The future of education? Here’s what school leaders think

We were recently honoured to welcome educationalist and author Sir Anthony Seldon and educational leaders from 26 countries around the world for a roundtable discussion on the future of education. 

With technology having been thrust to the fore in the last year, guests shared their insights on the need for communication between edtech companies and school leaders, the importance of ongoing professional development and misconceptions about AI in education. Here are some of the key takeaways from the event.

 The world of work is going to be a radically different place for the young people who are in school today. In order to equip teachers with the tools they need to prepare students for the labour market of their future, the gap between edtech companies and those in charge of running schools must be bridged. Successfully producing the data and technology-driven environments that will allow children to thrive in the age of AI depends on effective collaboration between the two.

Teachers have spent their professional lives in schools and know the needs of their students and schools better than anyone else. We need to listen to them, and the technology we develop must be guided by their experience and insights. 

 Getting teachers on board

 Many teachers with lengthy careers in the classroom are wary of technology, and understandably so. In the past, they have been repeatedly asked to implement ineffective software into their teaching, only to swiftly realise that while their school’s technology offering may have been able to grab parents’ attention during open evenings, there was little to no evidence that it was benefitting teachers or learners. 

 Now, things are different – schools have, on the whole, better access to WiFi and digital devices, AI has demonstrated its potential to be transformative in education in a way that previous technologies were not, and technology on the whole has a far more consistent place both within education and wider society. As a result, an increasing number of sceptics are changing their views, ready to embrace a new wave of adaptive technology. 

 But this is just the starting point. Teachers are expert educators, not trained technologists. If we want them to get on board with technology solutions, time and money must be invested into the corresponding professional development. The value of this training is often underestimated, but it is vital – the purpose of using AI in education is to support teachers, not to compete with them, and no matter how advanced a piece of technology is, it can only achieve this aim if teachers feel confident using it.

 Of course, providing ongoing CPD is a challenge in itself, particularly given how crammed teachers’ schedules are. But professional development does not necessarily have to be part of a rigid schedule, nor does it have to take place in the classroom, and it has been brilliant to see how – particularly throughout the pandemic – schools have worked to provide teachers and support staff with more flexible methods of training, creating asynchronous training models that can be accessed online at any time. 

 Teachers can also be provided with ongoing support outside of set training sessions. For example, a number of our schools have appointed CENTURY leads who are then able to cascade their knowledge of the platform across their year group or department. On a wider scale, it has been exciting to see schools across the globe work collaboratively with one another to share best practice and discuss what has worked for them and what they would advise others do differently – this open and honest dialogue among esteemed educators will play a crucial role in instilling confidence in teachers and senior leaders and dispelling long-standing myths and misconceptions regarding AI in education. 

 Take, for example, the argument that it will dilute standards by creating a pick-and-mix curriculum that allows children to learn what they want without any clear structure. Those who have benefitted from the use of AI in their classrooms will know that this could not be further from the truth – AI-powered solutions do carefully structure learning, but they tailor this structure to each individual learner. 

Using data collected from a student’s activity on CENTURY, AI is able to create a carefully-crafted and constantly-adapting learning pathway that will guide them through content in the order and at the pace that makes the most sense for them at any given time. This does not dumb down content for struggling pupils, nor does it allow them to simply skip topics that they find difficult – it identifies and then helps to plug gaps in their knowledge so that they can progress onto more challenging content. 

 Personalising learning in this way provides pupils with access to a tool that enables them to learn independently, creating self-determined learners who can confidently identify where their strengths are, what they need to work on and, most importantly, the steps they can take to improve. 

Currently, an understandable concern among educators and parents alike is that following a year during which learners have been glued to their screens, technology may decrease face-to-face interaction at a time when it is most needed. AI-powered edtech solutions aim to do the opposite. By saving teachers hours in marking, resource creation and data collection and analysis, technology can do the administrative heavy-lifting that is currently burdening teachers, freeing up time for them to do what they entered the profession to do – to use their passion, experience, training and knowledge to nurture young students’ minds. 

The writer joined CENTURY in 2017 and leads the international team that has grown the business into 45+ countries. You can learn more about CENTURY at www.century.tech