The funding will be used by online classroom resource Oak National Academy to improve the technologies for use in schools across England, before they are introduced for teachers
A £2 million investment in new classroom technology, which includes Artificial Intelligence designing lesson plans and quizzes, has been unveiled in the UK.
Artificial Intelligence tools will be introduced in classrooms across England to help reduce teachers’ workloads, PM Rishi Sunak announced on Monday.
The funding will be used by online classroom resource Oak National Academy to improve the technologies for use in schools across England, before they are introduced for teachers.
Artificial Intelligence has extraordinary potential to reform our education system for the better, with considerable value for both teachers and students, the PM said.
Oak National Academy’s work to harness Artificial Intelligence to free up the workload for teachers is a perfect example of the revolutionary benefits this technology can bring.
This investment will play a defining role in giving our children and the next generation of students a better education and a brighter future, he added.
The announcement comes before the AI safety summit, a gathering of world leaders set to start on Wednesday aimed at setting ground rules for safe use of the emerging technology.
Last week, Sunak cautioned AI posed a potential threat to humanity, at a speech in which he also said Artificial Intelligence was ripe with opportunities to make the world a better place.
The spending comes after a pilot project of the tools, which tested how they worked and measured their ability to reduce teachers’ workloads.
While we agree with the idea of developing Artificial Intelligence to support teachers and pupils, we have to question the way in which this is being done, said Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders.
How will this money be spent? And what efforts has the government made to develop this technology through the UK’s current education technology industry?, Barton added.
These are vital questions as schools and colleges are struggling to stay afloat as a result of a decade of government underfunding, and they deserve to have clarity on precisely how and why this money is being spent on Oak, he added.
Barton also questioned if the £2 million, which is equal to employing about 40 teachers, was best spent on Oak National Academy.
Ministers have claimed the funding will pave the way for a personalised Artificial Intelligence assistant in every classroom.
Throughout my career, I have seen the positive effect that technology can have, which is why it is great we are harnessing the potential of Artificial Intelligence and supporting Oak National Academy to develop new resources for teachers, said Education Secretary Gillian Keegan.
Whether it is drafting lesson plans or producing high-quality teaching resources, I am confident that by tapping into the benefits of Artificial Intelligence we will be able to reduce teachers’ workloads so that they can focus on what they do best – teaching and supporting their pupils, she added.
The government has said it will continue to work with teachers to minimise the time they spend working beyond their teaching hours.