Ryan O'Meara on AI in Schools: Protecting Assessment Integrity

Minister, I would like to ask you the training that is available or will be available to support teachers with their AI literacy skills. Thank you very much, Deputy, for the question. A comprehensive suite of professional learning to support teachers in relation to artificial intelligence for teachers is being provided by IGIA Technology and Education. That's the department-funded digital teacher professional learning service that's rolled out across the country. This work recognises both the opportunities and the challenges presented by AI in schools, including its potential to enhance teaching, learning and assessment, alongside other considerations around the ethics of it, responsible use of it, data privacy, algorithmic bias and assessment integrity. In this context, the AI in Schools External Advisory Task Force will hold its first meeting on 14 May. This is a task force that will be set up. It will support the department in developing a coherent national approach to the safe, responsible and effective use of AI across our school system. At my request as Minister, the task force will report to me quarterly to give me quarterly updates and reports in relation to the emerging findings of that AI task force. Through IGIA, they provide general support on the use of AI, particularly generative AI in education. There is a dedicated AI hub on the IGIA website and that's available for all schools. This is carefully curated. It's a digital space that's curated to support school leaders and teachers considering the use of AI. It also promotes practical implementation and ethical application of AI, ensuring that schools adopt AI technologies in a thoughtful and effective way. That AI hub provides resources for teachers, introductory online courses called AI for Schools. It also helps educators understand artificial intelligence. Also, documents were published in relation to guidance on AI for schools and the ethical considerations that were also outlined in the digital strategy for schools. We also have web-wise. I'll come back in in my further comments. Minister, I would just like to briefly focus on the additional assessment component obviously being rolled out but existing already in some subjects. This time 12 years ago, I would have finished my research study report as part of Leaving Cert History. At the time, I did that report on the Mudrini ambush, an ambush between Clock Jordan and Berserk Hayne during the War of Independence by the North's Tipperary Flying Column on the Black and Tans. I had to look at Ernie O'Malley's Raids and Rallies. I had to look at the late Roach Williams' book In and Out of School. I had to look at research done by the Clock Jordan Heritage Group. This morning, I was able to just Google Mudrini ambush and I was able to get a full overview of the date and time, number of casualties, names of casualties and everything else. My concern is around the way in which students are so easily able to access all of that information now and how it impacts on the additional assessment component. I am glad to hear that the external advisory task force is being established. I think that will be needed both for teachers and for external examiners as we continue to grow what I see as the very important additional assessment component. Thank you, Minister. Thank you, Deputy. I think you raise a very important issue. Just to state in relation to the additional assessment components, there are coursework rules that were published by the State Exams Commission last November. They address the use and the misuse of artificial intelligence and the SEC, the State Exams Commission, as well as commissioned research by the University of Limerick, which is due for completion in December of this year. There are very clear rules online through the SEC in relation to the use of AI for examinations, where, as you and I will maybe remember when we were at school, for somebody else's work, you referenced that. You have to quote that. It's very clearly laid out for teachers, for students. Students have a responsibility as well. There is then this task force, AI task force, where you have key education stakeholders on that, experts in this area who will report back to me. It's not just us doing the work here nationally. We're working with our European counterparts looking at evidence, best practice that is coming from an EU level. We're constantly updating our own AI research and guidance to schools, but there are clear coursework guidelines on the State Examinations Commission in relation to this. Thank you, Minister. Deputy. I guess it is important to acknowledge the many, many positive benefits to AI as well. It's not all negative, but it absolutely is essential that this advisory task force is up and running and doing that work because AI is moving so quickly compared to what we would have had only a number of years ago, let alone what I would have had in assistance and technology 12 years ago doing a leaving certificate. But there's so many benefits there to enhance students' learning experience, to enhance their ability to dig down into information, but it is all of those mechanisms that you've mentioned and possibly more working with European counterparts that will be so important to ensure that this doesn't take away from the ability to teach students the skills of critical thinking, of research analysis, of investigating primary and secondary sources in whatever subject it is. It's a huge body of work that is absolutely needed and I'm delighted to see the Department advancing it at the moment. Minister. Thank you. I think you've expressed it very eloquently there in relation to the role of the teacher and teaching and learning, it's really important. There are lots of positives for AI, lots of challenges, the ethical use of that. Teachers and school leaders play an absolutely central role in developing learners, students, their digital skills, including AI literacy. So to support them, we have the AI schools hubs, we have acceptable use policy as well, bespoke in-school supports for teachers, IJIA as I say, as well working at EU level. There's an international AI pilot that is exploring data literacy, the ethical use of AI, generative AI and that information and that feedback and learnings from that will feed into our own guidance as well for our schools. We are constantly working and evolving and working with our European counterparts with and national research here on best practice to make sure that we are rolling this out in a very safe and ethical manner and just to say that my my department have adopted a whole system evidence-informed approach to AI and that task force will be very instrumental in that ongoing. This is a living document, this is an evolving situation and we need to make sure that we are ahead of, you know, ahead of working with other European counterparts, making sure that our young people are prepared for the digital world as well.