AI ‘cannot replace’ relationships: Why teachers matter more than ever in the modern classroom

SINGAPORE – In a Chinese-language lesson in Bukit Batok, a Primary 3 pupil from Dazhong Primary School is playing a game of Flappy Bird on a school-loaned laptop to learn words related to local landmarks.

Across the island, a Secondary 2 student from Tampines Secondary is trying to solve a mathematics problem on his laptop – a Chromebook issued by the school. When he is done, he gets instant online feedback about whether he did well or where he went wrong.

At the centre of these lessons are two teachers using artificial intelligence (AI) to give students opportunities to learn at their own pace, make mistakes without fear and grow from them.

Having taught maths for more than 20 years, Charles Yip knows the value of prompt feedback when students are grappling with mathematical concepts.

In a traditional lesson, a student who makes a minor calculation or transference error midway through a complex problem may discover their mistake only days later, after Yip has marked and returned their work.

With Snorkl, an AI-powered commercial tool that can assess handwritten work and provide immediate feedback, students can correct their mistakes instantly.

Yip said: “In the past, a student might complete a whole table of values before realising there’s an error. And they get very frustrated because they have to redo everything.”

“We want them to understand that learning is an iterative process, not just about memorising formulas,” Yip added.

His Sec 2 student Reiko Toh, 14, said the tool not only marks an answer, but also explains where a student went wrong and suggests steps to correct their mistakes.

She added that such tools help her become an independent learner.

“I’m a bit shy so I don’t usually approach my teachers for help when I need it. But now I don’t have to, because the AI tools can help me,” she said.

With students receiving personalised feedback, Yip said he can move away from lessons pitched to the “middle” of the class.

Faster learners can progress to more challenging tasks, while Yip can devote more time to those who need more one-on-one help and encouragement.

The platform also captures every student’s work and scores, letting Yip review their performance to identify individual learning gaps.

While the tool optimises many aspects of learning, preparing it for students’ use is not that simple.

“The hard part is inputting as many possible wrong answers students might give and ensuring the AI provides useful feedback that students understand, rather than just blurting out the final answer,” he said, adding that this takes several hours.

At Dazhong Primary, Chinese-language teacher Kenny Ng uses AI to engage children who do not use their mother tongue outside the classroom. He started doing this in 2026.

In a lesson observed by The Straits Times on Aug 11, Ng’s Primary 3 pupils borrowed the school’s Chromebooks and logged on to the Singapore Student Learning Space (SLS) – an online platform developed by the Education Ministry.

Once they accessed the lesson on SLS, they played a version of Flappy Bird that Ng created to help them master Chinese vocabulary related to local landmarks.

Next, they designed simple digital postcards featuring one landmark before typing out a short piece of text explaining the design.

For the final task, pupils recorded themselves reading the text aloud. The AI tool in the online program grades their reading and provides instant feedback on their pronunciation and content.

Nine-year-old Leong Jun Han said he is amazed that AI tools can mark audio recordings instantly. Yet, he feels they should not be used too often.

“AI has improved a lot… but I think we should limit its use because the manual way of teaching is too important to us,” he said, adding that he appreciates how his teacher uses it in the right ways.

With his pupils learning independently, Ng walks around the room, attending to those who need more support, observing the tasks they struggle most with.

Without the digital tool, Ng’s lesson would have looked quite different.

“I would have spent a lot of time doing frontal teaching of vocabulary, going at a slower pace and giving explicit instructions. So there will be less time for the kids to make choices, generate ideas and have meaningful teacher-pupil interactions,” he said.

Homework is never done online

Despite using digital tools in class, both teachers keep homework firmly offline.

For Yip, written homework ensures students can solve problems independently without relying on prompts, preparing them for national examinations, which are still done on paper.

Ng said physical writing skills are fundamental to learning Chinese and should not be replaced with typing.

Both educators said they see their role evolving from delivering knowledge to facilitating learning.

But with AI entering the classroom, Yip said the teacher’s role is more important than ever.

“We have to teach our students that AI should only guide them and provide feedback. Students still need to do the thinking, interpret the feedback and use it to improve their learning,” he said.

Though AI is a great learning tool, Ng said it has its limits.

“AI cannot replace teacher-student relationships, where we nurture curiosity, build confidence and ensure students develop holistically.”