Most secondary teachers uninterested in AI, research finds

Survey shows majority of secondary school teachers are not using AI tools for learning and assessment, amid calls for more training and guidance
11th December 2024, 12:01am

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Most secondary teachers uninterested in AI, research finds

https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/secondary/most-secondary-teachers-uninterested-artificial-intelligence-research
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Most secondary school teachers are reluctant or uninterested in using artificial intelligence (AI) for learning and assessment, according to research published today.

A study of more than 5,000 teachers found that the majority (64 per cent) are not using AI tools such as ChatGPT professionally, and 19 per cent are not interested in using it in the future.

Most teachers (67 per cent) were introduced to AI via ChatGPT. However, the study says the generative AI tool “quickly gained a negative reputation, and is often seen as a way to “cheat at homework” and as presenting “challenges around fair assessment”.

School policies need clarity

The survey by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, carried out in 2,600 English secondary schools between April and June this year, found a lack of clarity on schools’ AI policies.

Some 41 per cent of teachers surveyed said their school does not have an agreed approach to AI, while 17 per cent said they do not know if any such policy exists.

It also found that 84 per cent have not changed the way they assess their students’ work, despite the widespread availability of AI tools, and only 41 per cent said they were regularly checking homework or coursework for plagiarised content from the web, served up by AI tools.

In the report, BCS calls for the understanding of AI to be made a significant part of teacher training, alongside wider digital literacy.

BCS said schools should also put AI policies in place and publish them on their websites, but that clear guidance on the issue is first needed from the Department for Education, qualifications regulator Ofqual and other bodies.

The survey is published as the government has asked Ofsted to launch an independent review of AI, to be published next summer, which will look at how schools and further education colleges are implementing and learning from their use of AI, including examining “intended and unintended impacts”.

Julia Adamson, managing director for education and public benefit at BCS, said: “Teachers see the opportunity AI presents to transform their work and the lives of their students, from saving time on lesson plans to personalising learning for each young person.

“But they need better training and guidance to grow in confidence with AI, to make sure it is used fairly and that it doesn’t cause greater disadvantage in the education system.”

AI ‘holds promise’ of reducing time spent on admin

Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the survey reflects the fact that teachers and schools are inevitably at different points in considering the potential of AI while mitigating its risks.

“It is not an easy thing to integrate into the working practices of a school or college because it requires having reliable platforms, which may be costly, and rolling these out with suitable staff training,” he said.

AI does, however, “hold the promise” of reducing time spent on administrative tasks, and may also help with lesson planning and marking, with appropriate human intervention, he added.

Given how stretched school budgets are, the use of AI will be “piecemeal” without a national strategy, and unless the government “puts in a lot more resource”, Mr Di’Iasio warned.

Sarah Hannafin, head of policy at the NAHT school leaders’ union, said that AI shows huge potential for schools and learning, but it needs to be harnessed in the right way.

“It is understandable that school leaders and teachers need training and guidance in order to feel confident using AI. It is also true that no AI tool is infallible or can replace the judgement and knowledge of a human expert,” she said, pointing to safeguarding and ethical considerations.

She called for AI to be introduced gradually to mitigate these risks.

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