Harnessing artificial intelligence in education: Your AI questions answered

What is the role of AI in Education?

AI is still an emerging technology; teachers and students are currently at an exciting point in history, where the role of AI in education is still being defined. School communities, like our own at BIS Hanoi, should embrace the opportunity to experiment with AI and decide for themselves how it can best contribute to teaching and learning.

Existing use of AI within NAE schools can give us a sense of what AI’s role in education might look like in the future. For example, at BVIS Hanoi, AI is helping students to break down complicated language, making complex texts accessible to students of all ages and backgrounds. 

“We found that AI is a great way to make lessons more engaging and exciting,” explains Orlando Callaghan, Year 4 Teacher at BVIS Hanoi. “It makes lessons more inclusive and accessible, especially in the international and bilingual community.”

How do we unleash AI in the classroom?

The key to effectively harnessing AI in the classroom lies in ensuring that students use it in a way that compliments their existing learning.

“If students use AI to bypass learning opportunities, it isn't going to serve them best for the future", explains Stephanie Miller, Deputy Head of Secondary at BIS Hanoi. “We need students to grapple with hard concepts and understand how they can use AI to test themselves and to encourage them to interrogate information.”

One example of how AI can complement existing learning is by helping students to complete simpler tasks more efficiently. For example, AI can help create revision plans or generate practice questions, leaving students with more time to dedicate to hard thinking and learning.

How is Nord Anglia using AI in education differently?

Nord Anglia Education has been working with experts from University College London and around the world to think about the ethics of artificial intelligence and how best to utilise it in classrooms. There has been a particular focus on how all members of the school community might use AI to make teaching and learning more effective.

"We're looking at applications of AI that will allow teachers to spend more time with students, by taking away some of the tasks that teachers have to do every single day," shares Dr Elise Ecoff, Chief Education Officer at NAE. "For us, it's about continuous growth and learning for every member of our community, so that includes our teachers as well as our students."

What is the best way to use AI in education?

A common mistake people make when using AI is to treat it like a search engine - when in fact it’s capable of so much more! AI tools such as ChatGPT are designed for you to talk to them and ask questions just as you would a human. You could even think of AI as your own personal tutor!

"If you're a parent trying to help your child with their homework...some of the topics that your child is studying might seem a little bit mysterious," adds Patrick Flynn, Computer Science Teacher and Ed Tech Coach at BIS Hanoi. "One way that you could use AI is to jump back in and learn a little bit about the subject your child is learning."

Practical examples of how parents and students can use artificial intelligence include:

• Generating a short summary of a given topic
• Asking AI to provide clarifying questions to test subject knowledge
• Requesting feedback on a piece of written work

How can you use AI safely at home with your child?

Everyone in our school community should be aware that AI tools do not always present accurate information - and students in particular should interrogate any information they receive from AI. This could be done by checking which sources the AI is using, or by using a search engine or text book to independently verify information.

Another important safety consideration when using AI is limiting what personal data you share:

"It hasn't been confirmed how user data could be used to further train AI models," explains Emma Goldie, Head of Business Studies, Economics and Computer Science at BVIS Hanoi. "So information such as addresses, dates of birth, or names could potentially be used by these models and the companies that own them, and be kept in their databases."

Ready to learn more? Get in-depth guidance on harnessing AI in education - watch our full AI video series below!