Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, spoke at the Bett show in London about the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in education. AI has the power to transform teachers’ daily lives, and while it presents numerous cutting-edge opportunities, it must be managed to mitigate the risks associated with it. The Department for Education has announced new digital and technology standards covering cloud technology, servers and storage, and filtering and monitoring, to ensure schools have a secure and reliable foundation before implementing more powerful technology. Additionally, a new digital service will be piloted in Blackpool and Portsmouth in September 2023 to help senior leaders with their technology planning. This tool will benchmark their technology against digital standards, suggest areas of improvement, and provide actionable steps and self-serve resources to implement these recommendations. These announcements reflect the government’s commitment to ‘fix the basics’ in school technology while building on their progress towards ensuring all schools have a high-speed broadband internet connection by 2025 and providing targeted classroom connectivity upgrades.
Education Secretary emphasizes the potential of AI in education
Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, delivered a speech at the Bett show in London on Wednesday 29 March, where she highlighted the tremendous potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in transforming teachers’ daily activities. She mentioned that AI technology presents numerous cutting-edge opportunities, with some schools already exploiting its potential and others eager to learn and understand its full capability to teach the lessons of tomorrow.
The Education Secretary called on the education and technology sectors to work together, alongside the government, to maximise the potential of AI while managing the associated risks. Her speech coincided with the release of a statement by the Department for Education outlining the opportunities and risks of AI in education.
While acknowledging the transformative impact of AI in education, Gillian Keegan emphasised that AI technology should not come at the cost of the quality produced by skilled teachers. However, the Education Secretary believed that we could get to a point where the tasks that drain teachers’ time are significantly reduced. She urged the audience to go on this journey together and to use AI as a tool to deliver better outcomes for students.
The Department for Education is also providing further support to schools to ensure they have a secure and reliable foundation in place before considering more powerful technology. They have added digital and technology standards covering cloud technology, servers and storage, and filtering and monitoring to help schools create secure learning environments while saving money.
Additionally, a new digital service will be piloted in Blackpool and Portsmouth in September 2023 to help senior leaders with their technology planning. The tool will benchmark their technology against digital standards, suggest areas of improvement, and provide actionable steps and self-serve resources to implement these recommendations. The service will then be rolled out nationwide.
These announcements reflect the government’s commitment to ‘fix the basics’ in school technology and build on their progress towards ensuring all schools have a high-speed broadband internet connection by 2025 while providing targeted classroom connectivity upgrades.
Don’t miss interesting posts on Famousbio
