Kerala to train 80,000 teachers in using AI for instruction

NEW DELHI: For the first time in the country, around 80,000 secondary school teachers in Kerala are all set to get hands-on training in AI. The three-day training, being conducted by Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE) from May 2, aims to empower 80,000 teachers in Classes 8 to 12. It is envisaged to provide them with the necessary AI expertise by August 2024, an official statement said here. The AI training focuses on summarisation techniques to simplify complex documents in PDFs, images, and videos and to generate concise summaries that retain crucial information and even create new content using AI tools.

Teachers would learn image generation techniques to create and edit subject-specific visuals, transform them into cartoons or paintings, and integrate text with the images, KITE said in a statement on Monday. This is followed by Prompt Engineering and Machine Learning which helps in formulating precise prompts essential for effective utilisation of AI tools and also to understand its programming mechanisms respectively by actually doing it, it said. Through data visualisation, teachers will explore how AI can be harnessed to create presentations and animations, along with generating and customising tables, graphs and charts that cater to specific requirements.

Next comes assessment wherein teachers would be equipped with AI techniques for evaluation purposes, enabling them to design various question formats, including unit tests etc, it further said. K. Anvar Sadath, Chief Executive Officer of KITE said the program will give opportunities to teachers to identify potential risks associated with AI while fostering a culture of responsible AI usage. "In the training, teachers would also create their own avatars to understand the concept of deepfakes while gaining insights into privacy concerns and algorithm bias," he said.

Enhancing teacher skills through AI

Giving further details of the proposed training, the official said each batch will have 25 teachers, who will use their laptops and mobile phones. The G-Suite accounts created for teachers by KITE would be used to ensure data privacy while using AI tools, and they don't have to use their private email ids and other credentials, he said.

The training would help the teachers personalise learning activities for each student and also customise resources to be inclusive for students with disabilities, Sadath explained. A total of 180 Master Trainers of KITE have already completed a one-month long AI training for this. Modules are also ready for different sessions. Higher Secondary and High School IT coordinators and little KITEs masters will be trained initially, the statement added.