Page 51 - EW January 2025

AI tools usage is widespread among students

What proportion of students at your school are using AI tools? How well do you think students at your school understand
what AI tools like ChatGPT are able to do, what they can’t
do, and what are the key risks and problems that come with
using them?
<33%
Partly
49%

Not at all
>66% 8%
33-66%
Not very
23% Very
20%

Source: ‘AI Practices in Indian Schools’ — An Association of Indian Principals and DEFactoEd survey (2024)

AI tools like ChatGPT. Sixty-one per-
cent of teachers said they only “partly
understood” it. In sharp contrast, 70
percent of students reported using AI
tools, but “without fully understand-
ing the risks”.
“While schools and educators are
excited about AI and its potential to
transform education — 75 percent of
surveyed schools listed AI integration
in classrooms as a priority — there’s
lack of knowledge within Indian
school leaders and teachers about
ways and means to integrate AI into
their teaching practices. On the other
hand, most students are using gen-
erative AI such as ChatGPT without Knight: clear policy framework call Rakshit: transformative technology
awareness of its risks. There is urgent
need for all schools to draw up a clear dia is among the majority. The NEP India’s educationally short-changed
AI policy framework and train teach- 2020 mandated National Curriculum children and youth — the world’s larg-
ers to use AI in their classrooms. At Framework for Teacher Education, est cohort under age 24 (500 million)
the same time students need to be ed- which may prescribe a curriculum, is — to rapidly make good their learn-
ucated about the importance of veri- yet to be published. Meanwhile with ing deficit, is highlighted by Sudipto
fying AI content, the risks of plagia- generative AI such as ChatGPT being Rakshit, a US-based Principal Soft-
rism and over-reliance on AI. Teacher widely used by students to churn out ware Engineering Manager at Micro-
training and student preparedness are essays and homework, an AI compe- soft Inc.
the prerequisites of successfully inte- tency framework for teachers has be- “AI is a transformative technol-
grating AI in classrooms,” says David come an urgent necessity. Rigorous ogy like electricity and the Internet
Knight, the London-based co-found- training will enable teachers to inte- with potential to profoundly impact
er, Chairman and Director of Innova- grate AI into classroom practice and every aspect of human life and liv-
tion at DEfactoED. equip them with skills required to dif- ing. Its real potential is capability to
Unesco’s AI Competency Frame- ferentiate between authentic student work behind the scenes adding in-
work for Teachers says that only output and AI-generated answers to telligence everywhere. AI can create
seven countries worldwide have for- recognise plagiarism and cheating. customised learning programs to suit
mulated AI professional develop- The huge potential of radical AI every child’s age and comprehension
ment programmes for teachers. In- empowered technologies to enable level. For instance, it can generate

JANUARY 2025 EDUCATIONWORLD 51