In the first of a five-part series on AI in education, Tracy Clement explains why professional development can play a vital role in ensuring the safe and effective use of the technology.
AI – it’s a short initialism that has the power to conjure fear and excitement in equal measure.
It’s certainly true that AI has the potential to completely transform the workplace, and while there are many indications that its adoption is becoming commonplace, it’s still hard to separate the hype and doom-mongering from the actual reality.
The truth is that there’s little time to hang around and see what happens because being backwards in coming forwards on AI could leave you behind. For schools and trusts, working out the best ways of making the most of the technology to transform back-office operations is a key priority.
Our own research suggests that while AI adoption is quickening in school back offices, there are concerns amongst school and trust leaders about how to best handle such tools. In a Supporting Education Group poll of MAT leaders, carried out last summer, respondents said they had a range of concerns when using AI tools in their roles. The most common was a lack of training or awareness (55%), followed by security risks (42%), use of personal data (40%), and limited understanding of how AI works (40%).
It was also clear from the survey that there was a growing interest in the positive role the technology could play in increasing admin efficiency in the future, with around a fifth of respondents saying they were open to the technology as a way of futureproofing back-office operations.
It’s apparent from this and other insights from around the sector that we are beginning to accept the use of AI in education, but there are some significant provisos. And the truth is, we’ve not always carefully considered what practices and processes we need to have in place to ensure it is done sensibly.
Letting colleagues just “run with it” could bring with it a whole host of potential risks. Data protection is one example; sharing HR information with generative AI is a serious data protection issue.
Effective training for your team in the use of AI tools is therefore an imperative. It’s an area that we’ve been quick to address with a new AI Practitioner for Schools Apprenticeship programme that is about to kick off with its first students.
This 14-month-long Level 4 programme from Best Practice Network is funded through the apprenticeship levy and is designed to help schools and trusts reduce administrative burden, improve data quality, and use digital tools safely and ethically.
The focus is on developing staff, including SBMs and trust operations and central services staff, to effectively and responsibly apply AI to a range of tasks, including automating admissions or enrolment workflows, improving attendance or behaviour reporting, and reducing duplication in HR or finance processes.
Schools and trusts supporting apprentices on the programme will gain a range of benefits, including a reduced admin workload for teaching and support staff, safer and more ethical use of AI, improved accuracy and consistency of data and reporting, and the development of a sustainable internal AI capability that doesn’t rely on expensive external consultancy.
It’s understandable that many trust and school leaders are excited about the potential of AI technologies to transform back-office processes, making them more efficient and effective, but we need to be conscious of the risks that come with any ad-hoc approach to AI adoption. Professionalising its use in our schools will help to reduce the risks associated with the use of the technology and ensure that it delivers benefits for school and trust operations – without the hazards.
Tracy Clement is Apprenticeships Director for Qualifications and Training at Supporting Education Group. Details of the AI Practitioner for Schools Level 4 Apprenticeships are available on the Best Practice Network website.