A new report published on Friday (27 June) by Ofsted shares insights into how early adopter schools and further education colleges across England are integrating generative AI into teaching, learning, and administration.
The research was conducted through 21 interviews with schools, colleges and multi-academy trust leaders who have been embedding and using AI for at least 12 months.
The research found that nearly all the providers visited had an ‘AI champion’ – typically teachers with technology expertise who could demystify AI for colleagues and demonstrate its potential. Champions play crucial roles in building staff confidence and demonstrating practical applications of AI for specific teaching needs.
School and FE college leaders said their main reason for introducing AI was to reduce workload for both teaching and administrative staff, with common applications including lesson planning, resource creation, and drafting communications to parents.
Leaders were also keen to emphasise that they were prioritising safe, ethical and responsible use of AI. They had all taken time to research and understand the risks and challenges and had developed mechanisms to address risks related to bias, data protection, intellectual property and safeguarding.
However, the research has identified that more needs to be done to understand effective strategies for using AI in the classroom. Some leaders have not yet thought systematically about how, or where, AI could be integrated into teaching and learning, and the curriculum.
When talking about the challenges, schools discussed the pace of change in AI, as well as the fact that there are not many AI tools tailored to school and college contexts and the specific needs of their pupils and learners.
Ofsted’s report also found that robust and reliable evidence of AI’s impact on educational outcomes is limited. The report notes that most is explorative, short-term and in limited domains.
“As the use of AI in education increases, we need to better understand how schools and colleges are using this technology to take advantage of its potential, as well as manage the risks it poses for pupils, learners and staff,” said Sir Martyn Oliver (Ofsted’s Chief Inspector)
“While we don’t directly evaluate the use of AI during inspections, we can consider the impact a provider’s use has on the outcomes and experiences of children and learners.”
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