The majority of parents surveyed would be happy for Artificial Intelligence to provide support in the classroom and in running school admin, according to a new online survey commissioned by innovation foundation, Nesta. The survey showed:

• 75% of parents would be happy for AI to be used for timetabling in their child’s school
• 65% of parents would be happy for AI to complete teacher’s administrative tasks
• 55% would be happy for AI to adjust the pace of a student’s progress through lesson plans based on their speed of learning

However, the survey also showed that whilst 61% of parents agreed that AI will be important in the running of schools in 2035, there’s also concern over data security, accountability and lack of transparency:

• 77% of parents with children aged 18 and under are concerned about accountability of AI decisions
• 77% are concerned about a lack of transparency
• 73% are concerned about breaches of data privacy and security

The results coincide with the publication of a wide-ranging report from Nesta about the future of AI in the school system. The report reviews how AI is already being used in schools today and calls on government to work with teachers, schools and the AI industry itself to develop and test new AI applications which could support teachers. It also considers how AI can improve the assessment of students and educators and the wider issues around AI in education, such as who controls personal data.

The report: Educ-AI-tion Rebooted: Exploring the future of artificial intelligence in schools and colleges, sets out suggested ways to achieve this, such as mobilising schools and colleges to enable companies to test AIEd in real settings, creating a prize to see how AI could improve assessment and creating a system of responsible data sharing by 2030.

One of the authors of the report, Laurie Smith, Senior Researcher, Explorations, Nesta commented: “AIEd has the potential to tackle the mounting pressures on UK schools - from excessive teacher workload to social immobility - creating a smarter and fairer system, but there needs to be a combined effort between students, parents, teachers, government and regulators to take action now to ensure the industry fulfills its potential responsibly. There’s no need to be scared of AI or it taking over teacher jobs, in fact Nesta research has previously found that the number of teachers will rise not fall by 2030. Instead we should be thinking about how AI can relieve pressure on teachers freeing them up to give each student the time they deserve.”

The report has been welcomed by Sir Anthony Seldon, Educationalist and Vice Chancellor and University of Buckingham, who said: “We hear far too much about how the existing 3.0 digital technologies are damaging young people. We are in danger of talking ourselves into a frenzy of fear and ignorance. Yes, there are real risks and hazards with AI in Education but this does not mean we can ignore it. The benefits of AI, if we go into it with eyes wide open, as the authors of this report suggest we should, far outweigh the downsides, and we will be much better placed to mitigate for the drawbacks if we start thinking and planning now. A glorious new world of deep education awaits.”

The UK is a hub for education technology and has a strong legacy alongside considerable expertise in artificial intelligence, but without government leadership and public funding, this advantage will be lost. Other countries around the world are beginning to support AIEd (and EdTech more widely) through ambitious systematic support. For example, one government backed pilot in China already sees children in around 60,000 schools having their homework marked by a computer.

Nesta will be discussing AIEd at its Education Summit 2019 - Shaping the Future, Shifting the System. This will take place on 28 February from 10:00 to 18:00. The Exploring the Future of AI in Schools session will take place at 11:50 to 12:50 and will include Toby Baker (Nesta), Priya Lakhani (Century Tech) and Jen Halmshaw (Department for Education). The session will be chaired by Laura McInerney (education journalist and founder of Teacher Tapp.)

For more information or to attend the event please contact Juliet Grant in Nesta’s press office on 020 7438 2668 or m: 07866 949047, [email protected]

Footnotes

1. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 4582 adults, of which 1225 were parents of children aged 18 or under. Fieldwork was undertaken between 24th - 28th January 2019. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

Nesta’s report describes several examples of exciting AI tools being used in schools and colleges trailing new innovations:-

Learner facing

CENTURY is an adaptive learning platform that uses AI to make decisions about the best pathway through learning materials for a specific student. As students learn, answer formative assessments and complete diagnostics tests, the platform’s AI gauges their strengths, weaknesses and gaps in knowledge. This enables the platform to provide appropriate scaffolding to support learning. Teacher workload is also reduced through built in assessment tools that reduce marking time.

Teacher facing

ClassCharts is an automated seating plan and behaviour management software, driven by AI. It aims to save teachers time and reduce workload through data rich seating plans that reduce behaviour problems. The ClassCharts platform allows teachers to monitor pupils’ achievements and behaviour, while the ClassCharts technology tracks how pupils influence each other. This allows teachers to create seating charts which are optimised according to pupils’ behaviour. ClassCharts was designed by a former teacher.

System facing

Following a trial run by the Behavioural Insights Team in 2017, Ofsted has been using a supervised machine learning since the summer of 2018 to identify which schools should be prioritised for a full school inspection. This involves training an algorithm using datasets from across many schools. Using progress and attainment data from the DfE, school workforce census data, and parental view responses, the AIEd is available to make predictions about a schools performance in a school inspection. This prediction is not used to inform full inspections, but Ofsted claim that AI will ‘ensure that our approach to inspection is proportionate and to focus our efforts where they can have the greatest impact.’

About Nesta

Nesta is a global innovation foundation. We back new ideas to tackle the big challenges of our time, making use of our knowledge, networks, funding and skills. We work in partnership with others, including governments, businesses and charities. We are a UK charity that works all over the world, supported by a financial endowment. To find out more visit www.nesta.org.uk

Nesta is a registered charity in England and Wales 1144091 and Scotland SC042833.