Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing how we live, work and learn. Local businesses, Learning Me Ltd, Belfast and Genysys Engine Ltd, Dromore, partnered to host a ‘Rethinking Education with AI’ event in Largymore Primary School in Lisburn on the 11th May 2023.
The event was held to explore and discuss the benefits and challenges of AI in education for both teachers and pupils.
The event, hosted by Learning Me co-founder and pedagogical lead, Bernard Noble, featured a panel discussion with Nicole O’Connor (fellow Learning Me co-founder and educational technology lead) alongside an AI industry expert, Emma McClenaghan, (CEO and co-founder Genysys Engine Ltd).
The panel discussed the benefits of using AI within education, namely its ability to personalise learning, improve accessibility for all learners, provide purposeful feedback as well as creating engaging and interactive learning experiences. The challenges posed by AI were also explored with topics such as barriers to entry, potential plagiarism and the bias of human-created technology being explored.
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The event also featured table talks on a variety of educational themes that are going to be impacted by AI. Important discussions were had on how AI can affect cognitive, social and emotional development as well as the importance of developing critical thinking skills within learners to help them decipher fact from fiction. The future of assessment and personalised learning were also discussed, with participants reflecting on the current provision for this in the rapidly changing educational landscape.
In addition to the panel discussions and table talks, guests had the opportunity to explore various AI tools for educational use. These tools included Bard, Quillbot, and Curipod alongside many others.
Genysys Engine Ltd showcased their AI website assistant - an intelligent system that works alongside small businesses to reach their goals online.
To close the event, teachers, Chynel McCrink, Danielle McKernan and Louise Kerr presented in a TeachMeet, showcasing some of their favourite digital tools: TextHelp’s Equatio, Google’s Quick Draw and Microsoft 365’s Copilot.
The event was a great success and generated a lot of interest in the potential of AI to revolutionise education
Co-founder, Learning Me, Bernard Noble commented: “Learning Me are thrilled to have had the opportunity to host such a powerful pedagogical event where educators came together to share their knowledge, expertise and experiences. Collectively we created an environment in which we explored both the challenges and opportunities of a rapidly changing technological landscape ultimately for the betterment of all learners”.
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The feedback on social media was hugely positive. Chynel McCrink posted on Twitter, “I absolutely adored this fantastic evening hosted at Largymore Primary School by Learning Me and Genysys Engine. We were just spoiled with resources, ideas, treats, supportive conversations, fab spot prizes and demonstrations of robotics by Activity NI. This is Teacher Professional Learning (TPL) at its best.”
The event was organised by Genysys Engine and Learning Me. Genysys Engine is a company that develops AI-powered software solutions for small businesses. Learning Me is an educational company that delivers flexible teacher professional learning packages as well as wellbeing and learning tools for children.
Attendees received a digital AI Mega Resource bundle when leaving the event that can be used for ongoing Teacher Professional Learning.
If you would like to receive one of the popular elements from this bundle - the AI Resource List, head to the Learning Me or Genysys Engine websites to download it for free.
Source: Written from press release
