Is AI 101 on the timetable as kids go back to school?

Yes, say teachers but with some guidelines

By Karishma Nandkeolyar

Published: Thu 29 Aug 2024, 6:59 PM

School is, essentially, about empowerment and personal growth. And since we live in the era of the metaverse and artificial intelligence, it’s only natural that they feature heavily on the schools’ agenda for the new term.

“AI continues to dominate discussion in the education community and rightly so. It represents one of the most disruptive innovations in the field of learning since the advent of the Internet. We’re definitely blessed to work here in the UAE where innovation is fostered and thrives. It allows schools like JESS to keep ahead of the curve and ensure students are ready for a future where AI will permeate their daily lives more than we can even conceive yet,” says Steve Bambury, Head of Digital Learning & Innovation at JESS Dubai.

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The generations Z and Alpha truly are digital natives; a November 2022 survey by Statista found that almost 40 percent of Gen Z in the US spent more than four hours on social media platforms daily. And children of the younger generation are so invested in their screen time that it’s becoming a real issue for parents — and their attention spans. So, when is the right time to introduce them to the disruptive force of AI?

Grade 12 student Zuhair Mujeeb believes they should be introduced to the new tech as soon as they are able to digest the information. The Indian expat says: “I use AI almost every day nowadays, whether it be to find out something, or maybe help me with the project I'm working on. There's no point in hiding things from children because of the fear that they will use it for bad reasons, because this is knowledge which will get to them anyway, so the sooner they’re taught about it and how they should use it and how they should not use it, the better. I feel as soon as a kid is able to, as soon as a kid starts using devices in school, they should be taught how to deal with different AI.”

Bambury, meanwhile, suggests keeping an eye on the platform’s suggested age bar. “A factor schools need to take into account, which is currently not always the case, is the age that students should be before they even start interacting with AI tools like Chat GPT or Copilot. These platforms almost always state that users should be aged 13+ and schools need to bear this in mind before using them in classrooms. It is also important that students, and indeed staff, are taught the art of crafting effective prompts as poorly designed prompts will result in lower quality, irrelevant or even inaccurate outputs from these fledgling AI platforms,” he adds.

A quick background

One way in which AI can benefit students is by allowing them to express their creativity; they can use it as a tool for presentations. And even as an image generator. “I generate images like online; let's say I can't find something that can represent the graphic that I want. In that case, I might use an AI to make exactly what I want — photos, videos, anything like that,” explains Mujeeb.

Sohana Saith, a former student of Emirates International School, believes AI offers one a quick introduction into a subject, even though she insists the information is not good enough to replace school learning. “So I went to an IB curriculum, and I did two years in the diploma programme, and we mainly used chatGPT, and it used to be helpful in quick revision, but it would never be as helpful as what you learn in school, and even when it comes to using it to assist with writing essays, it could never talk in depth,” she recalls.

Personalised approach

It can however personalise material so the person reading it is able to understand and retain the information better. James Lynch, Principal at Ambassador International Academy, says: “Our focus is always on personalising the learning experience for every student to ensure they are successful.

“We use AI to generate custom learning materials such as quizzes, flashcards, and even elements of lessons tailored to a student's strengths and weaknesses. This ensures that students focus on the topics they need the most help with, maximizing their learning efficiency both within school and at home. We also use AI to have informed data tracking of student learning and progress which has ensured outstanding academic results at the school.”

“Whilst being mindful of the advantages of artificial intelligence for both students and educators, we are also aware of its drawbacks and this requires careful planning and consideration, as well as ongoing evaluation. We regularly review the risks of bias, misinformation, and student isolation and our teachers explore the potential of AI in order to be effective advocates for their students and themselves,” he adds.

For some students, AI is a way to avoid spending much time on research. Saith explains, “Just type in the question and you'll get a basic answer. So, it is definitely helpful just to have an overview of what you're trying to learn, but it will never match the education you get from a teacher,” she reiterates.

A cautious approach

And this cutting of corners was something most educators picked up on quite quickly when AI became so popular that even they were using it to suss out typos and create lesson plans.

“Educators were extremely apprehensive when ChatGPT became easily available. Suddenly, we had home assignments which seemed to be copied or at least heavily tailored. When we realised that we couldn’t control it as it was ubiquitous, we decided to embrace it. Today, we openly use AI to improve our documents, planning or simply to generate ideas. Lesson plans and docs can be generated which have quality. It saves time and effort. But a word of warning. The user has to be discerning — gibberish can often be the result if the work is not carefully vetted,” warns Rashmi Nandkeolyar, Principal and Director of DPS Dubai.

Bambury calls for an ethical approach to teaching pupils about new tech. “Educating students in the ethical use of AI is paramount and as such we teach critical AI literacy skills to accompany the pastoral focus on AI use across JESS schools. Academic honesty must remain central to everything we teach students about AI.”

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