Louise North, Principal of Framlingham College in Suffolk, on how the school is using AI’s power to enhance teaching and learning
Since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, the misconception that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will replace teachers or write pupils’ essays for them has been set in the past. It is crucial that schools now embrace, adapt and balance the use of AI in their classrooms to avoid the risk of falling behind with modern schooling and depriving young people of innovative learning, vital technology awareness and life skills.
At Framlingham College, we are continuously adapting learning techniques and developing our educational approach to meet the needs of our pupils and ensure they thrive in an ever-changing world.
Our use of AI is expanding across our curriculum and beyond after numerous success stories during this last academic year. There are programmes to support pupils with dyslexia and enhance creativity with descriptive writing. We have movement tracking apps in sport that accurately analyse and finesse performance techniques, while other technology assists teachers with planning lessons. There are also translation apps for our UK and international pupils to help them communicate and forge friendships.
Talking about our use of AI in classrooms, our Assistant Head of Teaching and Learning, Lucy Manning says: “AI platforms like Sparx Maths and Spelling Shared allow us to tailor education for the needs of individual children. Text-to-talk programmes are incredibly beneficial, particularly for our pupils with dyslexia.
“At the Prep School, we use creative art tools for pupils to practise using descriptive words, verbs and adjectives – for instance, writing descriptions of dragons and wizards and using AI to bring those images to life. At GCSE level, we use AI to create logos for the pupils’ projects, alongside teaching them the ethics of AI so that they can identify when AI is assisting in the process of learning and when it is just doing it all.”
Looking ahead to how we continue to adapt and balance our use of AI, it’s imperative that all our schools prepare young people for an AI-infused world. Whether we like it or not, we can’t deny its existence – it’s out there – but it’s not something to fear when used correctly and responsibly in the classroom.
Of course, we don’t want pupils to use ChatGPT to write their essays because that takes away the opportunity to learn, and children relish in the chance to learn and research, but AI platforms like ChatGPT can certainly help pupils with planning projects, taking notes and structuring revision.
At Framlingham College, we are introducing AI steadily throughout our curriculum across the Prep and Senior School. It is a bit like a garden – planting the seeds, watering them and gradually watching them flourish. We are working closely with our teaching staff to see what works, what doesn’t and what areas we need to be wary of when it comes to the use of AI.
We absolutely understand that there needs to be a careful balance in the use of this powerful technology. Our approach is that it’s not about replacing but rather enhancing the teaching and the learning experience for all our pupils.
Framlingham College framlinghamcollege.co.uk
Further reading: Wellington College on why we must act on AI
You may also like...
