While there are teachers that have distanced themselves from the usage of artificial intelligence, there is a need to have a discussion on the widespread and uncontrolled usage of AI in some schools.
An Ilorin-based non-profit, Pristine SACC Education and Technology Initiative (P-SACC), trained 30 teachers and school administrators in Ilorin, Kwara State, on artificial intelligence in schools in an event titled “AI Guidance for Schools.” The powerful session was delivered by Dr. Adeseko Sunday Olaifa, who is a lecturer and ICT expert at Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin, who explored the usage of AI in schools, its associated risks, and how to ensure responsible usage in schools.
The speaker highlighted the need for the usage of AI in schools as it “enhances the productivity of educationists and ensures personalised learning for students as well as streamlining administrative tasks.” The speaker went on to add that while AI offers immense benefits in schools, there are several risks associated with its usage, such as data privacy issues, potential overreliance, and diminished critical thinking.
In order to mitigate these risks, Dr. Olaifa suggested a framework that can be adopted by schools in order to protect school administrators, teachers, and students while utilising AI regardless of its types. The participants contributed actively to the question and further asked questions, which were intelligently answered by the speaker.
Abdullah AbdulRahman, who is the partnerships manager at P-SACC, also facilitated a session on prompt engineering, which is an important component of AI usage. Abdullah emphasised the need to provide context and to ensure specificity while using AI for school-related activities in order to ensure data protection while AI is able to provide tailored responses as opposed to generic responses that would have been with poor prompting. The session was an interactive one as the facilitator engaged the participants on the prompting of specific school needs using AI.
The Partnerships Director, Sodiq Ajala, added that the usage of AI in schools is to complement the work of educational stakeholders and not to replace it. He further emphasised that AI will not replace teachers; instead, it will replace teachers that do not use it with those that do.
The participants expressed their appreciation to P-SACC for organising such an insightful event and also indicated that they will advocate for the responsible usage of AI in their schools in order to leverage its untapped benefits.