Teachers and researchers meet with us to discuss the opportunities of AI in education

Riga English Grammar School takes part in the AI leading schools programme, which is carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science, the State Education Development Agency and the association Riga TechGirls. This cooperation helps teachers develop their AI skills and create practical solutions for schools.

On 19 October a conference on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in education, "Created with Artificial Intelligence", was held in the premises of Riga English Grammar School. Teachers, school heads and researchers met at our school to share experience and to discuss the opportunities that technology offers and the responsible use of technology in teaching.

At the conference, 25 project experts, together with their teams, presented the priority area of research of each school.

The priority direction set by the Riga English Grammar School team, in addition to two further goals, is to develop teachers' AI competences by strengthening peer learning among colleagues. Our plan is to set up core teacher groups and micro-learning groups in which teachers share experience, try out AI tools and assess together how useful they are.

Riga TechGirls, together with Start School, supported the conference participants in hands-on work, in which teachers built their own artificial intelligence assistants. More than 50 AI assistants created by teacher teams can be viewed at https://maksligaisintelektsizglitiba.lv/biblioteka

We pay special attention to lesson planning, the making of materials, adapting tasks to pupils' needs, assessment and personalised feedback. At the same time we will explore ways to reduce administrative workload and support teachers' well-being.

The school has already drafted and published rules for the use of AI, has begun to find out what teachers need, and has held the first practical sessions. In future work the teacher's professional judgement, the safe use of technology and pupils' learning needs remain at the centre of our attention.

Thank you to the programme organisers and the conference participants for their cooperation and the exchange of experience at our school!