Survey shows how PH vocational schools view AI

Artificial Intelligence words are seen in this illustration taken March 31, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

About half of vocational education institutions in the country are worried that the use of artificial intelligence (AI) may suppress creativity and critical thinking skills among students who would use the technology for their schoolwork.

According to the “State of Vocational Education in the Philippines,” a survey conducted by US-based Hanover Research in September last year, vocational learning institutions are “more concerned with issues, such as the loss of creativity and critical thinking” (52 percent) and data privacy (49 percent), and “less concerned” with plagiarism (31 percent) when students use AI-assisted applications.

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The results of the survey, which covered 115 schools, were released on Wednesday.

Nearly seven in 10 institutions also do not use AI—whether by choice or not—in their operations, said the survey, which was commissioned by Instructure Holdings Inc., an educational technology firm headquartered in Utah.

It found that 38 percent choose to “ban them entirely,” while 23 percent prefer “not to use them” despite being knowledgeable about the technology. Another 6 percent, however, “lack knowledge about them.”

Even as most institutions raised doubts or imposed sweeping bans, about 9 in 10 institutions outlined their own rules on using generative AI. More than half, or 56 percent, of the surveyed schools crafted “light guidelines,” while 35 percent enforced “stricter” regulations.

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Between the schools’ administrative personnel and the teachers, the former are “more likely” to be more receptive to AI tools (34 percent) than the latter (30 percent).

About three in five educators utilize AI for research and writing, the survey added, while almost half of them (49 percent) use the generative technology to prepare lesson plans or outlines.

Others prefer to use AI for administrative tasks (46 percent), virtual tutoring and mentoring (43 percent), and foreign language learning or translation (41 percent).

To ease their workload, some teachers also use AI for generating materials for assignments or tests (38 percent), personalized learning (35 percent), grading students’ work (32 percent), and for leading seminars or discussions (30 percent).

DepEd position

“It’s vital that institutions continue to provide strong support to students as they complete their courses and advance in their lifelong learning journey,” Harrison Kelly, managing director of Instructure Asia-Pacific, said in a statement.

“This involves not only equipping them with the latest technological tools and skills but also overcoming inherent challenges in this rapidly changing educational landscape,” he added.

The Department of Education (DepEd) will soon come out with a set of guidelines on the use of AI in the country’s learning sector, according to its spokesperson Michael Poa.

“The DepEd curriculum strand is currently looking into this and crafting a policy on AI,” Poa told the Inquirer in a text message on Friday.

But there is no “definite timeline” yet, he said, on whether the policy would be issued in time for the next school year 2024 to 2025.

Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte had earlier cited the “uncertainties” of AI use in digital education, despite the technology’s potential and increasing popularity.

The University of the Philippines (UP) issued in July last year a draft text outlining the “UP Principles for Responsible Artificial Intelligence” in response to the emergence of AI apps like ChatGPT.

In January last year, the use of AI in the academe drew controversy when a history professor at UP shared on social media his suspicion one of his students may have used ChatGPT to produce an essay. The incident prompted faculty members of the state university to call for the inclusion of AI use as a matter to be considered in its academic integrity policies. INQ