AI Adoption Case Study: learn about Sendient's SmartEducator
techUK’s AI adoption collection of case studies showcases examples of how organisations are Putting AI into Action, either through the adoption of AI models within their organisations, or by developing AI tools that can be leveraged by others.
By shining a light on these use cases, techUK hopes to demonstrate examples of best practice from across sectors and from organisations of all sizes.
The education sector faces a significant trust gap when it comes to the adoption of Artificial Intelligence. Historically, the sector has experienced numerous technological fads that promised much but delivered little, leaving educators wary of new innovations. This scepticism is compounded by a general lack of understanding of how AI operates, leading to fears about losing control over the teaching process and concerns about the accuracy and fairness of AI-driven decisions.
The education sector is known for its slow pace of change, often due to its cautious approach to adopting new technologies. To overcome this inertia, it is crucial to demonstrate that AI is not just another passing trend but a powerful tool that can support and enhance educational outcomes. Case studies and pilot programs showcasing successful AI implementations will help illustrate the tangible benefits of AI, such as improved grading consistency, personalised learning experiences, and reduced administrative burdens.
To gain the trust of educators, several barriers need to be overcome. First and foremost AI solutions need to be built around a core principle of transparency. Educators need to understand how AI algorithms make decisions, particularly in areas like grading and personalised learning. This requires AI solutions to be designed with clear, understandable, and accessible explanations of their processes and outcomes. Secondly, there must be a robust focus on privacy. Student data is sensitive, and any AI application must ensure that this data is securely stored and handled with strict adherence to privacy laws and regulations.
The rapid integration of AI into everyday tasks by students has forced the education sector to respond more quickly than it would have typically liked. Attempts to ban AI tools have proven ineffective and counterproductive. Instead, the sector must accept and embrace AI, developing strategies to integrate it meaningfully into the educational process. Facilitating this requires a concerted effort to educate teachers on the benefits and limitations of AI, providing them with the tools and training necessary to incorporate AI into their teaching methods effectively.
The fragmented nature of the education sector, with numerous new solutions emerging, makes it challenging to identify valuable AI applications. To navigate this landscape, schools and educators should seek out AI solutions that have been rigorously tested and validated in real-world educational settings. Collaborations with trusted educational institutions and participation in peer-reviewed research will also help in selecting reliable AI tools.
To gain trust, the AI industry must prioritise ethical design and human-centric approaches. Industry oversight bodies should bring together stakeholders to define easy to use and understand standards and frameworks that help buyers to easily make the right purchasing decisions. This includes focusing on privacy, equity, and the empowerment of educators and students. Providing transparent and informed guidance on how AI systems operate, ensuring they are designed to support rather than replace human teachers, and addressing potential biases are all critical steps. By doing so, AI can become a trusted teaching aide, driving innovation while respecting the values and priorities of educators.
1. Challenge:
Despite being a people-centric industry, the education sector is becoming increasingly process-focused, requiring significant time and effort for preparation, administration, marking, and review. Most individuals enter the profession out of a passion for teaching and supporting student growth. However, the additional out-of-classroom tasks create substantial pressure and burden. While teachers recognise the necessity of these activities, they aspire to spend more time teaching and less time on administrative duties.
2. Solution:
Sendient leverages Artificial Intelligence to deliver objective, consistent, and efficient assessment, grading, and personalised student recommendations. Our SmartEducator platform empowers teachers to create engaging, multi-modal assessments that align with the Key Stage 3-5 curriculum.
The platform handles assessments captured in various formats, including handwriting, documents, images, and speech, providing insights and intelligence to drive enhanced learning outcomes. SmartEducator generates dynamic rubrics tailored to key learning objectives. The platform then evaluates student work against these rubrics, delivering transparent, objective, and consistent feedback. This feedback helps generate a series of quantifiable follow-on learning activities, reducing the overhead of assessment while keeping teachers at the core of the learning experience.
SmartEducator adapts to different teaching and learning styles and is designed to meet the needs of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (S.E.N.D) requirements. The platform is built around the principles of security, privacy, transparency, and teacher empowerment. We understand the importance and sensitivity of student work, ensuring that student data remains secure and private at all times.
By reducing administrative tasks, SmartEducator allows teachers to focus more on teaching, ultimately enhancing learning outcomes. Through its adaptive guidance and recommendations, the platform supports and enriches pedagogical practices, providing individualised learning opportunities for each student.
The SmartEducator platform from Sendient has been architecture with a number of key principles in mind:
Transparency and understanding
SmartEducator prioritises transparency by providing clear and understandable explanations of how it integrates with LLM’s and which models it uses for individuals sub tasks. SmartEducator provides white-box, transparent feedback on how it made judgements, recommendations or grading decisions. This transparency helps demystify the technology for educators. By making the AI's processes and outcomes accessible and comprehensible, SmartEducator is designed to build trust and confidence across its user base.
Ethical design and accountability
The platform is built around the principles of ethical design, ensuring that AI systems are fair, unbiased, and accountable. SmartEducator provides transparent and informed guidance on AI usage, ensuring that the technology supports rather than replaces human teachers. This ethical approach addresses potential biases and ensures that AI decisions are equitable and justifiable.
Robust privacy measures
The SmartEducator platform has been architected with Security and privacy at its core. The platform uses techniques such as obfuscation, tokenisation and encryption to protect and redact sensitive educational data. The platform adheres to a broad range of privacy laws and regulations, ensuring that student information remains confidential and protected at all times. The platform is assessed against ISO27001, Cyber Essentials and experiences regular Penetration Tests to ensure cyber security and privacy is maintained across all elements of the offering.
Addressing equity and inclusion
SmartEducator is designed to be adaptable to different teaching and learning styles, including the needs of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (S.E.N.D) students. This inclusivity ensures that the platform supports all students equitably, addressing concerns about AI exacerbating existing educational inequalities.
Reducing the administrative burden
By automating and streamlining administrative tasks, SmartEducator allows teachers to devote more time to direct student interaction and personalised instruction. This reduction in administrative workload demonstrates the practical utility of AI in enhancing the teaching experience, further building trust among educators.
Embracing change and innovation
SmartEducator acknowledges the rapid integration of AI into students' daily lives and the sector's need to adapt swiftly. By providing a platform that educators can trust and rely on, SmartEducator facilitates the transition towards embracing AI, helping the education sector respond to technological advancements in a structured and effective manner.
3. Barriers:
The education sector is undergoing significant transformation as AI becomes an integral part of students' daily studies. Traditionally slow to evolve, the industry now must rapidly develop and implement AI strategies. Banning AI is neither feasible nor beneficial for preparing students for the modern workplace. Instead, the sector must find ways to harness and integrate AI to address its current challenges.
AI offers a substantial opportunity to enhance learning outcomes, but concerns about privacy, security, and transparency must be addressed. For AI and cloud computing platforms to gain widespread adoption, they must go above and beyond in demonstrating their commitment to these principles. Ensuring robust security measures, maintaining strict privacy standards, and providing clear transparency and accountability are essential to building trust and driving innovation in education.
4. Impact:
Sendient’s SmartEducator platform is set to launch in September 2024. Trials have shown that it can deliver consistent, objective, and transparent assessments for Key Stage 3-5 subjects. The platform focuses on providing large amounts of intelligence and insight to teachers, building trust and confidence in its capabilities. By utilising handwriting, documents, and audio formats, SmartEducator reduces teacher administrative tasks, provides enhanced insights and intelligence, and improves learning outcomes, all while ensuring that teachers remain central to the educational experience
Usman Ikhlaq
Usman joined techUK in January 2024 as Programme Manager for Artificial Intelligence.
techUK - Putting AI into Action
techUK’s Putting AI into Action campaign serves as a one stop shop for showcasing the opportunities and benefits of AI adoption across sectors and markets.
During this campaign, techUK will run a regular drumbeat of activity, including events, reports, and insights, to demonstrate some of the most significant opportunities for AI adoption in 2024, as well as working with key stakeholders to identify and address current barriers to adoption.
Visit our AI Adoption Hub to learn more, or find our latest activity below.
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Usman Ikhlaq
Usman Ikhlaq
Usman joined techUK in January 2024 as Programme Manager for Artificial Intelligence.
His role is to help techUK members of all sizes and across all sectors to adopt AI at scale. This includes identifying the barriers to adoption, considering solutions and how best to maximise AI's potential.
Prior to joining techUK, Usman worked as a policy, government affairs and public affairs professional in the advertising sector. He has also worked in sales and marketing and FinTech.
Usman is a graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science (MSc), BPP Law School (GDL and LLB) and Queen Mary University of London (BA).
When he isn’t working, Usman enjoys spending time with his family and friends. He also has a keen interest in running, reading and travelling.
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Authors
Rowland Johnson
Rowland is a serial entrepreneur and tech enthusiast, deeply committed to advancing artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and innovation. A highly focused and driven individual, Rowland thrives on "building things," whether that involves developing products, creating cohesive teams, or founding companies. He established Sendient with a mission to alleviate administrative burdens for schools and educators, enabling them to focus on delivering improved learning outcomes.
