Schools Embrace AI: Government Toolkits Unveiled to Revolutionise Classrooms
In a bid to harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) in education, the UK government has published new toolkits to help schools integrate AI into their daily operations. Developed by the Chiltern Learning Trust and Chartered College of Teaching, the guidance aims to support school leaders in leveraging AI to cut workloads, improve efficiency, and enhance pupil outcomes.
According to the toolkits, schools can use AI to assist with tasks such as writing letters to parents, providing feedback to pupils, and generating ideas for lessons. The guidance suggests that AI can be used to produce "text in a specific style, length or reading age," create quiz questions, and even generate visual resources like images and infographics. As Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson noted, "By harnessing AI’s power to cut workloads, we’re revolutionising classrooms and driving high standards everywhere – breaking down barriers to opportunity so every child can achieve and thrive."
The toolkits, which can be viewed in full on the Schools Week website, provide nine key recommendations for school leaders. Firstly, they suggest that AI can be used to support teaching and learning by generating ideas for lesson content and structure, formative assessments, and analysis of marking data. AI can also produce images to support understanding of a concept or as an exemplar, exam-style questions from set texts, and visual resources like slide decks, knowledge organisers, and infographics.
In addition to supporting teaching and learning, the toolkits recommend that schools use AI to streamline administrative tasks, such as email and letter writing, data analysis, and long-term planning. For example, AI can be used to produce a letter home for parents about an outbreak of head lice. The guidance also suggests that AI can be used to support policy writing, timetabling, trip planning, and staff CPD.
The toolkits also emphasise the importance of planning for the "wider use" of AI, including its application in budget planning and tendering. According to the guidance, some finance teams are already using safe and approved AI tools to analyse budgets and support planning. Business managers are also using AI to generate tender documents based on a survey of requirements.
Furthermore, the toolkits highlight the potential of AI to support learners with special educational needs and disability (SEND). The technology can adapt materials to individual learning needs and provide personalised instruction and feedback. For instance, AI can take a scene and describe it in detail to those who are visually impaired. However, specialists and education, health and care plans (EHCPs) should be consulted to ensure that AI tools are used appropriately.
As AI becomes more prevalent in education, the toolkits stress the importance of integrating AI literacy and critical thinking into existing lessons and activities. This can be achieved by incorporating AI ethics and digital citizenship into PSHE or computing curriculums. The guidance also suggests that approaches to homework may need to be reconsidered, with a focus on tasks that cannot be easily completed by AI.
To ensure the safe and effective use of AI, the toolkits recommend that schools draw up an AI "vision" statement, created in consultation with a wide range of stakeholders. This statement should be clear on the benefits of AI and how they can be achieved safely. The guidance also warns about two inherent issues in AI systems: hallucinations and bias.
Finally, the toolkits emphasise the importance of transparency and human oversight in the use of AI. Schools should consider factors such as inclusivity, accessibility, cost-effectiveness, and compliance with internal privacy and security policies. A key consideration is whether the output of AI has a clear, positive impact on staff workload and/or the learning environment. Ultimately, the guidance stresses that transparency and human oversight are essential to ensure that AI systems assist, but do not replace, human decision-making.
The guidance provided by the Chiltern Learning Trust and Chartered College of Teaching offers a comprehensive framework for schools to harness the potential of AI. As the Schools Week website notes, "By involving all school or college staff in CPD on AI, you can help improve efficiency and effectiveness across operations – ultimately having a positive impact on pupil and student outcomes."
