments, exchange reusable educational materials, and more. Its vision is to save valuable time for educators, provide personalised guidance, and equip young minds with awareness, strong analytical skills, and a sense of civic duty. It is a commitment to impact society positively.
“Let’s Ignite the Beacon of Awareness for Future Leaders by harnessing the power of AI in Educational Institutions.”
The author is Founder of Newsepick, fostering informed discourse in education through pragmatic revolution.
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