Continuing our miniseries on AI in education with the third episode centred around a global perspective on AI, host Professor Rose Luckin is joined by Andreas Schleicher of the OECD, Dr Elise Ecoff of Nord Anglia Education, and Dan Worth of Tes.  This episode and our series are generously sponsored by Nord Anglia Education.

In our third instalment of this valuable series, we head out beyond the UK and the English-speaking world to get a global perspective on AI, and ask how educators and developers around the world build and engage with AI, and what users, teachers and learners want from the technology that might tell people back home a thing or two. We examine how international use of AI might change the way we engage with AI, and we also ask why they might be doing things differently.

Guests:

• Dr Andreas Schleicher, Director for the Directorate of Education & Skills, OECD
• Dr Elise Ecoff, Chief Education Officer, Nord Anglia Education
• Dan Worth, Senior Editor, Tes

Talking points and questions include: 

• What are other countries tech and education ecosystems doing to develop and implement AI?
• International considerations of ethics and regulation
• Is the first world imposing a way of looking at technology and its innovation on the third world? What assumptions are we making, and are we mindful of the context?
• Is the first world restricting innovation through specific regulation to change what technology is being built and how, and who might it benefit?
• Skills and competencies development can be driven by the needs of business - what priorities for AI education exhibited by international models could the UK adopt or consider?

What's in this episode?

Delighted to launch this new 5-episode miniseries on AI in education, sponsored by Nord Anglia Education, host Professor Rose Luckin kicks things off for the Edtech Podcast by examining how we keep education as the centre of gravity for AI. 

AI has exploded in the public consciousness with innovative large language models writing our correspondence and helping with our essays, and sophisticated images, music, impersonations and video generated on-demand from prompts.  Whilst big companies proclaim what this technology can achieve and how it will affect work, life, play and learning, the consumer and user on the ground and in our schools likely has little idea how it works or why, and it seems like a lot of loud voices are telling us only half the story.  What's the truth behind AI's power?  How do we know it works, and what are we using to measure its successes or failures?  What are our young people getting out of the interaction with this sophisticated, scaled technology, and who can we trust to inject some integrity into the discourse?  We're thrilled to have three guests in the Zoom studio with Rose this week:

• Dr Paul LeBlanc, President, Southern New Hampshire University
• Dr Kate Erricker, Assistant Director of Curriculum, Nord Anglia Education
• Julie Henry, Freelance Education Correspondent

Talking points and questions include: 

• We often ask of technology in the classroom 'does it work'?  But when it comes to AI, preparing people to work, live, and play with it will be more than just whether or not it does what the developers want it to.  We need to start educating those same people HOW it works, because that will not only protect us as consumers out in the world, as owners of our own data, but help build a more responsible and 'intelligent' society that is learning all of the time, and better able to support those who need it most.  So if we want that 'intelligence infrastructure', how do we build it?
• What examples of AI in education have we got so far, what areas have been penetrated and has anything radically changed for the better?  Can assessment, grading, wellbeing, personalisation, tutoring, be improved with AI enhancements, and is there the structural will for this to happen in schools?
• The ‘white noise’ surrounding AI discourse: we know the conversation is being dominated by larger-than-life personalities and championed by global companies who have their own technologies and interests that they're trying to glamourise and market. What pushbacks, what reputable sources of information, layman's explanations, experts and opinions should we be listening to to get the real skinny on AI, especially for education?

Sponsorship

Thank you so much to this series' sponsor: Nord Anglia Education, the world’s leading premium international schools organisation.  They make every moment of your child’s education count.  Their strong academic foundations combine world-class teaching and curricula with cutting-edge technology and facilities, to create learning experiences like no other.  Inside and outside of the classroom, Nord Anglia Education inspires their students to achieve more than they ever thought possible.

"Along with great academic results, a Nord Anglia education means having the confidence, resilience and creativity to succeed at whatever you choose to do or be in life." - Dr Elise Ecoff, Chief Education Officer, Nord Anglia Education