Northern Ireland’s school leaders and education professionals have come together for the first time to discuss the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in classrooms and learning environments.
Organised jointly by the Education Authority’s Education Information Solutions (EdIS) Programme and the Innovation Forum, the ground-breaking ‘AI in Education in NI’ conference took place on Tuesday 21 November in the award-winning science discovery centre, W5, in Belfast.
In attendance were two hundred school principals and senior teachers, together with representatives from the Department of Education (DE), Education Authority (EA), Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA), teacher educators, inspectors, and other education leaders.
The conference was opened by EdIS Programme Director, Frances Meehan, and hosted by Professor John Anderson, Independent Chair of the Innovation Forum.
EdIS Programme Director, Frances Meehan, said:
“The Education Authority’s EdIS Programme will deliver best in class solutions to facilitate the creation of future learning opportunities and provide new and emerging technologies both now and in the future to support schools. AI has the potential to transform the way in which children and young people learn and the manner in which teaching is delivered. I have no doubt AI will play a significant role in our learning environments of the future.
This conference demonstrated the interest in AI across the educational spectrum, however, today is the start of the conversation. We look forward to future events and engagement with our schools, educational partners, and industry to avail of this technology to provide the opportunities presented for our children and young people.”
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Independent Chair of the Innovation Forum, Professor John Anderson, said:
“Generative AI, managed well, with a very good understanding of the education processes, with appropriate guardrails and with adults-in-every-loop, can benefit teachers in almost all educational activities, easing teacher administrative workloads, contributing to teaching and assessment, and giving teachers more time to work productively with young people.
It's essential that teachers lead the debate with our software industry partners about the best use of AI to deliver educational value – that’s what today’s conference is about.”
The keynote address was delivered by Mairéad Pratschke, Chair in Digital Education and Associate Director for eLearning and Teaching Innovation at University of Manchester. Professor Pratschke highlighted the opportunities and challenges arising from the rapid development of AI in education as well as showcasing how AI is currently being used to enhance learning and how it has been embraced across other industry sectors.
This was followed by presentations from, Andrew Caffrey, Canopy Education CEO and part of the Google Certified Innovator Program Team, and a Microsoft keynote from Hugh Meenagh, both of whom illustrated the latest AI developments in Google and Microsoft productivity workspaces. They also both shared how AI benefits the role of a school leader.
During an active ‘Lunch and Learn’ session, eight local teachers from a range of nursery, primary and post-primary schools demonstrated their innovative use of Generative AI to support school administration, management and classroom teaching.
Before closing the conference, Professor Anderson chaired an inspiring panel discussion which included Professor Pratschke along with representatives of DE, CCEA, Microsoft Ireland, Google, and Damian Harvey, Interim Head of C2k, which provides digital technology services in all schools in Northern Ireland.
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Interim Head of C2k, Damian Harvey, said:
“AI is already impacting on the way that teachers teach, and children and young people learn. Our role is to safely embed AI-based applications into the service and to support and encourage teachers in embracing this new technology. We have some incredible education technology entrepreneurs among our teaching workforce and the vast majority are happy to share best and interesting practice. These types of conferences provide that opportunity and we are delighted to be able to facilitate that.”
This initial conference set out the basis for future policy development in AI in schools, which is set to become an increasingly integral aspect of the educational landscape in the years ahead.
To view the presentations from the ‘AI in Education in NI’ conference, including Professor Pratschke’s keynote address, please visit: https://www.eani.org.uk/services/education-information-solutions-edis-programme/latest-news/ai-in-education-in-ni
