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Mrs Hearne
Acting Head of Teaching and Learning
Navigating the technological landscape with generative AI

Having been teaching for over twenty years, I have seen a lot of technological change. When I started teaching, I did not have my own computer; my staffroom of about eight teachers had two computers which we shared to type up assessment tasks. Technological change has allowed students to develop their higher-order critical and creative thinking skills with access to a rich array of information and presentation opportunities.

The first easily accessible generative AI was launched in late 2022. Since then, the education sector has been learning with the rest of society how this new technology will change the nature of teaching and learning for our students going forward. Some of the questions raised include:

  • Is generative AI software such as ChatGPT ethical to use?
  • Does this change the way that we should set or mark assessment tasks?
  • Does it change the teaching strategies that we use?
  • Are all generative AI software tools equal?
  • What happens to our data when we enter it into these platforms?

Staff and students are looking to experts for guidance for the answers to these questions but in such a dynamic space, it seems that we are all learning together.

 

What has Meriden done so far?

With a committee established in early 2023, Meriden has moved swiftly to start designing policies and gain professional learning opportunities in this area. A policy was designed quickly around assessments so that students and teachers could be clear about which assessments would be suitable for the use of generative AI. For example, it may be acceptable to use generative AI as a source of prompts to search for information and ideas, before structuring a response. This policy has been continually updated and refined as we come to learn more about different generative AI software and the privacy policies for each one.

 

What we will continue to do

You can be confident that at Meriden we will continue to learn about these new technological advancements to best inform our teaching and to prepare our students for the future. We want Meriden girls to leave school with a confidence to respond to future changes and think critically about new technological trends. Equipping them with the skills now will assist them to remain agile and respond appropriately.