AI Use Cases From Schools

Case Study 1: Georgia Institute of Technology (United States)

School Name:

Georgia Institute of Technology

Problem Overview:

Georgia Tech faced a challenge common in higher education: providing prompt, effective assistance and feedback to students in large classes, which can be overwhelming for limited teaching staff.

Solution:

The university implemented an AI-powered teaching assistant named “Jill Watson,” built on IBM’s Watson platform. Deployed within an online Masters in Computer Science course, Jill was designed to automatically respond to students’ frequently asked questions in the course’s online forum. This AI assistant was trained on a dataset of over 40,000 forum posts from previous course iterations to accurately address common student inquiries.

Key Impact:

Jill Watson significantly reduced the response time for student queries and eased the workload of human TAs, who could then focus on more complex student needs. The AI was able to handle the majority of routine questions accurately, ensuring consistent and timely support for students.

Learning:

This initiative highlighted the potential of AI to augment educational support services efficiently. It also provided insights into the importance of a carefully curated training dataset for AI performance, the need for ongoing monitoring and adjustment of AI systems, and the potential of AI to blend seamlessly into educational environments without disrupting the learning process.

Case Study 2: University of Alicante (Spain)

School Name:

University of Alicante

Problem Overview:

The University of Alicante sought to improve accessibility and learning experiences for visually impaired students, who often face significant challenges in navigating campus environments and accessing educational materials.

Solution:

The university developed an AI-powered application called “Help Me See” which uses computer vision and machine learning to assist visually impaired students. The app helps them to navigate the campus effectively and independently by recognizing and narrating objects, texts, and other elements in the environment.

Key Impact:

“Help Me See” has notably enhanced campus accessibility for visually impaired students, allowing for greater independence and confidence in navigating academic spaces. This has led to improved student engagement and participation in campus activities.

Learning:

This case demonstrated the profound impact of AI in enhancing inclusivity in educational settings. It also underscored the importance of user-centered design in AI applications, showing that technology must be tailored to meet the specific needs of its users to be truly effective. The success of the project highlighted the potential for similar AI-driven solutions in other universities worldwide to enhance inclusivity and accessibility for students with disabilities.

Case Study 3: New Town High School (Australia)

School Name:

New Town High School

Problem Overview:

New Town High School wanted to enhance engagement and learning outcomes in STEM subjects, where students often struggle with complex concepts and lack personalized support due to large class sizes.

Solution:

The school implemented an AI-driven platform called “Maths Pathway,” which uses machine learning to tailor math education to each student’s learning pace and style. The platform continuously assesses student progress and adjusts the content accordingly, providing personalized modules and real-time feedback to students.

Key Impact:

The use of Maths Pathway led to a noticeable improvement in student performance in mathematics, with increased engagement and higher test scores reported. Teachers were also able to identify and address individual learning gaps more effectively, making their interventions more timely and relevant.

Learning:

This case study illustrated the significant benefits of personalized learning environments enabled by AI. It showed that AI could act as a force multiplier in educational settings, allowing teachers to cater to individual needs without compromising the overall quality of education. Additionally, the school learned the importance of integrating technology with traditional teaching practices to maximize student learning outcomes.

Case Study 4: The University of Sydney

School Name:

The University of Sydney

Problem Overview:

The University of Sydney faced a challenge common to many large educational institutions: providing personalized learning experiences to students across diverse disciplines. The university aimed to improve educational outcomes by tailoring content delivery to individual learning styles and needs.

Solution:

The University implemented an AI-driven platform called “Smart Sparrow,” which allowed educators to create adaptive learning pathways within their courses. This technology enabled professors to design coursework that could adapt in real-time to the pace and performance of each student, providing additional resources and assessments based on individual progress and response patterns.

Key Impact:

The implementation of Smart Sparrow led to increased student engagement and improved academic performance. Students benefited from a personalized learning experience that adapted to their individual strengths and weaknesses, making learning more efficient and effective. The platform also provided faculty with insights into student learning patterns, helping them to further refine their teaching strategies.

Learnings:

This initiative reinforced the potential of AI to enhance personalized learning and highlighted the scalability challenges in creating adaptive course materials. It also emphasized the importance of integrating faculty insights with AI capabilities to develop a truly adaptive learning environment. Continuous collaboration between AI technologists and educators was crucial in tuning the system to meet actual educational needs, ensuring that technology served as a complement to, rather than a replacement for, traditional teaching methods.

Case Study 5: Harris Federation, UK

School Name:

Harris Federation

Problem Overview:

The Harris Federation, one of the largest academy trusts in the UK, faced challenges in managing teacher workloads effectively while ensuring that the curriculum was accessible and inclusive for students from diverse linguistic backgrounds, including those with English as an additional language.

Solution:

To address these challenges, the Harris Federation implemented AI tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft Live. ChatGPT was used to adapt text for different age groups, making the curriculum more accessible. Microsoft Live helped translate classroom instructions in real-time, providing subtitles in the students’ native languages directly on their devices.

Key Impact:

These AI tools significantly reduced the time teachers spent on administrative tasks and adapting materials for diverse classroom needs. This allowed teachers to focus more on direct teaching and student interaction, improving the educational experience for both students and teachers.

Learnings:

The Harris Federation’s experience highlighted the importance of AI in supporting educational staff and enhancing curriculum accessibility. It also demonstrated the potential of AI to handle linguistic diversity in classrooms, ensuring that all students, regardless of their first language, could engage with the learning material effectively​.