At Britannica Shanghai, we have endeavoured to align our educational technology objectives closer to UNESCO’s directive: “To ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. UNESCO’s mandate calls for a coherent focus on how artificial intelligence (AI) in education can address inequalities in the classroom regarding innovative teaching and learning practices, inclusion and equity. We believe AI technology can be a crucial tool to progress on the path towards UNESCO’s Education 2030 Agenda.

AI technology in education can allow teachers to recuperate valuable hours that can then be used to focus on students. Analytics from the high-end applications that we use, such as CENTURY Tech’s AI, not only help teachers make targeted interventions but also allow managers to accurately formulate decisions through data-driven visualisations. This allows for the possibility of differentiating learning and providing pathways toward mastery and improving tracking and communication with teachers, hence the teaching and learning experience is evolving into one that can deliver on our educational technology initiatives.

An essential element of a successful technology procurement strategy is due diligence. Within this process, we investigated performance, liabilities, risks and opportunities associated with leading AI education technology providers. We approached CENTURY who provided a four-week pilot model to test their platform. Implemented alongside our robust modern EdTech strategy, considering pedagogy first and technology second, we were quickly able to see the impact AI technology can make on the student’s educational journey. By introducing CENTURY’s educational AI, we will want to see a rise in student examination pass rates. The intended consequence is fostering a culture of success that can go on to be the catalyst for radical improvement.

It is our hope that as time goes by, relationships between staff and the digital educational structures put in place will allow for a symbiosis between the actors and the technology to fully develop and in so doing accomplish the school’s long-term vision.

We believe that investing in such digital resources and support is worthwhile. The call to action is the question of how a digital learning strategy can best meet the growing needs of learners in the 21st century, and how technology uptake can empower learners to take control of their own learning pathways, leading to habits that foster lifelong learning. AI technology gives us this opportunity to deliver inclusive and equitable personalised education as an empowering right to all our students.