On the radar
As part of ISP’s commitment to put our people first and keep pace with innovation in EdTech, we’re delighted to announce that all ISP educators worldwide now have access to a comprehensive and tailored learning programme all about AI.
This follows the launch of our ISP LabSchools initiative in November, in which we announced the transformation of 11 schools across our global network into dynamic environments for experimentation and learning for new EdTech solutions.
The new self-paced course, Navigating the world of AI, is delivered on ISP’s bespoke learning platform, the Learning Hub, and is designed to help ISP’s educators understand and implement AI-enhanced teaching approaches and improve the learning experience.
Catered to all types of educators, the learning programme demonstrates the next step in ISP’s commitment to educating and upskilling our whole community to benefit our students, parents, teachers and leaders.
Emily Porter, Chief Education and Innovation Officer at ISP explains more about the people-first approach the group is taking:
“Our approach to EdTech transformation is to put our people first. By upskilling our educators, we’re empowering them with the confidence to complement their existing teaching methods with tools to simplify and accelerate ways of working, giving more time for them to focus on what they are best at – supporting our learners.”
As well as an introduction to AI as a whole, the course focuses on methods that can be used for administrative tasks; how AI can complement the student experience; and the responsible use of AI.
Introducing ISP’s AI Champions
A select group of educators from across ISPs global network have been identified as ‘AI Champions’ – those who are already exploring and successfully implementing AI-powered tools to enhance the learning experience.
One such AI champion is Austin Gardner at El Altillo International School in Spain. Austin explained how using an AI tool allowed him to provide richer feedback to students including ideas that fell outside of his original perspective.
Download the transcript (PDF – 21KB)
“Over the last year, I’ve been experimenting with AI tools to improve how I manage information, and improve my overall workflow as a teacher.”
When Austin tested using a generative AI tool to help evaluate students’ work, he found that “Arguments were logical, and valid… and about 20% were the counter arguments against my own; new perspectives I hadn’t considered before. As a result, I could finetune my work and provide richer feedback, better quality feedback to my students.”
Responsibility and ethical considerations
A key focus of ISP’s AI learning programme is around the safe, responsible and ethical use of AI tools.
Stuart Briner, Head of EdTech at ISP, explained why ethical use is such an important part of upskilling educators:
“It’s crucial that our educators not only understand how to use AI tools efficiently, but also safely and responsibly. Knowing how to mitigate risks around AI usage in areas such as data privacy and inherent bias will allow our educators and families to feel more confident and reassured that tools are being used in the right way and for the right reasons.”
Ng Wei Li is another of ISP’s AI champions at Tenby International School Setia EcoHill in Malaysia. He had the following advice for fellow educators:
“As we dive into the realm of artificial intelligence, it’s about navigating a landscape with crucial considerations – particularly in data privacy and security. Challenges arise in balancing innovation with ethical responsibility. Creating a continuous quest to adapt and refine our practices, secure data storage and strong security measures are the cornerstones,”
Download the transcript (PDF – 17KB)
What educators are saying so far
Members of the ISP educator community who have already completed the course reflected on how they plan to use the knowledge and skills they learned to improve the student experience:
“The module has left me feeling positive about the potential of AI in the classroom, particularly in the context of middle school science education. It opens up exciting possibilities for personalized learning, increased efficiency, and more engaging teaching practices.” Anuradha Naraveni, Science Facilitator – Middle school, Manthan International School, India
“I did not realise that applications such as ChatGPT were so useful in personalising and tailoring work to students’ ability levels. I will be using these in the future… to generate content and tasks that focuses on developing students in these [improvement] areas.” Craig Tyler, English Teacher, Tenby International School Tropicana Aman
What’s next for us?
We will continue to empower our people to feel confident and curious about the use of EdTech solutions to enhance the learning experience. And that includes our whole community:
- Every educator will leave the course with a toolkit to help extend their learning beyond the programme.
- As the landscape around AI continues to develop at pace, so will this training programme. Updated versions of the programme are planned throughout 2024, and a broader programme of activity will be delivered to extend thinking beyond the course.
- Meanwhile, our 11 LabSchools are focussed in going deeper on this topic, unpacking the value and benefit AI can deliver for our students and their families in line with our five ISP learning pillars – academic achievement, skills for life, multilingualism, international opportunities, and life and career pathways.
We look forward to sharing more highlights as our whole community grows ever stronger in the practical, ethical use of EdTech and AI solutions to enhance our learning for ISP students and teachers.