Critical Links

AI, and generative AI (GenAI) in particular, is expected to revolutionize both the teaching and learning experience. This means that there will be benefits to multiple participants in the pedagogical equation, including students, teachers, and educational administrators. While other ed tech advancements enhance the learning process, AI is expected to elevate the learning experience to unprecedented levels.

For students, AI will allow for personalized learning experiences, as it can adapt educational content according to each student's needs, pace, and learning style while progressing towards common curriculum goals. This broadens success across the student base without requiring 1:1 teacher ratios. Since AI can assess and provide feedback, it can offer immediate, real-time feedback, helping students correct mistakes more quickly and effectively so that progress continues without interruption. This same AI capability can provide actionable feedback to teachers, helping them identify challenges and adjust their teaching approaches more efficiently for both individual students and the group as a whole.

For teachers, AI is expected to deliver administrative efficiency through the automation of repetitive tasks, such as grading, performance data analysis, and content management. As a result, teachers are free to spend more time focusing on developing students' skills individually and collectively. AI, functioning around the clock, can also be tasked with regularly finding updated content and interactive resources that teachers can incorporate into their materials to create dynamic learning experiences. Innovative AI resources, such as virtual tutors and learning assistants, can further improve student engagement and knowledge retention.

For educational administrators, AI will provide unprecedented insights into the student population, with benefits such as predictive analysis flows that process large volumes of learning data to monitor student performance, identify and predict trends, and suggest more effective teaching strategies to achieve educational objectives. This helps create a proactive and informative learning environment that moves beyond “last year’s results” and allows for real-time course correction and optimization throughout the year, making the education system more effective now and accelerating the benefits of improved educational outcomes.

Just as importantly, AI will change our world overall. Using AI in education is crucial in preparing students for the digital future. AI not only transforms current education but also immerses students in a way of operating that they will encounter in the future, where technology will be ubiquitous across most job sectors. Integrating AI into the classroom is an excellent way to incorporate digital technology into the learning process, preparing students for the challenges of the modern job market.

Generative AI will play a significant role in how workers do their jobs in the future.  Across different fields, from technology to marketing to finance to manufacturing to transportation and so many others, proficiency in engaging with and using AI tools will be as important as today's requirement to be able to use a computer.  This means that it's incumbent on forward-leaning educators to start the process of enhancing students' employability skills by giving them a chance to engage with AI as a 'starting point'.  From that foundation, AI can provide a way to personalize learning experiences for greater knowledge absorption, improve soft skills in how to communicate in a give/take manner, and can simulate real-world scenarios for active learning. Here are several ways in which AI can contribute to students' employability development:

• Skill Personalization and Development: AI can analyze students' strengths and weaknesses and provide tailored content to help them improve specific skills, both technical and soft. Whether it's improving writing, coding, critical thinking, or communication, AI can suggest resources, exercises, and feedback that target individual needs, ensuring that students are developing the skills most in demand by employers.
• Simulation of Real-World Scenarios: Generative AI can create simulations that mimic the challenges students will face in the workplace. For example, generate business case studies, problem-solving scenarios, or project management exercises that reflect real industry challenges. This helps students practice applying their knowledge in a realistic context, improving their practical, hands-on experience.
• Enhancing Communication Skills: Many job roles require effective communication, both written and oral. AI tools can help students improve their communication by providing real-time feedback on essays, presentations, and even simulated conversations or interviews.
• Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving: AI can foster the development of critical thinking by presenting students with complex scenarios and guiding them through decision-making processes. These scenarios can encourage students to analyze situations, consider various perspectives, and develop solutions — skills that are highly valued by employers.
• Time Management: Many AI tools can help students develop time management skills by providing them with structured schedules, reminders, and task prioritization strategies. By learning how to effectively manage time and meet deadlines, students develop organizational skills that are crucial in any professional setting.
• Continuous Learning: AI can encourage a culture of lifelong learning by continuously assessing students' skill levels and recommending courses or content that aligns with emerging industry trends. This ensures that students stay current and continue to develop skills that are in high demand in the job market.

The concern that AI may compromise students' critical thinking arises from the fear that they will become overly dependent on automatic responses, without developing their own reflection, is very real.  This is why our guidance to educators is to being - now - to clearly outline your responsible-use AI strategy.  This means to clearly outline the use-cases for AI/GenAI that you want to enable on a persona-by-persona basis (students, teaches, educational administrators, etc.) so that you can guide the process, instead of the process driving your plan. 

Especially for students, it's important to have 'guardrails' in your AI strategy.  According to Techopedia, an AI guardrail is "... a safeguard that is put in place to prevent artificial intelligence (AI) from causing harm."  Guardrails can come in the form of policies, guidelines, or technology-based controls.  If you clearly define the use-cases that you'll enable your different personas with, and then have the proper guardrails in place, you'll be able to benefit from AI without suffering unwanted consequences.   For example, if you have your AI chatbot prompts engineered properly, you can prevent students from asking the AI engine to "write my term paper for me."  You can create an environment where you enable students to think creatively, and then reward that creativity with additional knowledge and output.  A true 'win-win'.

It is essential to understand that AI is a tool that complements, not replaces, traditional educational processes. When used correctly, AI can actually stimulate critical thinking by providing personalized experiences, different perspectives, and immediate feedback that encourage reflection. The role of educators remains crucial, as they guide students through the learning process.

AI offers significant opportunities for creating educational content that is more accessible to students in regions where English is not the first language. You can enable AI tools that automatically translate materials into local languages, ensuring that students can engage with a world of content in their native tongue. AI can also adapt learning resources to accommodate different cultural contexts, making the content more relevant and relatable; again, this is where 'guardrails' can be very important.  

It is not necessary to start with simpler technologies before incorporating AI tools into the curriculum. In fact, the advent of AI/GenAI will actually change how many existing technologies (such as tablets, Chromebooks, PCs, smartboards) are engaged.  Think of how the introduction of a graphical user interface (GUI), the mouse, etc. changed how people engage with technology; it's not a stretch of the imagination to understand how this may take place again with AI.  So, while it's important to assess the infrastructure and ensure resources are in place, many AI solutions can and should be be integrated gradually without the need for a radical technological overhaul. With proper preparation for educators and the implementation of accessible tools, such as cloud-based AI, it is possible to begin using these technologies effectively, regardless of the current level of digitization in schools. The key is a well-planned implementation and adequate training, so that both students and teachers can benefit from the use of AI in the learning process.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Generative AI (GenAI) are powerful and innovative technologies that offer great potential for education. However, as demonstrated in recent developments, there have been challenges related to cultural bias, both in large corporations and the public sector. Companies like Google have faced difficulties due to biases embedded in their AI systems, which can generate inappropriate or even harmful responses depending on the cultural context.

To avoid cultural bias in educational processes, an important solution is the use of relevance-augmented generation. Simply put, this involves adapting AI models to ensure that their responses are culturally and contextually appropriate. Instead of providing unrestricted access to a language model like ChatGPT, which can generate varied responses, a more controlled approach can be adopted. This means restricting the model to information relevant to the curriculum or educational context of the school. For example, when using an AI model in a school, it can be configured to provide answers only within the established topics and curricular guidelines. If a student asks something outside this scope, the system could respond with a message like: "Sorry, that question is not within the scope of what we are covering right now." This approach helps ensure that the AI aligns with the educational and cultural goals of the institution, avoiding potentially biased responses. To achieve this, it is crucial to use the right information sources and ensure the provenance or traceability of the data, meaning tracking where the information comes from and how it is applied. This helps minimize the risks of bias while still leveraging the benefits of AI in education.

Done right, there should be no requirement to replace devices, networks, etc.  The technology industry is moving to make AI/GenAI available as seamlessly as possible; so while there will be new AI-enabled devices (such as the new term 'AI PC; which makes PCs easier to use effectively'), it's not a requirement.  With the right architecture and configuration, you can use your current devices, including  PCs, Chromebooks, tablets, and even Wi-Fi-enabled mobile phones, to access AI capabilities even if the school is offline. The key is to design the right infrastructure architecture — using concepts such as the micro-cloud approach — that allows data and AI functionalities to reside and be processed locally without the need for large server farms or a constant broadband internet connection. 

The primary recommendation is: start the conversation - now.  This evolution will sweep the world quickly, meaning those that understand it will move ahead more quickly than ever...and those that don't will fall behind more rapidly than ever.  You'll need to involve and engage educators, educators, technology teams, and financial planners to ensure you are all in sync with this critical effort.

Once you have the conversation started, the next recommendation is to investigate, clearly define, and prioritize your use-cases on a persona-by-persona basis.  For example, what would you like a teacher in your school system to be able to do with AI/GenAI?  What would you like a student to be able to do with AI/GenAI?  Likewise, what would you like your administrators to be able to do? Clearly defining these use-cases is what will lead to defining a strategic  implementation plan which can drive the fastest success model for using GenAI.

When considering the adoption of generative AI, educational institutions should focus on a strategically phased implementation, ensuring that educators are trained to use these tools effectively. It is important to align AI solutions with the institution’s pedagogical needs, aiming to enhance personalized learning and efficiency. To ensure successful adoption, it is essential to choose reliable suppliers who provide ongoing support and scalable solutions, aligned with best practices and educational requirements.