Students Design AI Education Tool
Given the opportunity to ideate and create real life solutions using technology, the concepts students are capable of producing often surprise on the upside.
Recently, Dinel Bomiriya and Gideon Tse from Yarra Valley Grammar School in Melbourne, Victoria, participated in the 2023 BioTech Futures Challenge organised by the University of Melbourne.
The challenge connects high school students with world-class academics, encouraging them to think creatively about scientifically inspired solutions to real-life problems in fields ranging from medicine and health to the sustainable environment, emerging technologies, regulations, and ethics.
Bomiriya and Tse prototyped an AI tool that creates personalised and engaging resources that enhance critical thinking and creativity but regulates to mitigate students' overreliance on it.
The two collaborated to produce an insightful scientific poster, a functional prototype, and an engaging presentation, effectively ideating the kind of AI assistant that schools have only recently been rolling out to familiarise students with AI’s power and breadth of application.
“Our AI educational platform, AI Academia, aims to revolutionise learning by setting a new standard. It harnesses the power of AI to personalise education and learning for students. Using Microsoft AI tools, the machine learning algorithms adapt to the curriculum, content, and areas of study,” says Bomiriya.
“Our platform integrates educational resources, including textbooks, interactive materials, and quizzes that can be imported from the school curriculum. These resources are accessible through a single interface, streamlining learning for students. By assessing the student's learning style, preferences, strengths, and weaknesses, the platform tailors course materials and personalised learning activities to optimise their educational experience. The platform can also adapt and refine its recommendations for students' improvement based on their performance data and teachers' feedback.”
Tse adds, “Our goal is to provide an alternative AI solution that departs from conventional one-size-fits-all education and also addresses the serious issue of students over-relying on AI to find quick answers, which undermines their critical reasoning, analytical thinking, and creative abilities.”
Bomiriya and Tse used the Microsoft Power Platform, including AI Builder, Power Virtual Agents, Power Apps, and Power Automate, to develop their prototype.
“The process of building the prototype involved two key phases: design and development. Initially, we designed and created a mock-up that represented our vision for the product's appearance. Using this as our foundation, we proceeded to construct a working prototype,” says Tse.
To kickstart the project, the pair used Power Apps to establish the general website structure and primary controls. For the actual functionality, they integrated the AI Builder tool into Power Apps through Power Automate, establishing a connection with a GPT model.
“It was imperative to properly prepare and condition user prompts before submitting them to the model. This was done to ensure that AI Academia would guide students in learning how to learn, rather than merely providing them with the answers they sought,” Bomiriya says.
“The skills I brought to the project primarily revolved around my proficiency in using the Power Platform tools and AI integration, which helped create this prototype. I acquired these skills over several years during high school, through Microsoft courses, participation in various competitions, and even presenting at conferences.”
Tse and Bomiriya were able to draw inspiration for the project from their studies, using what they were learning at school to shape AI Academia’s capabilities.
Tse says, “I am currently studying psychology as an elective in school. One of the topics we covered was sports psychology.
“During the design process of our idea generation, I recognised the valuable insights that sports psychology brought to the project. Concepts such as motivation and SMART goal-setting strategies became crucial principles that enhanced our understanding of how learners can set relevant and personal goals for their learning within our AI Academia.
“Drawing from sports psychology principles, we seamlessly integrated gamification into our AI Academia. Our aim was to harness the power of gamification and create an engaging, interactive environment that motivates students to learn and excel in their educational interests and abilities.”
Bomiriya chose the Information Technology elective at school in the first semester which allowed him to explore various aspects of AI technology and its real-world applications, as well as acquire the fundamental skills needed to design and create a functional website.
“Additionally, I drew inspiration indirectly from the school, shaping the mock-up design of the website based on the key components of our school's website. I also participated in the Psychology elective, equipping myself with both the mental and physical resources and knowledge necessary to create a product that can be used to improve our education system for the benefit of all,” he says.
Their ambition for AI Academia is to turn the idea into reality, first, they aim to refine the concept into a functional prototype, and then plan to trial AI Academia with various schools to gather feedback and refine it.
“Our goal is not merely to create an ordinary platform but one that caters to the needs of educational environments worldwide.
“Subsequently, we intend to collaborate with educational institutions and educators, inviting them to adopt AI Academia and understand how students can learn differently through personalised learning. Ultimately, our vision is for AI Academia to become accessible to every school, becoming the standard learning platform and transforming the lives of students worldwide while revolutionising the educational sector forever.
“Our vision and significant plans for this product primarily revolve around advancing the quality and efficiency of students' learning and assessments through the use of Generative AI. Our goal goes beyond profits, success, and fame; we hope our innovative solution will push the boundaries of education and innovation for the betterment of all, particularly those who are less advantaged and cannot access equal learning support and resources,” Bomiriya says.
Participating in the BioTech Futures Challenge put Tse and Bomiriya in contact with people from various backgrounds and exposed them to a culture of learning, creativity, and innovation.
“We had the privilege of interacting with an industry mentor who provided us with valuable advice and insights throughout our participation in the challenge. These interactions enabled us to form beneficial connections with professionals in the biotech sector.
“The key takeaway from this challenge was understanding the urgent need for new and emerging technologies in the biotech sector. This competition underscored the necessity for innovation and ground-breaking advancements by integrating AI, technology, and engineering to develop scientifically inspired solutions to real-life challenges in various fields,” says Tse
“As a group, we had the opportunity to meet more like-minded peers and network with them, as well as with some of the judges and other mentors. Interacting with such innovative and talented individuals allowed us to gain further insight into how to contribute to a better future with biotechnology.
“Throughout the competition's duration, I found that the optional workshops and opportunities offered by the University of Melbourne significantly helped us in creating our product and refining our pitch,” Bomiriya adds.
The panel appraised the pair’s submission and offered feedback like; "Great idea and a well proposed design process."
"While Generative AI is new, this proposal could benefit from being grounded in research to help quantify the problems faced and impact of potential solutions. For example, the effect of Generative AI use on learning outcomes since Chat GPT was released."