Rapid developments in AI software such as ChaptGPT and Google Bard are generating much interest and discussion. We spoke to Teresa Tung, Secondary School Principal at Hong Kong Academy, about how the school is navigating the new reality and what this means for their students' education.
When did you / HKA first become aware of these new AI tools and start to think about how they might impact education?
ChatGPT was released in late November 2022 and had 100 million active users by January 2023. Since then there has been an ever increasing number of generative AI tools, media stories and research papers released. As an educational leader it is our responsibility to stay abreast of technical advances to ensure that we understand their implications and can adapt accordingly. Therefore members of our Educational Leadership Team have been attending workshops and reviewing the fast growing base of literature to learn about these new tools and the impact of generative AI on learning, education and schools so that we can proactively guide our faculty, students and parents in this new field.
What are the key implications which you have identified from this work?
We believe there are three key implications and associated important questions that we need to be able to answer.
-Ethics: How might the use of Generative AI impact our understanding of and approach to Academic Integrity?
-Use: How might we empower teachers and students to leverage Generative AI to support their work and learning?
-Assessment: How might the proliferation of Generative AI impact the ways that students demonstrate evidence of their learning and thinking, and how teachers assess for quality and depth of student learning?
As we have considered these questions, we have come to realise that in the time of generative AI, the purpose of school and teachers is to be more human than ever. In order to effectively assess and support ethical student learning, teachers must understand each student's learning profile and assess their progress not only by reviewing their written output but by triangulating their learning through individual conferences, ongoing observations, and application to real life situations.
How is this affecting the students and what are you doing to support them?
Our teachers have been co-learning about AI with each other and their students, as well as dialoguing with them about what constitutes ethical use of AI, and what constitutes academic dishonesty if they use AI as they complete their assignments. Students have reported that they have been using Generative AI by: asking questions to get background knowledge, finding out the answers to quick factual questions, summarising texts and creating images.
Does this mean you need to change how you are teaching or will it impact the curriculum in any way?
The skills of learning how to learn and be ethical global citizens have always been at the heart of an HKA education, and the advent of generative AI has highlighted the importance of nurturing these competencies in our students. Generative AI provides great opportunity as well as areas of challenge that we are paying close attention to, and all of these areas will bring change to how learning and teaching happens in schools. We will need to continue to develop an inquiry based, concept driven approach to teaching and learning as AI makes the access to knowledge and facts and the answering of complex questions about knowledge and facts readily available. We will need to continue to design real life, authentic projects that require the application of skills like creativity and critical thinking in order to nurture deep intellectual curiosity and learning. We will need to support students to develop their intrinsic motivation and find value in school as a platform for learning where they can think and create for themselves.
Established in 2000, HKA is one of only eight fully-authorised three-programme International Baccalaureate World Schools in Hong Kong, and the only one offering the Global Citizen Diploma programme. Learn more about HKA by contacting their Admissions team, booking a personalised tour or visiting their website www.hkacademy.edu.hk.
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Hong Kong Academy
33 Wai Man Road, Sai Kung, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR
Tel: +852 2655 1111
Website: www.hkacademy.edu.hk
Email: admissions@hkacademy.edu.hk
