AS artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies become more common in classrooms, educators must ensure that innovation does not come at the expense of understanding and supporting students as individuals, say experts.
Edvolution Enterprise chief executive officer Melissa Tanya Gomes said one way schools could strengthen teaching is by improving educators’ use of scaffolding.
“Scaffolding is defined as ‘I do, we do and you do’,” she said, referring to a process where teachers first model a concept, work through it with students, and eventually allow them to apply it independently.
Rather than focusing solely on introducing more AI programmes, Gomes said school leaders should consider how technology could support teachers in scaffolding learning across subjects.
She stressed that technology should complement, rather than replace, teachers’ understanding of their students.
“Lessons should be contextualised and personalised to each class. Using the same lesson plan and success criteria across classes with different levels of proficiency could leave some students struggling to keep up,” she said.
Gomes was a panel speaker at the “Human-Centred Education in a Technology-Enabled World” session, moderated by Star Media Group deputy executive editor Dr Christina Chin, during the RISE Educator Conference 2026.
Held at Taylor’s University on Sept 12, the event, which also featured the RISE Educator Award ceremony, drew 200 educators.
People Transformers founder and chief behavioural consultant Dr Brendan Gomez, who was also a panellist at the session, emphasised the importance of making students feel heard and understood, particularly as schools grapple with growing concerns over student well-being.
“Each child has more than just the need to be taught. They would want to be heard and understood,” he said.
Gomez called on educators to create psychologically safe environments where students feel comfortable speaking up.
Building such an environment, he added, could help students develop greater confidence in their own voices while reducing their reliance on technology for answers and reassurance.
“When they do not feel safe, the first thing they do is open up their phones and look for the answers because they do not believe that they have the answers,” he said.
Another panellist, Garden International School digital learning and entrepreneurship director James Abela, said supporting students also begins with ensuring that teachers themselves have the capacity to be present for them.
Urging educators to prioritise their own well-being and personal time, he said this would help them build the emotional capacity to support their students.
“Plan your family time, your free time first, because only then will you be a happy teacher, and you will be able to share the joy that ensures your students feel valued,” he said.
Concluding, Chin stressed that while technology is a powerful tool to amplify great teaching, it can never replace the heart of education.
“At the very core of effective teaching and learning is the human heart – our educators.
“As we move into an increasingly digital landscape, the primary responsibility of educators is not to simply ask what technology can do, but to deliberately decide what it should do,” she said, adding that technology must serve the purpose of education, and that purpose will always remain deeply human.
