Artificial Intelligence has been recognised for its unrivalled transformative potential in the education sector. Many international schools view AI as an innovative tool that should be embraced: its widely varying applications will inevitably become fundamental to teaching practices and management processes. Other schools, however, remain uncertain: risks to do with data protection and the potential dehumanising of education remain pertinent, setting up a dichotomy of views surrounding emerging technologies.
In collaboration with Philippa Wraithmell, Founder and CEO of EdRuption, ISC Research has recently published two specialist reports which explore both the foundations and future of AI, in addition to suggesting strategic blueprints for its integration into teaching and learning methods.
Personalised learning with AI
In July 2024, ISC Research hosted its Annual Conference which, over the course of two days, ran as a series of presentations and panel discussions centred on the theme of ‘Future Intelligence’. We were delighted to welcome Philippa, as the writer of our latest reports, to deliver a presentation entitled, ‘The Inclusive Classroom: Working with SEN Students’. This session, now available as a recording on ISC Community, explored the potential for AI to personalise learning experiences by adapting educational materials to the needs of individual students.
Companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft offer an array of accessibility features in their technological products – voiceover, screen magnification, braille, immersive reader, and translation tools to name a few. In her session, Philippa highlighted how such features can be applied to educational settings to give students more agency over their own learning. Indeed, through these tried and tested AI-driven features, SEN students can immediately interact with content in the same way as their peers and complete low-level tasks without teacher assistance. On the one hand, then, technology is an enabler of inclusivity by empowering all learners – with a diverse range of learning needs – to reach their full academic potential.
Strategic and ethical challenges of AI in schools
However, the incorporation of AI systems into educational settings poses a variety of challenges. As Philippa explains in the specialist reports, AI was “not built specifically with education in mind”. This means that schools need to have a strategic approach to implementing new technologies, making sure their use of AI is “driven by pedagogy” as opposed the desire to “speed things up”. ISC Research’s PedTech whitepaper, published June 2024, offers a comprehensive introduction to this topic. The term ‘PedTech’ refers to the importance of thinking pedagogically about educational technology – that is, thinking about how EdTech products can support teaching and learning practices, and evaluating whether a product is the optimal choice for achieving a specific educational outcome. As the technological landscape continues to evolve, schools need to ensure AI-driven products align with their values to ensure appropriate use and maximum benefit.
Currently, AI adoption rates vary significantly between schools, with some proceeding somewhat reluctantly due to ethical concerns and the absence of crucial integration frameworks. Consequently, as Philippa states, “schools are leaning towards predominantly using free versions of AI tools due to a prevailing trial culture”. This is to say that, without clear evidence of the impact of AI applications, and with the uncertainties surrounding the possible long-term effects of AI use in education, schools are cautious when it comes to making financial investments in these new tools.
The future of AI in international education
With the majority of schools in the exploratory phase of AI integration, focusing on understanding AI and training their faculty, a key question remains: how can we develop a dynamic educational landscape where AI tools are embedded seamlessly into educational practices? Both AI reports offer extensive exploration of this question by analysing the foundations and future of Artificial Intelligence, its risks and benefits, and how EdTech companies are paving the way for its implementation in schools.
