18 Using AI in Distance Learning: Empowering Girls’ Education in Afghanistan
Hafizullah Abram
Abstract
This chapter focuses on how distance learning programs can address the inhumane barriers posed by the Taliban’s restrictions against women and girls’ education in Afghanistan. It explores how artificial intelligence (AI) technologies like ChatGPT, Canva, and Midjourney support the quality and accessibility of educational programming. Integrating AI in distance education empowers teachers and instructional designers to provide quality education tailored to the needs of female students who have experienced interrupted education as a result of restricted freedoms or displacement from conflict in Afghanistan. Further, these AI tools support differentiated instruction and improved learning outcomes, helping students achieve meaningful academic progress.
Introduction
Afghanistan, under the domination of the Taliban, has experienced severe restrictions on women’s rights. The Taliban has enforced rules and policies that comprehensively bar women and girls from exercising fundamental rights, including freedom of assembly, movement, work, and education (Human Rights Watch, 2024). These circumstances have caused Afghan girls and women to feel suffocated and hopeless (Akbar, 2023), leading to increasing isolation. In some cases, this isolation has driven women and girls to suicide (UN Women, 2024). The impact of these cruel restrictions on girls’ education will affect several future generations of people in Afghanistan, particularly girls. It is likely to lead to a cultural crisis, increased violence, the growth of extremism, and a reverse of social progress.
The situation becomes even more dire when considering the hundreds of thousands of displaced Afghan children in neighbourhood countries, many of whom either do not have access to education or receive substandard education (Waqar et al, 2024). In this context, distance education is considered one of the best options for educating girls in Afghanistan, and Afghan refugee children. In a situation where they are often chased, interrogated and harassed by Taliban forces outside (Sarwar et al, 2023), distance learning helps Afghan girls to receive educational services at home under less psychological pressure. Distance learning is a solution that allows girls to bypass restrictions on their learning opportunities. Distance learning programs can also support many students, regardless of geographical constraints. This presents an opportunity for students displaced to different time zones and locations to access consistent learning online. Essential equipment and support like the internet and devices (e.g., computers, iPads, cell phones) are needed by teachers and students for distance learning programs to proceed (Beebe, 2010).
Advanced tools like AI play a crucial supporting role in the teaching and learning processes included in e-learning programs. AI tools help teachers, students, educational administrators and instructional designers overcome many of the challenges distance learning poses. For example, ChatGPT helps teachers break long texts into smaller portions, create flashcards, and develop exercises. The Canva platform helps teachers create videos that support comprehensive learning outcomes. Additionally, AI technologies can bridge the gap between students and teachers by analyzing students’ need and learning styles and providing educational feedback to help teachers and distance learning managers rethink their instructional design (Line et al, 2023). AI tools can also assist teachers with assessments and evaluations in virtual settings, such as monitoring students during exams. In addition, AI tools can facilitate personalized learning experiences, which is crucial in the context of distance education. AI-driven platforms such as ChatGPT can tailor learning paths based on individual student performance, offering adaptive learning modules that cater to varying levels of comprehension and learning speed (Ivanashko et al, 2024 ). This adaptability is particularly beneficial for Afghan girls and refugee children, many of whom have experienced interrupted schooling and possess diverse learning needs.
Objective:
AI tools in distance education extend beyond operational support by personalizing the learning experience, helping to address significant challenges teachers, students, and educational administrators face. As the following case study shows, distance learning supported by AI can bridge the gap between marginalized students and quality education.
Figure 1
Girls with Access to Quality Education
Note. Hafiz Abram (2024) generated this image using the Midjourney AI platform. I dedicate any rights I hold to this image to the public domain via CC0.
Learning Objectives
Learning Objectives
- Understand the potential impact of distance learning on addressing the needs of girls and refugee children from Afghanistan.
- Evaluate the importance and applications of AI tools in distance learning programs.
- Analyze how ChatGPT is impacting the role of the instructional designer in distance learning.
CASE STUDY: analyzing The Role of AI toolS like ChatGPT in Distance Education
In Afghanistan, under the domination of the Taliban, girls are deprived of education, and displaced Afghan children receive substandard schooling. Therefore, we need an educational platform that can overcome these challenges and provide solutions. Distance learning, supported by technology, is increasingly recognized as a powerful solution to challenges in the education of marginalized children. However, for distance learning to truly meet the needs of these students, AI is beneficial. This case study, focused on ChatGPT and Canva AI platforms, demonstrates how AI in distance learning can bridge the gap between education-deprived learners and quality education, providing renewed hope to students and their families coping with the psychological, political, and social impacts of educational deprivation.
Vignette: A Practical Application of AI in Distance Learning
Consider the story of Fatima, a 15-year-old girl living in Afghanistan. Fatima’s family members are illiterate and can not facilitate her education. She has missed several years of school due to the Taliban restrictions against girls’ education, she has forgotten a lot of the foundational concepts she learned during her previous schooling. She has enrolled in a distance learning program provided by a learning institution in Canada. She is eager to learn but struggles with comprehension in classes where the language of instruction is English. Fatima’s teacher, overwhelmed by several tasks and the diverse needs of her students, struggles to offer Fatima the personalized attention she needs.
To address this, the distance learning program manager implements an AI-driven learning platform that offers personalized lessons based on each student’s current ability. Fatima’s teacher teaches Fatima how to use ChatGPT to help her translate learning materials into Persian, and seek answers to questions independently. ChatGPT breaks down the lesson into manageable chunks, providing simple explanations and engaging activities. As Fatima progresses, ChatGPT helps Fatima’s teacher adjust to the difficulty of the lessons, ensuring Fatima remains challenged but not overwhelmed.
When Fatima struggles with certain concepts, ChatGPT offers additional practice exercises and is able to suggest ways for Fatima’s teacher to step in with personalized support. Over time, Fatima’s confidence grows, and she begins to make significant progress in her lessons and the English language. Without the AI-enhanced support, Fatima might have lost hope and stopped participating in the program. Instead, she receives tailored instruction that meets her needs and empowers her to succeed
How Do AI Tools like ChatGPT Help Overcome the Learning Barriers in Distance Education?
Addressing learning gaps between teachers and learners
One of the most pressing issues in the education of Afghan girls and refugee children is the significant learning gap caused by years of war and educational regression (Thomas, 2024). Students often have varying learning abilities and skills, making it difficult for distance-learning teachers to provide lessons tailored to everyone’s needs. AI tools, such as ChatGPT, can help analyze the current knowledge level of students and their educational abilities, guiding teachers and instructional designers to provide quality education and personalized paths for learning. This personalized teaching approach ensures that students progress at a pace that matches their abilities and prevents them from feeling left behind and unable to learn (Biliuk et al, 2023).
In addition, ChatGPT can help teachers break complex topics into digestible chunks, providing timely feedback and additional resources when needed (Mogavi et al, 2023). This dynamic and responsive support is crucial in environments like Afghanistan where students have limited access to human assistance and exhibit diverse learning abilities. ChatGPT can make learning more equitable by providing instant help and explanations. In Afghanistan where students have poor and limited internet access, students can download the explanations and exercises in advance to practice them offline.
Filling the Language Gap
The educational system in Afghanistan is organized in Persian and Pashto languages; the students study their lessons in these two languages. English-language education in Afghanistan is low quality (Zaki, 2023). This obstacle often exacerbates educational challenges for Afghan students in distance education. To provide quality and up-to-date language education, resources in English should be used. Artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT help to reduce language barriers by translating educational resources and materials from English to Persian or Pashto, allowing students to improve their language skills while learning lessons accurately (Amirjalili, 2024). This feature creates a multilingual experience for students, helps students learn from course materials, and improves inclusivity. ChatGPT can help students develop and refine writing skills by providing feedback on grammar, structure, and tone. It can also help students translate, explain or summarize ideas in simpler language and make the content accessible to students in their language.
Enhancing Teacher Capacity
In distance education, unlike face-to-face education, teachers are often overburdened with the challenge of managing students with different needs in addition to preparing educational materials, presenting lessons, evaluating students, and presenting feedback to students. AI tools like ChatGPT reduce some of these burdens by automating routine tasks, such as grading assignments, tracking progress, and even creating instructional materials. This frees up time for teachers to focus on more complex pedagogical tasks and ensures that the distance learning program is more efficient. Instructors can use ChatGPT to create custom questions, assignments, or reading materials tailored to each student’s needs and level of understanding (Mikeladze, 2023). This can be especially useful in distance learning, where teachers have limited direct interaction with students.
With the capacity to adapt content to reading level, subject complexity, or language proficiency, ChatGPT allows Afghan students to access content in their language tailored to their learning level. Finally, AI tools provide teachers with valuable insights into student performance, helping them identify areas where students need support. This data enables teachers to solve students’ problems in a precise and targeted manner and help so that no student feels weak or left behind.
Using AI Tools in Distance Learning by Teachers
Vignette: Empowering Futures
Leila is a distance learning program teacher for girls in Afghanistan. She teaches science, specifically chemistry, physics and biology. Leila faced the challenges of poor internet access for students and a classroom with students of different learning styles and academic levels. The emotional distress caused by the Taliban’s restrictions on girls’ education, and work pressures such as grading, individual support needs, and making sure that every student stays engaged despite the difficulties, added to the burden of work on Leila.
To solve these challenges, at the suggestion of administrators, Leila began to incorporate AI tools in her teaching and learning. Chat GPT made suggestions for Leila to create adaptive learning paths for students and automatically adjusted learning materials for students according to skill level. Each girl was able to progress with differentiated support. This personalized approach helped Leila’s students learn without constant individual attention. Leila also used Labster, an AI-based virtual lab platform that allowed her students to conduct complex experiments from home, simulating biology and chemistry experiments they could not experience in person.
Leila used ChatGPT to overcome language barriers and help communicate with students as needed. For grading and feedback, Leila used Edmodo, which used artificial intelligence to quickly assess assignments and give instant feedback, freeing her from hours of manual grading.
These AI tools not only enhanced her teaching, but also helped Leila avoid burnout by taking on tasks such as grading, differentiating lessons, and delivering content, allowing her to focus on the individual needs of her students. This technological support meant that even in a country with limited resources, curricular restrictions, and a low level of academic literacy, distance education can help the teacher to overcome problems and achieve better results.
Specific Support by ChatGPT in Distance Learning
AI tools offer transformative benefits in education, empowering students to take ownership of their learning and study independently. ChatGPT, in particular, can be a powerful tool to foster independent learning. After students have been taught the basics of independent learning with AI, students can learn to frame questions effectively, find answers, and solve problems independently. It helps students to be self-reliant and enables them to direct their learning and understand topics beyond the curriculum at their own pace (Figure 2).
Figure 2
Enhancing Independent Learning Skills with ChatGPT
Note. Hafiz Abram (2024) designed this figure using the Canva Magic Media platform. I dedicate any rights I hold to this image to the public domain via CC0.
In a distance learning setting, students can use ChatGPT as a 24/7 study companion (Capinding & Dumayas, 2023). For example, they can ask ChatGPT to explain difficult concepts, generate practice questions, or summarize reading materials, which can be especially helpful in asynchronous courses where immediate teacher assistance isn’t available. Table 1 illustrates examples of ChatGPT applications for students.
Table 1
ChatGPT Support for Students
Note. Hafiz Abram (2024) designed this figure to illustrate the benefits of AI-enhances learning tools for students.
ChatGPT can provide instructors with immediate feedback on student assignments to support instruction and grading. It also helps students identify areas for improvement immediately after completing a task. Instant feedback helps students correct mistakes and reinforce understanding immediately, resulting in better retention and comprehension (Mondal et al, 2023). Table 2 demonstrates ChatGPT uses for educators.
Table 2
ChatGPT Support for Teachers
Note. Hafiz Abram (2024) created these tables using the Canva Magic Media platform. I dedicate any rights I hold to this table to the public domain via CC0.
Canva and Canva Magic Studio Platforms for Learning
The various chapters of this book, authored by my classmates, outline many AI tools which could be utilized to address educational issues, including those experienced by children impacted by humanitarian crises. These tools can provide improved access to learning and educational resources. For example, Canva Magic Studio “provides access to tools for learning activities that boost motivation in the domains of attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction” (Hart, 2024). Canva’s platform includes collaboration features that enable teachers to work together on projects and share resources easily. Students and teachers using Canva can access designs for learning activities from any device or location, improving accessibility for students who are displaced by conflict. Canva’s collaborative platform makes group work possible amongst students from different geographic locations in a distance learning setting. Teachers can use this platform to create visually engaging materials and to develop project-based learning experiences which engage students through AI-enhanced design. Table 3 demonstrates
Table 3
Using Canva AI Platforms in Distance Learning
Note. Hafiz Abram (2024) created these tables using the Microsoft Edge Word. I dedicate any rights I hold to this table to the public domain via CC0.
AI-powered translation tools can help overcome language barriers in Afghanistan, where different languages and dialects are spoken. According to Godbole (2024), these tools ensure that students can engage with the curriculum in their native language, enhancing their understanding and engagement. AI’s ability to assist with real-time translation and content adaptation further strengthens the potential for distance learning to reach students across diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
Challenges
AI in distance learning programs requires infrastructure and training for successful implementation. Many Afghan girls and refugee children lack access to reliable internet or modern devices, creating a digital divide that can hinder their learning opportunities (Nazari & Musilek, 2023). Therefore, for AI-based distance learning to succeed, there must be investment in technology access, teacher training, and localized development. Only with these foundational supports, can AI- tools fully transform education for underprivileged Afghan students and refugee children.
Furthermore, to implement AI in education, Afghanistan needs strong digital infrastructure, as current distance learning faces challenges like unreliable electricity, weak internet, and economic hardship (Ahmadi, 2024). Expanding internet access in remote areas and providing affordable devices could make AI-supported education more accessible. Additionally, collaboration with international organizations, donors, individuals with economic resources, and local educational institutions is essential.
For instance, electricity issues could be solved by installing solar panels with support from organizations and donors, enabling students to use AI tools without interruption. Offering internet access to students who cannot afford it would enable more students to participate in education. Local teachers and educational institutions can play a key role in creating a supportive learning environment informed by students’ educational needs and challenges, as they are most familiar with the specific needs of the local community.
In conclusion, given the current educational restrictions for girls and refugee children in Afghanistan, AI-supported distance learning offers unique tools for real-time assistance and adaptive learning, making quality education accessible despite resource limitations. Additionally, downloadable AI-powered educational resources that function offline could further reduce issues caused by limited internet. Making education accessible and empowering girls is essential for the betterment of Afghanistan’s present and future. In current circumstances, this is only possible through distance learning supported by AI tools.
Responsible use of AI
In distance learning programs, the teachers don’t directly observe students’ use of AI. So, safe and responsible use of these tools in distance learning requires that distance learning providers think critically about the impact of these tools on the students ( Miao et al, 2021). While AI tools offer valuable support in distance learning programs, some risks need to be carefully managed. For instance, instructional designers, distance learning providers and teachers should ask themselves whether this tool will help students take more ownership of their learning, or if it might lead them to rely too heavily on automated assistance. For instance, consider if using this tool encourages critical thinking, or if it risks making students more passive recipients of information. Furthermore, AI can sometimes reinforce existing digital divides, especially if some students have less access to reliable devices or internet connections. Before implementing an AI tool in distance learning programs, educators and designers have to think about whether it offers offline options or ways to ensure all students have equal opportunities to engage. Additionally, students’ privacy and well-being should be considered. Distance learning providers should be sure that students’ data privacy is paramount, and consider that AI tools are used in a way that supports student well-being.
Table 4: Guiding use of AI for distance learning providers.
Future Research and Innovation
As online and distance learning grows in importance, AI tools play a valuable and effective role in enhancing the quality of this educational system. These AI tools help remove barriers to distance learning, making it easier for teachers and students to succeed. With rapid advances in AI, the coming decade will likely see major changes in education, especially in distance learning (Ivanashko et al, 2024). For example, AI can make learning more interactive and experiential, allowing subjects like history and science to be presented in much more engaging ways. AI tools will also make education accessible to students worldwide, regardless of geographical differences or economic background, including girls in Afghanistan. This possibility offers hope for a personalized, effective, and fair educational system.
Through virtual and augmented reality, AI will enable students to explore historical sites, interact with historical figures, and experience events through immersive sensory learning. Through virtual labs and simulations, students can actively participate and learn by doing. In general, the use of AI in education and distance learning will make learning more interactive, practical, and enjoyable (Kukulska-Hulme et al, 2024). Ultimately, expanding distance learning with AI support will make education more engaging and accessible, reaching students in underserved areas and ensuring quality education for all, including girls in Afghanistan. This approach contributes to building a fairer educational system worldwide.
Summary
Acknowledgements
Thank you, my respected professor, Paula MacDawell, for reviewing, editing, giving me feedback, guiding me and encouraging me to complete this chapter. I am deeply grateful to my dear colleague, Kendra Hart, for peer reviewing and editing this chapter, helping me with video creation, offering guidance on Canva usage, and introducing valuable resources. I also express my gratitude to all the authors whose research and articles offered valuable insights and information, helping me develop the ideas presented in this chapter. The Author of this chapter acknowledges using AI tools like ChatGPT, Canva and Midjourney to enhance the chapter by generating, designing and developing some parts. Microsoft Word was used to develop the Tables in some parts of the chapter. Finally, thank you my respected classmates for your excellent work on your chapters that provided me with points and ideas to enhance my chapter.
Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID)
Hafizullah Abram: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-0622-4576
Hafiz Abram is an EA, working with independent teachers at Calton High School. He is completing the graduate-level Instructional Design course at the University of Saskatchewan. He is the Co-founder and Head of the Pegah High School Board of Trustees in Kabul, Afghanistan. His interest in distance learning programs is based on his deep passion for education and the deprivation of education for girls in Afghanistan. He conducted this research to show that distance learning supported by AI tools is the only possibility for restoring hope in education for girls in Afghanistan. He has worked for 25 years as a teacher, principal and director of Marefat and Pegah High Schools in Afghanistan with the hope that education brings constable positive changes in the country.
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