The impact of Artificial Intelligence on education has been transformative, but what role does the school board play in governance of it? Ahead of our webinar on this topic on the 20th February at 08:30 and 16:00 GMT we take a look at what 9ine will be covering.

The governing body or school board (we will refer to as the school board) plays an important role in the success of a school. From setting the strategy and making key policy decisions, to ensuring the effective use of the school’s resources (including that the school has the appropriate leadership), the school board promotes excellence in student achievement and compliance with laws and regulations. The school board also engages with the wider community, providing parents, guardians and other external stakeholders with information about school operations, and inviting and addressing their feedback and concerns. Given the transformative impact that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is having in education, an important question for schools and school boards to ask themselves is, how much do school boards need to care about AI and Governance? The answer is a lot! 

Artificial Intelligence in Education 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a technology that enables computers and machines to learn, understand and act like humans. It can simulate human learning, comprehension, problem solving, decision making, creativity and autonomy. Examples of AI include facial recognition, virtual assistants, chatbots and even self-driving cars. AI is not just another traditional Information Communication Technology (ICT) though, which typically operates based on pre-defined rules and algorithms to perform specific tasks. AI goes beyond this by utilising machine learning to adapt and improve its performance over time, allowing it to handle complex situations and learn from data making it significantly more flexible and capable of tackling dynamic challenges which traditional ICT struggles with. This means that the knowledge gap when it comes to AI is vast. 

Whether your school is heavily proficient in using AI, is new to it, or is nervous about using it, schools cannot escape the impact that Artificial Intelligence is already having in society, and particularly in education. From its use by teachers and schools through school-approved AI systems, to other AI tools which students have access to, and are using to support them in learning and completing their assignments, its presence is undeniable. AI can bring a lot of opportunities for schools, including to create efficiencies, help them understand their students and pupils more and to improve the overall educational experience, but it also comes with risks and challenges. These include risks and harms to privacy and data protection, ethics, cybersecurity, human agency, child safety and the education system as a whole. 

AI Governance 

For schools to realise the opportunities of AI, whilst navigating the risks and challenges, governance is key. Governance is the system of rules, processes, and structures that guide a school, including the decisions it makes. Because of the impact which AI can have, schools need to make sure that they have rules and policies in place on how AI can be used. This will require existing rules and policies to be updated and amended, such as data privacy and protection notices and acceptable use policies, but will also require new policies to be introduced, like an AI Policy. Schools will also need to ensure they have the appropriate processes in place for the governance of AI, introducing them or updating existing ones where necessary. For example, a school will need to review its Vendor Management process, to ensure it makes the appropriate checks on, and puts appropriate safeguards in place with, third party EdTech vendors when acquiring AI systems from them. Schools may also need to introduce an Ethics by Design process if they do not have one already. Schools will also need to make sure that they have the appropriate roles and responsibilities in place for the governance of AI. These will be their ‘humans in the loop’, a key safeguard in the responsible, legal and ethical use of AI, who are actively involved in the AI system’s decision-making process, providing oversight and intervention when necessary. 9ine’s AI Readiness toolkit is one way schools can implement robust governance.

The Role of the Governing Body / School Board 

Although school boards do not implement the policies that they establish or oversee the daily operations of the school, they clearly lead and guide the school and surrounding community to ensure the school’s success. Their role in the governance of AI is an important one, and some key areas they will play an important role in when it comes to AI are: 

• Strategy: School boards will play an important role in setting the school’s strategy and vision for AI. How much does the school want to use it? Does it want to be a leader in AI education? Does it want to promote students and pupils using AI? Does it want to restrict its use where possible? Many of the decisions taken on a daily basis on a school’s use of AI will stem from this strategy, in which the school board plays an important role to develop. 
• Finance: The use of AI is not cheap. From the cost of acquiring AI systems, to the hardware and software required to power them and the expert roles that will be needed to monitor and maintain them. Given their role in overseeing a school’s finances and ensuring effective use of resources to provide the best possible education for all students within their jurisdiction, the school board will have to monitor how much the school is spending on AI, whether this is in line with the school’s strategy and whether the school is using their AI resources effectively. For example, if a school has spent money on an AI system, a school board will need to question whether it is leading to improved academic success. They will also need to ask whether the salaries the school is offering are at the right level to attract the talent they need to support their AI strategy and whether the school has the leadership it needs for this. Finance will play an important role in the school’s strategy for AI, and so the school board plays an important role here.
• Educational Policy and Standards: School boards are also responsible for ensuring the school has appropriate educational policies, standards and guidelines for various aspects of the school’s operations in place. They are also responsible for promoting excellence, and the school’s compliance with regulations and laws. Wherever a school is situated globally, it will be under some form of legal requirements when it comes to how it is using AI, from the regulation of it through existing laws, to new overarching regulations which have been introduced on AI specifically. Whilst they may not be creating the details of these policies and implementing them on a daily basis, school boards will need to be aware of the requirements that the school is under and verify that the school has the appropriate policies in place for AI in education. 
• External Stakeholder Engagement: Because of the transformative nature of AI, but also the risks and challenges associated with its use, there will be external interest in how a school is using AI. From concerned parents and guardians who want to know how their children’s data is being used, to prospective parents and guardians who might want to know how the school will educate their child using AI and regulators that might want to know more about the school’s use of AI. Because school boards are responsible for engaging with these external stakeholders, listening to their concerns and providing them with information about school operations, school boards will need to make sure that they have the knowledge and information on the school’s use of AI, and its governance, to do this. 
• Professional Development: To meet all of their responsibilities effectively, school board members also have to participate in professional development, studying relevant issues and regulations. When it comes to the use of AI, this will require them to understand what the technology is, how it differs from traditional ICT, what the opportunities for it are, as well as the risks, challenges and legal requirements associated with its use. They will need this knowledge to have effective conversations about what an appropriate strategy for AI is for their school in light of their finances, to understand what educational policies and standards the school should have in place, to ensure that the school has the appropriate leadership and to reassure and answer questions from external stakeholders, building trust in the school’s use of and approach to AI. 

It is clear that the school board has no option but to care when it comes to AI and the governance of a school’s use of it, to fulfil their responsibilities but also to promote excellence for the school. But how do they do this and what else is required?  On Thursday 20th February at 08:30 and 16:00 GMT, 9ine are speaking on this topic, providing more information on: 

• What the real short and longer term risks posed by AI are
• What controls schools should put in place to manage short term and longer term litigation
• How the school board can support the school and wider community in the responsible, ethical and legal use of AI

We will also be discussing a number of products and services that we offer at 9ine which can help schools in meeting their Artificial Intelligence  compliance requirements, specific solutions include: 

• 9ine Academy LMS: Our AI Pathway is your school's learning partner for AI ethics and governance. With differentiated course levels you can enrol staff in an Introductory course to AI, then for those staff with a greater responsibility, enrol them in Intermediate and Advanced courses. There’s also specialist courses for Ai in Safeguarding, Child Protection and technology. 
• Application Library: A solution that enables all staff to access a central searchable library of all EdTech in the school. The library contains all information staff need to know about the AI in use (if there is), privacy risks, safeguarding risks and cyber risks. With easy to add ‘How to’ and ‘Help’ guides, Application Library becomes a single, central digital resource. Through implementing Application Library your school will identify duplication in EdTech, reduce contract subscription costs and have a workflow for the request of new EdTech for staff to follow.
• Vendor Management: Removes the pain, and time, from evaluating and vetting third party vendor contracts, privacy notices, information security policies and other compliance documents. Vendor Management provides a thorough, ‘traffic light’ based approach to inform you of vendor privacy, cyber, AI, and safeguarding risks. Vendor Management supports you to demonstrate to parents, staff and regulators how you effectively evaluate and manage technology you choose to deploy.

9ine company overview

9ine equips schools to stay safe, secure and compliant. We give schools access to all the expertise they need to meet their technology, cyber, data privacy, governance, risk & compliance needs - in one simple to use platform. For additional information, please visit www.9ine.com or follow us on LinkedIn @9ine.