Artificial intelligence (AI) is on everyone's lips and is being discussed in nearly every staff room.
The advent of various AI-generated chatbots, such as ChatGPT, has raised eyebrows among teachers and other school staff. These virtual assistants can both seek information, generate ideas, and draft assignments—essentially much of the work that students are expected to do themselves. This has led to changes in methods and instructions to ensure students do not hand over their work to chatbots. Now higher demands are placed on citations, and assignments are increasingly completed in the classroom under teacher supervision. (Skolverket)
But artificial intelligence (AI) can contribute much more than helping students with their schoolwork. AI has the potential to radically transform school operations fundamentally. In this article, we explain how.
An integrated AI solution in the school's digital infrastructure could become the assistant that administrators, teachers, and other school staff are asking for. It has the potential to provide help and support in daily work, allowing school staff to focus entirely on their primary tasks. With integrated AI tools in the school's digital infrastructure, more time and resources could be devoted to operational development and teaching, with less distracting administrative tasks.
Administrative tasks in schools, including planning and preparation, scheduling, attendance management, follow-up, and communication with colleagues, students, and guardians, are examples of what AI has the potential to assist with. An AI assistant could also help tailor educational materials in real-time based on individual students' needs and performances.
AI is meant to facilitate work, not replace staff. Allowing AI to entirely take over parts of teaching or school administration would not lead to better operations but rather risk deterioration. Therefore, it is crucial to primarily view AI as a support tool that allows school staff and administrators to spend more time and energy on the right tasks. This, in turn, leads to better conditions for a better school—for students, teachers, and other staff.
With the primary mission of ‘Simplifying everyday life in schools,’ Tietoevry has been delivering digital tools for schools since the 80s. Today, our services cover almost the entire school operation, with automated processes and integrated solutions under one system. At the same time, we know that many of our tools still require users to spend time on execution and implementation of various functions. Our vision and ambition are to gradually offer administrators and teachers support with integrated AI tools for non-qualitative additional work and instead be able to focus on value-creating activities.
Tietoevry's experience in developing digital services for schools has created a robust foundation for integrating optimal AI solutions into future school systems. Our analytical tools intended to collect statistics as a basis for improving school operations can make it possible to gather all the data we already have and use AI to make future predictions. By analyzing examples such as performance evaluations and attendance statistics, interventions can be proactively directed to support students' development and ability to reach established course goals. This allows for more individualized education, benefiting both students with great learning potential and those at risk of falling behind.
Our product developers already use AI-based tools to drive development forward faster. We have also built our own AI systems to facilitate internal support and streamline internal processes. The work of integrating and building AI solutions within our own operations has provided us with crucial insights into the opportunities and challenges and risks that the introduction of AI tools entails.
Today, many companies use AI as part of their marketing. But few actually offer AI as an integrated part of their products or services. In most cases, it is more about "automation," which mainly facilitates and simplifies repetitive tasks, allowing the user to avoid repeating the same thing multiple times.
An integrated AI solution can perform actual tasks. It can search for the information you request and react to various data to generate unique insights and suggestions. It can draft a message and send information where you want. It can create lists, educational materials, or attendance reports according to your wishes. It can collect statistics and make relevant analyses of what you are curious about. An AI assistant in the school can facilitate decision-making and contribute to a more dynamic school environment.
While AI offers many advantages, it is essential that its introduction is handled carefully. A too-rapid integration of AI in the school environment can lead to issues, especially concerning questions about privacy and ethics. In the school world, handling personal data, for instance, is of particular importance. Therefore, Tietoevry is actively working to ensure that all AI usage complies with GDPR and other relevant laws and guidelines.
Hello, ChatGPT. How do you think AI will be able to facilitate work for administrators and teachers in schools? List five potential benefits.
AI can make a significant difference in the everyday working life of both administrators and teachers in schools. Here are five potential benefits that AI can bring:
Through these improvements, AI can not only facilitate the daily work of school staff but also contribute to a more inclusive, effective, and supportive educational environment.
What risks do you see with the introduction of AI in schools? List three potential downsides.
Despite the potential benefits, there are also certain risks associated with using AI in schools:
It is important to note that while AI can offer many benefits, it will not replace people. On the contrary, it is a tool that can help administrators and teachers become more efficient and create a more personalized learning environment for students.
ChatGPT's response above is not far off from what we predict for AI's future role in schools. The notion that AI can be of great help if used correctly cannot be denied. It is also clear that AI should not replace staff but rather be a tool that helps administrators and teachers create even better conditions for students. On the question of potential risks, "threat to privacy" and "data bias" are mentioned, highlighting the importance of not rushing the integration of AI technology in the school environment. Every step forward in development must be taken with careful control and evaluation.
In summary, Tietoevry takes advantage of every opportunity to allow administrators, school leaders, administrators, principals, and teachers to spend more time on what is the school's main mission: to provide as many students as possible with the best education possible. We are always ready to convey our knowledge in digital innovation for school operations, both by training school staff and delivering new technical solutions. AI will play an increasingly important role in this work and become an integral part of our future digital school systems.
The image in this article has been created with the help of generative artificial intelligence (Leonardo.ai)