• Charles Sturt delivers seminar to high school teachers on how to present the benefits and opportunities of AI to students

Charles Sturt University academics are lending their expertise to educate high school teachers in Wagga Wagga on how best to incorporate artificial intelligence into their classrooms.

Senior Lecturer in Educational Technology with the Charles Sturt School of Education in Wagga Wagga Dr Jacquie Tinkler delivered the seminar, titled ‘Artificial Intelligence in Education: Benefits, Challenges, and Opportunities’, to approximately 100 teachers from The Riverina Anglican College (TRAC).

Charles Sturt’s School of Education was approached by TRAC to provide professional learning in relation to using artificial intelligence (AI) in schools.

“As we are currently developing ways of integrating these tools into our teacher education degrees, this provided an opportunity for the University to see how schools are dealing with these technologies,” Dr Tinkler said.

“The seminar is designed to introduce the teachers at TRAC to artificial intelligence in education and look at the benefits, challenges and opportunities that these tools can present for teaching and learning.”

The seminar looked at how AI tools, such as ChatGPT, can be used by teachers in positive and creative ways to plan interesting and engaging lessons, make learning more creative for students and rethink the ways in which we design teaching with this technology.

Teachers in attendance gained hands-on experience with these tools and discussed some approaches to help minimise their misuse by students attempting to cheat.

Dr Tinkler said delivering training that would benefit local schools is part of Charles Sturt’s commitment to regional communities through the sharing of expertise and experience.

“Given the focus that Charles Sturt has on the provision of quality graduates in rural and regional areas, events like this help us to showcase our leadership and innovation in relation to new technologies that will have significant impact in many of the professions we work with,” she said.

Dr Tinkler said it is vital that universities are involved in the early stage of generative AI use because of the impact it could have on teaching and learning approaches and expectations of how graduates will be expected to use it in their new professions.

“It is vital that our graduates are equipped to guide and influence the ways these tools will be developed and used in their future professions and that we develop their capacity to use creative and innovative approaches to technology use,” she said.