Learning with AI in Middle Years
Engaging with our AI Learning Assistant ensures students experience AI in a safe and secure environment.
As AI tools become increasingly embedded in educational practice, we are proactively addressing the ethical, legal, and pedagogical implications of AI use for students. The choice of AI tools for our Middle Year students were carefully considered to ensure our students are not at risk, to support student character formation and aligned AI use with our learning outcomes.
AI in Year 7
To teach students how to interact with AI in a school environment, we introduce our Year 7 students to an AI Learning Assistant (Agent). Students can ask specific questions of the Agent, for example, students are able to:
- seek clarification and more depth on topics they are learning, such as understanding and seeking examples of metaphors in an English class
- have access to study skill support, such as question generation for revision or direction on how to take revision notes
- ask questions about extra-curricular activities and clubs available in the School in relation to their interests.
Co-pilot is the platform our AI agent is built in. Co-pilot is part of our School Microsoft ecosystem and, therefore, provides an extra level of security and safeguards our students and our data. The Co-pilot agent is restricted to accessing information we input rather than accessing the internet in general.
Providing students in Year 7 with a generative AI tool (an AI tool generating an answer to a question) through a custom-built AI Learning Assistant ensures our students are trained and educated about best practices when using generative AI, such as effective question asking for sustainable use.
Additionally, it provides an opportunity for students to begin developing their moral and performance character when using AI. Through the use of this Learning Assistant, we are educating our students around the value of owning their creativity and curiosity, the impact of giving this function over to AI, and reducing the reliance on AI to takeover cognitive and imaginative responsibility.
Engaging with our AI Learning Assistant ensures students experience AI in a safe and secure environment. The AI agent is also designed to support their transition into secondary school by being a source of knowledge regarding School rules and opportunities. The AI agent is set up to deal with learning questions specifically, and is not a psychological support tool, as students access this support through Mentors, Head of Year, Head of Middle Years and our School Counsellors.
AI in Year 8
Introducing students to generative AI through a staged and structured approach.
At the beginning of Year 8, students relinquish their AI Learning Assistant and are introduced to generative AI through a staged and structured approach. This begins with teachers incorporating the use of generative AI in specially planned learning activities. Students then undertake a short course for micro-credentialling in AI learning before access is granted.
Generative AI is the form of AI where prompts by the student generates an AI output. At Ivanhoe Grammar School, our students use Co-pilot as part of their Microsoft suite, which is safely contained within our Microsoft ecosystem and integrates well with their programs.
The focus on learning in this year is around:
- ethical use of AI, in particular generative AI
- what it means to be a good digital citizen and a person of character when using AI
- how to write effective prompts, developing prompt engineering skills
- fostering the further development of critical thinking and creative thinking.
Through subject-specific application, students will experience AI technologies beyond Co-pilot. A rigorous process is required by teachers to apply for this technology to be used in their classroom. Only AI technology approved by the Director of AI and Digital Learning Innovation are incorporated into classroom activities.
