This milestone decision was made during the Education Ministers Meeting held on 5th October 2023, alongside the unanimous approval of
The Australian Framework for Generative Artificial Intelligence in Schools or "the Framework" (Released November 2023). The Framework was architected by the Education Ministers Artificial Intelligence in Schools Taskforce (AI Taskforce) which included ESA CEO, Andrew Smith, and ESA’s General Manager of Assessment Systems and Data Standards, Stuart Mitchell.
Federal Minister for Education, Jason Clare, emphasised the importance of embracing AI in education responsibly. He stated, "AI is not going away. Like the calculator or the internet, we need to learn how to grapple with this new technology. There are lots of opportunities, but there are also challenges and risks. We need to make sure students use AI for good and get the marks they deserve and don't use it to cheat, while also ensuring their privacy is protected."
Steering clear of a one-size-fits-all approach, ESA will establish a technical framework aimed at guiding product development and enabling risk assessments for AI technologies. ESA's 2023-24
National Schools Interoperability Program (NSIP) workplan, will add a specialised workstream to examine how
Safer Technology For Schools (ST4S) can be extended to cover AI-enabled educational technology.
"AI technology is quickly becoming an indispensable tool in education, but its implementation must be carefully managed to ensure it is beneficial, secure, and equitable," said Andrew Smith, ESA CEO.
ESA's research underlines a growing trend among educational technology products to incorporate generative AI features. "The best way to address this is to establish a technical framework that can serve as a gold standard for AI technologies in education," Smith added.
ESA’s work will elevate the standards for AI in education. It will involve the development of a Privacy and Information Security Technical Standards Framework, which will serve as the updated version of the current
ST4S initiative, incorporating specific privacy and security principles for AI-enabled educational technology products. Complimentary to this will be dedicated Human Rights and Wellbeing Standards. These aim to effectively verify edtech developers' claims of explainability, non-discrimination, and contestability in AI-enabled products.
Finally, collaborative efforts between ESA and the
Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) will establish a draft methodology for rigorously assessing the educational effectiveness of AI-enabled technology products.
"It's crucial that any technology integrated into our education system has proven efficacy. Through this collaborative research, we intend to create a comprehensive set of metrics and methods that will offer a research-based rubric for assessing AI products," said Andrew Smith, CEO of ESA. This project aligns with the recently released
Framework by offering an initial implementation pathway, while underpinning the need for AI tools to not only be secure and ethical but also educationally impactful.
Article: Ethical and effective AI in education: a policymaker’s roadmap
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