Sense the classroom: AI-supported synchronous online education for a resilient new normal

Students’ learning experience and performance are highly related to their psychological, physiological, and emotional states (D’Mello, 2013). In a traditional classroom, it is possible for teachers to observe these states of students. Teachers notice when students are distracted, confused, tired, etc., and may adjust their teaching approach accordingly (Bahreini et al., 2016), and choose appropriate interventions to keep the learning experience of the class optimal. However, every teacher who gave an online lecture has experienced the severe lack of an understanding of the learning-centered affective states of students in the classroom, thus, missing opportunities to improve the overall learning experience. This also directly impacts individual students. In online lectures, a student is prone to distractions. Since the lecturer cannot give timely feedback to guide the attention on time, the student is left alone to manage his/her learning experience, stay motivated, and struggle not to fall behind during the educational activity. The underlying reason that leads to these challenges is the communication modality limitations of video-conferencing technologies.