2025:Program/Can Teachers Help Teachers with AI?
Session title: Can Teachers Help Teachers with AI?
- Session type: Roundtable
- Track: Education
- Language: en
🎥 Session recording: https://www.youtube.com/live/3UcJ5Tgcthc?feature=shared&t=23307 🎥
As much as we need to and should support students with adopting new technologies such as AI, educators are being thrown into the deep end and expected to swim with very little instruction or support. From working with teachers while at GitHub and as part of Internet-in-a-Box (IIAB), it is clear that we ask much of our teachers. They are expected to learn not only basic computing and software development, but also version control, collaborative software development, and now, how to teach about and with AI. This is daunting anywhere and even more daunting in the developing world where experienced mentors and resources can be scarce.
Wikipedia, GitHub, and arXiv show us that free and open access can be transformative and lower barriers of access to entry to new skills and careers.
Description
As much as we need to and should support students with adopting new technologies such as AI, educators from primary school to universities are being thrown into the deep end and expected to swim with very little instruction or support. From working with teachers while at GitHub and as part of Internet-in-a-Box (IIAB), it is clear that we ask much of our teachers. They are expected to roll up their sleeves to learn not only basic computing and software development, but also version control, and industry-wide best practices for collaborative software development. More recently, teachers are ALSO expected to know about generative AI, teach about practical and ethical use of AI in the classroom, figure out how curriculum evolves because of AI, all while technology rapidly evolves. While they show enthusiasm for AI’s potential, e.g., generating quizzes or lesson plans, there is not an easy path to onboarding. Additionally, limited internet access remains a barrier in many countries. In a classroom of eager students who expect their teacher to know everything, this is a daunting task indeed. It is even more daunting in the developing world where experienced mentors and resources can be scarce.
Wikipedia, GitHub, and arXiv show us that free and open access can be transformative, providing free knowledge, peer review, and opportunities to collaborate easily, lowering barriers of access to entry to new skills and careers. Offline IIAB deployments in rural African schools have enabled students to develop research skills through Wikipedia, fostering collaborative and self-directed learning. We share perspectives on how to do the same for education and AI.
Questions remain on how to make technology and AI resources more collaborative: - Can we learn from past models to create a system where teachers work with existing tools like Wikipedia and perhaps even develop their own networked, open, peer-reviewed system to collaborate? - By expanding offline-ready resources like IIAB-compatible content, fostering educator collaboration networks akin to Wikipedia’s editing communities, and partnering with grassroots organizations, can we support teachers worldwide so they harness AI ethically and inclusively? - Can 50 primary schools and learning centers in Kenya using offline Wikipedia via IIAB where teachers and students actively collaborate with open knowledge, seed a peer-support network? - What does an ecosystem, which enables teachers to ‘photocopy’ lesson plans in a digital world, look like in practice? What can we learn from offline-first platforms, like IIAB, to inspire such networks? - Is AI lowering barriers to entry to software development careers? - Will AI completely change the role of educators by 2035, and if so how?
We will share educational experiences with GitHub, Internet-in-a-Box, and AI and our work to provide online and offline tooling and content to remote regions worldwide. A model of federated ecosystems can empower educators, learners, and community organizers everywhere aligning with Wikipedia’s mission to democratize knowledge and address the urgent digital divide, turning passive learners into active creators in the AI era.
- How does your session relate to the event theme, Wikimania@20 – Inclusivity. Impact. Sustainability?
We look at successful open models and how we can apply learnings to education and AI. Wikipedia, GitHub, and arXiv show us that free and open access can be transformative, providing free knowledge, peer review, and opportunities to collaborate easily on software and content, lowering barriers of access to entry to new skills and careers. Offline Internet-in-a-Box (IIAB) deployments in rural African schools have enabled students to develop research skills through Wikipedia, fostering collaborative and self-directed learning. What can we learn from these examples to do the same for education and AI?
By expanding offline-ready resources like IIAB-compatible content, fostering educator collaboration networks akin to Wikipedia’s editing communities, and partnering with grassroots organizations, can we support teachers worldwide to have the tools to harness AI ethically and inclusively?
- What is the experience level needed for the audience for your session?
Everyone can participate in this session
Resources
Speakers
- Avni Khatri
- I lead GitHub Education (https://github.com/education) in GitHub's Developer Relations organization, helping learners access the tools and resources they need to successfully build software products. Our mission is to empower anyone who wants to code, to be able to do so. I also volunteer with Internet-in-a-Box. I am passionate about working with learners and educators of all kind to make coding available to the next generation of developers around the globe.
- holt
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- Malombe Victor
- Malombe Victor, a Kenyan EdTech expert in innovative learning solutions, has over 10 years of experience designing and implementing education projects in challenging contexts across Africa, leveraging smart offline and off-grid mobile technologies. He has led the implementation of offline digital libraries (such as Internet-in-a-Box and RACHEL) across sub-Saharan Africa, integrating popular open educational resources by Wikimedia such as Wikipedia, Wikibooks, Wikiquote, Wikisource, and Wikiversity as reference and supplementary content in rural primary and secondary schools. This work has played a key role in inculcating research skills at foundational levels, even in areas without internet or electricity.
- Malombe champions equitable access to education, collaborates with various organizations, and leads initiatives at wiLearn 4 Life and AHAINNOVATE LTD. He is also passionate about cyber-security and digital forensics in education technology.