Alūksne school teaches students to use AI thoughtfully

An Alūksne school is teaching students to use artificial intelligence as a learning aid without letting it replace their own thinking, LSM reports.

Ernsta Glika Alūksnes Valsts ģimnāzija is one of 25 Latvian educational institutions taking part in a programme for schools leading on artificial intelligence. The school is exploring how to use the technology meaningfully in everyday lessons.

Twelfth-grade student Nata Tuvi uses AI to improve her English. She reads it a speech she has written, and the tool assesses her work and suggests improvements. Tuvi said it can help raise her writing to the C1 level she is currently studying.

She first tried AI about three years ago and now uses it more often for schoolwork. But she checks the information it provides because its answers are not always correct. Tuvi said it can offer individual feedback when a teacher is not immediately available, and students can compare the tool’s suggestions with a teacher’s advice.

School director Uva Grencione-Lapseniete said students should also learn when to use the technology and when to rely on their own knowledge. If students are assigned to prepare notes on a topic, some increasingly say they will ask a chatbot, she said, but they should start with the textbook.

In computer science lessons, eighth-graders are learning to build websites. Teacher Ivars Vīksna said AI can generate HTML code very well, but students need to understand the code first. The class spent the first months learning its structure before using AI to generate it.

One of the school’s main aims in the programme is to improve teachers’ skills. The school expects to use AI more widely in future, including by developing specialised assistants to support students’ learning.