Enriching education through AI

Over the last year, it feels as if there has been an explosion in the world of AI and like it or not, there is no doubt that it is here to stay.

King’s is using many AI applications in the classroom and whilst there are clearly reasons to be cautious, particularly when it comes to the use of AI by children, there are also many reasons to be positive about the benefits this changing world can offer.

Here are our tips for using AI positively and safely with children, from nursery age through to sixth form students:

Create your own bespoke bedtime stories 

Classic bedtime stories, both new and old, will always be popular with children and, as most parents know, there is usually a favourite that is requested again and again! But what if you could have a new story written just for you about anything you like, whenever you want? AI-generated bedtime stories can be a delightful blend of creativity and personalisation, offering a unique and immersive experience for each child, making the bedtime ritual a magical and memorable part of a child's day.

As a collaborative process with your child, try inputting a prompt into an AI tool, such as ChatGPT or Google Bard, choosing specific themes, characters, or even moral lessons that you both would like to include in the story. A good AI prompt will be detailed giving context, with clear and concise instructions for a detailed task. Include how long you would like the story to be and if it's not quite right the first time, you can keep refining it until you are both happy. 

Spark their imagination with AI prompted creative writing

For budding writers out there, AI can play a pivotal role in nurturing a child's storytelling skills by providing them with creative prompts and inspiration. AI apps can generate a myriad of writing prompts tailored to different genres, characters, and scenarios, sparking the imagination of young storytellers. These prompts can range from futuristic adventures to whimsical fantasy worlds, encouraging children to explore diverse narrative styles.

As with creating your own stories, be precise with your AI instructions, including that the writing prompt that you would like is for a child. If your child has their own story idea, they could use AI for the details within that story, such as names for characters, places, or any other details - the idea is not for AI to do the work for them but to broaden their imagination and increase their creativity.

Challenge the family with an AI quiz

AI can be an invaluable tool for families looking for entertaining ways to spend quality time together and one of the most popular family activities is undoubtedly a quiz. AI-powered platforms can assist in generating diverse quiz topics, questions, and formats, tailored to the specific interests and knowledge levels of each family.

Aside from quizzes, there are endless options for AI to create entertainment for families, from riddles and puzzles to a game of charades - or why not ask the AI for ideas to create your own bespoke activity?

Create personalised learning experiences

Artificial Intelligence offers a great opportunity for personalizing children’s learning experiences. Through interactive Q&A sessions, AI can engage with a child to understand their preferences, hobbies, and interests and can then generate tailored content, recommend relevant resources, and even design customized quizzes or challenges that align with the child's interests. This personalized approach not only makes the learning process more enjoyable but also encourages a sense of curiosity and self-discovery.

Homework help - turn AI into your child’s own personal tutor

All schools are currently addressing the challenge of traditional homework, like essays, being completed by AI. However, the situation with homework is not all bad. Adaptive AI platforms allow a user to ask the AI questions such as ‘how did you get to that answer?’ or ‘can you explain that to me in another way?’ From our testing, the AI answers are not always perfect and it can struggle with more complex problems; however, it can be a helpful tool to prevent that frustration when a child is stuck on a problem at home, offering guidance on how to move forward with a problem.

Support their revision with AI study apps

AI apps can be beneficial for revision in that they can adapt to areas where a child is finding difficulties. Apps are often ‘gamified’ and will provide incentives for doing more revision through gaining additional XP (experience points). There are many good apps available for free such as the vocabulary platform, Memrise, as well as the tried and tested BBC Bitesize. It is likely your child’s school subscribes to more complex and specific ones for their own needs such as Sparx Maths, Kerboodle or Seneca Learning.  

Use AI to support their research and build their resources

Students can use Artificial Intelligence to make their research easier and better by using AI tools to work out what they need for their research and to identify key topics. The AI platform can then search the internet and put together a comprehensive list of websites, and other trustworthy sources related to the research topic. By using AI for this process, students not only save time but also ensure they are accessing a diverse range of sources, contributing to a well-rounded understanding of the topic.

Don’t ‘steal the struggle’ 

For all of the benefits of AI, it is also important to know when to step away from it. The best learning happens for all of us when we are in those difficult moments and working through a problem. Revision and learning always has to come with a certain amount of difficulty and struggle for it to truly be worthwhile. In the way that training for a marathon will always involve some challenging preparation, the same is true of education. AI can help inject some fun and variety, and help when a child simply cannot get past a problem, but we have to make sure that we do not make things too easy so that deep learning can still take place.  

Monitor your child’s phone use and control their screen time

As well as all the positive uses of AI, there are many apps that support your control of a child’s device. These are not fool proof and speaking with your child to build their trust and agreed boundaries around AI is always the most productive method; however, these apps can provide peace of mind. Android devices have Google Family Link while Apple use Family Sharing. There are also paid for services such as Schools Mobile.  

The key is to make the introduction to AI playful, engaging, and age-appropriate. 

Further Resources

Here are some further resources for advice, guidance and updates on AI and internet safety:

UK Safer Internet Centre : Provides resources and advice for parents on online safety, including guidance on AI and emerging technologies.

Internet Matters : Offers information and guides for parents to help children navigate the online world, including considerations for AI safety.

NSPCC - Online Safety: The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) provides guidance on online safety, including information on AI-related concerns.

BBC Own It: A website designed to help children navigate their online lives safely, including features that provide advice on using AI and other technologies.

Thinkuknow : Developed by the National Crime Agency, provides resources for parents, including guidance on AI safety.

Parent Zone : Offers articles and resources for parents on various aspects of digital parenting, including AI and technology trends.

Digital Parenting Magazine: Produced by Vodafone, this magazine offers articles, tips, and advice for parents on various aspects of digital parenting, including AI safety.

Guide to Chat GPT for Parents - Common Sense Media: Gives advice to parents and caregivers for how they can help their child use Chat GPT safely and how to avoid the temptation of just copying and pasting. 

Remember to check these resources regularly for updates, as the online landscape and technology evolve. Staying informed is key to ensuring the safety of children in the digital world.

AI in Schools

Mrs Martin recently attended Cambridge's 'Digital and Data Day' with the subject of AI in Education as one of five panel members who discussed the ways AI is being used by teachers and students in their schools. You can read a summary of their discussions HERE

Many speakers highlighted the need to grown AI literacy in students and equip them with the skills they will need in workplaces of the future, which include:

• analytical judgement 
• emotional intelligence  
• writing the most effective prompts
• evaluating the outputs from the AI 
• intellectual curiosity 
• bias detection and handling

These are skills that we are currently encouraging for our pupils at King's. For example:

• pupils have been using AI to help with essay planning and drafting in Classical Civilisation;
• they have been analysing and critiquing essays written by AI in English;
• they have completed research into different time periods in History.