Dear Friends,
Exactly 30 years ago, in April 1995, I came to Raipur as a postgraduate aspirant. Due to a few circumstances, I couldn't join the program. But I have no regrets. Today, I’m writing this article from Raipur—this time, as a speaker addressing principals from various schools across Chhattisgarh. The topic of my session was the same as the title of this article: “From Knowledge to Learnability.”
Why is Learnability Critical in Universities?
Is it more important to impart knowledge or to foster learnability? In my view, it’s learnability. Today, students have multiple avenues to acquire knowledge—online platforms, peer learning, AI tools—but far fewer opportunities to develop their learnability index.
Prof. Bharat from Harvard University recently spoke at the India Today Conclave on the theme of AI in classroom settings. He shared compelling insights from his work and experiments at Harvard, particularly in physical science courses taught by highly experienced instructors.
Human vs. Bot Tutors: A Surprising Experiment
In one of the experiments, Prof. Bharat’s team tested the hypothesis:
“Bot tutors may not be as effective in classroom engagement as human tutors.”
The methodology was fascinating. Each week, half of the students were assigned human tutors and the other half AI bot tutors. The groups were flipped weekly, and mastery of that week's content was assessed regularly.
The Unexpected Insight:
To everyone’s surprise, students tutored by AI bots consistently outperformed those taught by human tutors. Even more surprising was that student engagement was higher with the bots. This challenges many of our assumptions about classroom dynamics and suggests new possibilities for redefining the tutor’s role in the age of AI.
Learning Beyond the Classroom
Prof. Bharat also emphasized the importance of sensory and emotionally rich experiences—like dance, music, theatre, and art—in keeping the “learnability muscle” alive. He believes that as AI continues to surpass human capabilities in certain domains, learnability will be the key survival skill for the human race.
An MIT Study on AI vs. Human-Driven Search
Another insightful study from MIT compared two groups of students:
• One group used Google Search to research.
• Another group used Generative AI tools.
Both groups were later tested—not just on what they remembered, but on how well they could apply the information in a new context.
The result?
The Google Search group performed better in application-based tasks. The conclusion: Learnability, driven by genuine effort, curiosity, and critical thinking, leads to better learning outcomes.
Learnability Is the New Literacy
As Generative AI and Copilot tools become standard in our classrooms, we must shift our focus from “what to learn” to “how to keep learning.” This must be based on each student's socio-physical and psychological nature, and not just curriculum goals.
The future does not belong to those who know the most, but to those who can learn the fastest, adapt the quickest, and stay curious the longest.
Ravi Saripalle
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