Impact special issue: Safe and effective use of AI in education by Chartered College of Teaching instant download

Impact special issue: Safe and effective use of AI in education by Chartered College of Teaching instant download

In Spring 2019, the Chartered College of Teaching published a special issue of Impact focusing on EdTech, funded by the Department for Education (DfE). In the six years since then, EdTech use in schools has changed almost beyond recognition: first, due to the COVID-19 lockdown requiring teachers to move rapidly to online and blended learning models, and the resultant changing expectations from pupils and parents; and more recently, owing to the advances in generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) technology, and its widespread availability to the general public.
-
While many schools were already using online tools and, in some cases, remote lessons before the COVID-19 pandemic, AI was not even mentioned in that 2019 issue of Impact. Although AI technology was of course already being used in various ways within the EdTech tools used by schools, as well as to power chatbots and other widely available technologies used by the public, it was the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 that really marked the beginning of GenAI’s significant impact in schools, colleges and other education settings.
-
The rise of GenAI offers exciting opportunities and applications for education – but it also comes with significant risks. While the technology itself is perhaps very different from tech tools used in education previously, in many ways the promises are not so different from those that were considered back in that 2019 issue of Impact: potential for workload reduction and widened professional development approaches for teachers; increased engagement for students; novel approaches to assessment; opportunities for independent student learning and practice; and the development of new skills for the careers of the future.