Towards a School AI Adoption Framework
Generative AI is currently banned in most schools apart from in South Australia, but excluding it from use in schools is a short-term proposition. As the technology becomes ubiquitous, using it will be a required skill.
So, a framework to provide a guideline to schools around the country on how generative AI technology should be adopted is being put together.
Dr Tianchong Wang from Swinburne University of Technology thinks a final framework should encourage and fund ongoing research into the impact of generative AI on learning and teaching.
"The framework should define the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes for teachers to understand Generative AI's role in education and effectively integrate generative AI into their teaching practices in an effective manner and formalise this through a Generative AI Competency Framework for Teachers.
"Similary, it will have to articulate the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that students should acquire to responsibly and meaningfully engage with generative AI in education in the form of a Generative AI Competency Framework for Students."
The framework should roadmap how we will align the curriculum of initial teacher training with the AI competency framework for teachers, ensuring that pre-service teachers are well-equipped to leverage generative AI in their future teaching practices.
"Strategies for equity of access will be vital to assure all students and teachers, regardless of socioeconomic or geographic differences, have access to generative AI tools and necessary training.
"The framework should encourage and fund ongoing research into the impact of generative AI on learning and teaching, particularly through ARC. Clear research and development schemes would enable continuous refinement and improvement on this subject matter with evidence-based practices,” Dr Wang says.
"Finally, there should be a mechanism for obtaining regular feedback from educators and students about the use of AI in their classrooms. This feedback should be used to continuously refine and improve the national framework."
The draft framework includes building AI competence and literacy and keeps a focus on the human component of digital technology use.
"I think what will be interesting to see as this develops is what other policies develop around dimensions such as ‘Transparency’, ‘Disclosure’ and ‘Reliability’. These types of elements/principles are outside the Schools space and sit with developers and EdTech companies,” says Associate Professor Sarah Howard (University of Wollongong).
"I would like further work in the government to bring these stakeholders into the conversation about AI in Education, and the responsibilities for students this involves. When educators and EdTech companies are working together with government policymakers, this is where we can begin to understand the wider impact of these new technologies and their real benefits.”
Some caution should be taken around AI and the current draft framework positions generative AI in an unrealistically positive light.
"The draft document overlooks the nature of generative AI and the many of the issues that will arise with mainstream use in schools. These include exacerbation of existing digital inequalities, trespasses on the privacy and data rights of teachers and students, intellectual property rights, teacher competencies and contribution to negative environment impacts,” Dr Tiffani Apps from University of Wollongong says.
"If Generative AI is to be used for teaching and learning such a guiding framework should place more emphasis on understanding the nature of Generative AI together with the development of digital literacy and AI specific competencies for teachers and students."
Image by Google Deep Mind