Artificial intelligence <\/a>presented opportunities and challenges for education, Harvey said. <\/p>\n\u201cIt is important that schools are supported to use these technologies safely, responsibly, and in ways that improve learning. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Ministry has already developed guidance and resources to support schools and kura in using AI, and we regularly share information and updates with the sector. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhile AI can help with routine tasks and save time, teachers and education experts remain at the centre of decision-making, and technology should support good teaching, not replace it.\u201d <\/p>\n
McKenzie said while he used AI for administrative tasks and drafting correspondence, the technology needed \u201cproper oversight\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Ministry is telling us we have to teach our kids how to use AI responsibly. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not going to happen; we\u2019re programmed as humans to take the shortest, easiest route. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s robbing you of your thinking; thinking you should do to learn how to use your brain. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s this wave washing over us, and we don\u2019t know what to do. How do we teach our kids when they don\u2019t need to learn?\u201d <\/p>\n
![\"Whangarei]()
Whangarei teacher Iain McKenzie is concerned AI will rob students of the ability to learn and develop critical thinking skills.<\/p>\n
Whang\u0101rei MP Shane Reti said he wrote and published the national AI strategy last year and delivered it to the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi in February. <\/p>\n
Regarding AI and critical thinking, he acknowledged: \u201cFrom an education perspective there is work to do\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are building a knowledge rich curriculum that gives students the knowledge they need to be able to think critically,\u201d Reti said. <\/p>\n
\u201cAI is included in the technology curriculum and as two standalone subsets at senior secondary which, alongside social sciences and all other curriculum areas encourages critical thinking.\u201d <\/p>\n
NZQA acting chief executive Prashant Bakshi said AI offered \u201csignificant opportunities\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut people rightly expect it to be used responsibly,\u201d Bakshi said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat means making sure AI-supported decisions are accurate, fair and transparent, and being clear about where technology adds value and where human judgment must continue to play a leading role.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur responsibility is to ensure these technologies are deployed carefully, with clear oversight and accountability, and that people remain at the centre of important decisions.\u201d <\/p>\n
Alfred in the classroom<\/p>\n
McKenzie is developing \u201cSocratic tutors\u201d to help students get the most out of AI without eroding their critical thinking skills. <\/p>\n
McKenzie said his tutors \u2013 like chat windows or chatbots \u2013 are called Alfred after Batman\u2019s loyal butler and closest confidant. <\/p>\n
An Alfred would be assigned to each student in the classroom, allowing students to ask questions. <\/p>\n
McKenzie said, unlike many generative AI tools, the tutors would be designed not to provide direct answers. Instead, they coach them to the answer by prompting them and guiding them in a two-way discussion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey will ask \u2018what have you got so far?\u2019 and coach you to read another paragraph or ask, \u2018what do you think the author is trying to say here?\u2019. <\/p>\n
\u201dThe tutors are restricted from giving an answer and will coach them to the answer as opposed to AI which goes \u2018here\u2019s 150 words you can copy and paste into your assignment\u2019.<\/p>\n
McKenzie said he hoped to offer the technology to fellow teachers by the end of the year. <\/p>\n
Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with finance, roading, and social issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIt\u2019s taking all the cognitive load and kids just copy the answers straight in.\u201d A recent Education Review…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":584517,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[365,9556,363,364,10709,11728,266,11521,2959,78,9557,111,139,1067,69,1118,98318,4062,6649,16708,3767,7574,145,1960,61,8218,1869,102,13632],"class_list":["post-584516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-concerns","tag-critical","tag-government","tag-harm","tag-high","tag-in","tag-intelligence","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-northland","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-robbing","tag-school","tag-schools","tag-skills","tag-students","tag-teacher","tag-technology","tag-thinking","tag-to","tag-warns","tag-whangrei","tag-with","tag-written"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=584516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/584517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=584516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=584516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=584516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}