The Artificial Intelligence Revolution in Higher Education: From the E-Learning Model to the Smart Learning Model

Abstract

The university educational landscape is undergoing rapid transformations as a result of the continuous development of information and communication technology. Higher education institutions have gradually shifted from traditional forms of education toward the use of digital media, giving rise to e-learning, which has provided new methods for presenting educational content, managing interaction, and overcoming spatial and temporal boundaries. With the major revolution brought about by artificial intelligence, qualitative transformations have emerged in the nature of the educational environment. Digital technology is no longer limited to making educational content available or facilitating communication and interaction between the professor and the student; rather, it has gone beyond this to include the ability to analyze students’ educational data, provide them with personalized content, support assessment, and contribute to building educational environments that are more responsive to learners’ needs and preferences.

This study aims to analyze this transition from e-learning to smart learning through a theoretical examination of the concept of the educational process in the digital environment and the position of educational technology and e-learning within it, followed by an analysis of how artificial intelligence is employed to develop the components of the educational process and the new roles within it, while identifying the most prominent applications and challenges associated with this transformation. The study adopted the descriptive-analytical method through an analysis of the relevant scientific literature and references. The study concluded that the transition from the e-learning model to the artificial intelligence-based smart learning model does not merely represent the addition of a new technology to the educational environment; rather, it reflects a transformation in the structure of the educational process itself, from a digital environment that provides access to knowledge to an environment capable of analyzing educational content, adapting to it, and providing a greater degree of personalization and intelligent support, while the professor and learner remain central elements of the educational process.