Welcome to this week's newsletter from viden.ai, where we dive into the latest debate and knowledge about artificial intelligence in the education system.
Last week, AI was significantly focused on schools and during exams. Right now, it seems that a backlash is developing against the Ministry of Children and Education's (BUVM) work on new examinations, which either focus on paper and pencil or a single trial subject in hhx, where AI is included in the examination.
Danske Gymnasier has conducted a survey among high school principals from stx and hf. They believe that BUVM's work is progressing too slowly, is out of touch with the times, and does not solve the problems that teachers face in their daily lives. Based on the survey, the chairperson of Danske Gymnasier, Maja Bødtcher-Hansen, points out in an opinion piece on Altinget the marked discrepancy between BUVM and the reality prevailing in schools.
We link to the underlying survey to see what the principals think.
At the same time, several high schools and teachers express challenges with AI in teaching. It is impossible to see whether the student or an AI wrote the assignment, and it is up to the school to handle the challenge. Thomas Kepler, chair of the Teachers' Association of High Schools, also calls for new examinations.
High school teacher Bodil-Marie Gade also expresses frustration over the lack of clear guidelines for using AI in teaching. She called for action and fears that the focus on the epx reform will delay necessary measures.
The former Minister of Education, Merete Riisager (LA), has also criticized the way AI is handled by the Minister of Education Mattias Tesfaye in Kristeligt Dagblad. According to Merete Riisager, the problem lies in the shift from curriculum to competency goals in the 1990s, which reduced education to functional skills. She calls for a break with the competency mindset.
Dorte Ågård argues on LinkedIn that schools should not be a copy of reality, but a training ground where students develop the skills they need, also to be able to use AI.
The challenges mentioned above are also present in Norway, where the Norwegian professor Morten Goodwin argues for developing new assessment forms that reduce dependence on technology. He also believes that AI should be allowed in more exams, especially in subjects where technology plays a significant role.
Mikkel Aslak points out in a blog post that teachers are not trained to work with AI, but in the future, they will need to understand and use the technology.
Last week, we investigated what happened in the entire SkoleGPT case and wrote a post about it.
In the newsletter, you can also read about:
- SIG webinar at IT-Vest, where we (Claus and Per) talk about what happens when AI conducts web searches. It will be fast-paced, and we ask whether we are heading into a knowledge crisis.
- A new book focusing on AI in schools provides a practical insight into how to work with the technology.
- OpenAI has launched a new generation of audio models and a website to test them yourself.
- Assistant Professor Nanna Inie from the IT University researches how generative AI can affect and possibly weaken critical thinking and creativity. In April, she will present a talk titled "The Cognitive Costs of AI".
Additionally, you will find this week's other news.
Happy reading!
Principals want AI integrated in both teaching and exams
According to a new survey from Danske Gymnasier among high school principals on STX and HF, there is unanimous support for students learning to use and engage with generative AI in teaching. It is striking that all principals believe students should learn to use and engage with AI. At the same time, 90% of the principals want examination forms that are more process-oriented and closer to the reality that students will face after high school, including exams where the use of digital aids and AI is permitted.
One point highlighted by the principals is that AI is an integral part of society, students' everyday lives, and their future study and working lives, and therefore also part of the school's educational mission.
Other points from the survey include:
- 76% of principals believe they have the management skills to handle AI.
- 71% want a mandatory subject in understanding digital technology.
- 48% believe that STUK's recommendations are sufficient.
- 96% of schools encourage teachers to explore opportunities for using AI in teaching.
The survey demonstrates a significant desire among high school administrations for a new approach to teaching and examinations, where AI is not seen as a threat but as a tool that students must learn to use responsibly.
Danske Gymnasier criticizes the return to paper and pencil
In an opinion piece, Maja Bødtcher-Hansen, chair of Danske Gymnasier, criticizes the Danish Minister of Children and Education, Mattias Tesfaye's decision to return to paper and pencil for exams as a reaction to the challenges posed by AI. She believes this setback does not match the reality that students must be prepared for.
This is especially true when existing and upcoming examination forms are analog with pen and paper or digital with artificial limitations. For instance, digital text boxes are designed without the possibility of copying or using aids. These limitations risk making the exams more superficial and less conducive to learning.
She acknowledges that the minister has initiated a pilot project with AI in the subject of marketing at hhx, but points out that it does not include stx and hf, where most students go. Therefore, she calls for broader development and experimental work, where high schools are actively involved in developing future examination forms.
She also warns against letting technological fear and control technology dictate examination forms. The focus should instead be on what students need to be able to do, not which tools they should go without. She urges the minister to rethink the examination system to become more current and better support students' genuine learning and study preparation.
Read the membership survey here:
AI challenges fairness in written exams
Several high schools and teachers express increasing concern over using AI in written assignments, making it difficult for teachers to assess whether students have completed the tasks themselves. Despite existing guidelines from the Ministry of Education, it is still up to individual schools to manage the challenges of AI, which is perceived as insufficient.
The Teachers' Association of High Schools, with chairman Thomas Kepler at the helm, calls for new examination forms to address these challenges better. The proposals include either completely analog exams or examinations where AI is integrated as part of the task, preparing students realistically for future demands in the job market.
Principal Anna Amby Frejbæk emphasizes the need for more comprehensive solutions and believes it is contradictory for students to learn to use AI while simultaneously banned in exams.
Minister of Education Mattias Tesfaye acknowledges the problem and states that new examination forms are coming, including a return to paper and pencil in some subjects. However, he points out that decentralized leadership is a strength in the Danish school system, although it also places significant responsibility on individual schools.
Tesfaye believes the ministry has responded quickly, including establishing an expert group and implementing the first changes in examination practices, which are now being rolled out in language subjects. Nevertheless, both teachers and principals agree that progress is too slow.
Teachers call for clear national frameworks for AI in teaching
In an opinion piece in Jyllands-Posten, high school teacher and member of the main board of the Teachers' Association of High Schools, Bodil-Marie Gade, expresses excellent frustration over the lack of clear guidelines for using AI in teaching. She especially highlights the problems for high school students' more significant written assignment (SSO), which is not followed up by an oral defense, unlike the SRP in high school. This makes it difficult for teachers and examiners to assess whether the submitted work is the student’s own or if it was generated with AI.
Bodil-Marie Gade points out that this is the third year SSO is written in a new reality where tools like ChatGPT have made cheating significantly easier for students. She reports that again this year, as an examiner, she suspects assignments with AI-generated content, and that the current system is not equipped to handle the situation. This feels unreasonable - both for the educators and especially for the students who follow the rules and attempt to learn.
The opinion piece raises the question of why there has not yet been an oral defense introduced in HF, even though the need has been recognized for a long time. She suggests that the focus has instead been on working with the epx reform, which has created concern in the high school sector and risks delaying other necessary measures. As the reform abolishes HF from 2030, she fears that there will be a complete neglect to improve the conditions for SSO, even though many students will continue to have to write the assignment in the coming years.
According to Bodil-Marie Gade, the current situation creates an unfair distortion between students who use AI to cheat and those who do not. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that AI tools are easily accessible and no longer require technical insight to be used.
Merete Riisager: AI requires a break with the competency mindset and a revival of formation
Merete Riisager, former Minister of Education, criticizes how AI is handled in the Danish education system. She supports Education Minister Mattias Tesfaye's decision to reintroduce analog exams in specific subjects, but believes that it is an insufficient response to the challenges posed by AI.
She points out that the problem runs deeper than the technology. With the shift from curriculum to competency goals in the 1990s, according to Riisager, there has been a loss of academic content, as knowledge and content have been deprioritized. This has made students more vulnerable to digital shortcuts like ChatGPT.
Merete Riisager emphasizes the importance of formation and academic training, such as reading entire books, as it strengthens professionalism and the ability to understand the world. She warns against reducing education to functional skills and sees AI as a risk for displacing deeper learning.
She calls for a break with the competency mindset and greater resilience against AI in teaching. If we uncritically accept that students use AI to find answers without understanding, we risk, according to Riisager, a society without formation and a common knowledge foundation.
Schools should not necessarily reflect reality
Dorte Ågård argues in an opinion piece on LinkedIn that it is a misunderstanding to believe that schools should reflect reality 1:1, especially in the discussion about generative AI. She acknowledges that teaching students to relate to and use AI is essential, as the technology is an integral part of society and the future job market. However, she warns against the misconception that schools, for that reason, must get rid of pen and paper or analog teaching and examination forms. According to Dorte Ågård, students must be given time and space to think independently, including through paper assignments and without using digital aids. Students who are not allowed to build these foundational skills will lack the necessary prerequisites to use AI later in life.
Dorte Ågård writes that teaching without using AI is not a surrender. On the contrary, a balanced and conscious application—and rejection—of technology is the way forward if we want to strengthen students' learning and formation.
More exams should allow the use of AI - not ban it
The Norwegian professor Morten Goodwin Khronoaimed at higher education educators, researchers, and administrative staff.
He argues that AI should be expanded to more exams, especially in subjects where technology plays a significant role, such as psychology, law, and philosophy. Instead of combating AI cheating with bans, he believes that the education sector should teach students responsible use and simultaneously develop new assessment forms that reduce dependence on technology. He mentions reflection notes, oral examinations, and personal analyses as suitable alternatives.
Goodwin points out that AI is already revolutionizing academic work—especially in literature understanding, data analysis, and idea development—and he describes the technology as a “sloppy but effective assistant” that should be used critically and thoughtfully.
All educators must be able to work with AI
Mikkel Aslak argues on his blog that the biggest challenge with AI in schools is not only teaching students about the technology but also ensuring that all educators understand, use, and can teach with AI.
He acknowledges that this is an ambitious goal, as technological changes often face resistance, particularly in a time focused on reducing screen time. Despite this resistance, he is optimistic because AI, especially in the form of chatbots, is easily accessible, already widespread in everyday life, and makes sense in both the work of teachers and in teaching.
Mikkel Aslak emphasizes that understanding and using AI will be essential for both students' job opportunities and their life skills in the future. He also points out that teachers will adopt AI at different paces, which should be respected. However, everyone in schools should have a basic understanding of AI.
The SkoleGPT debate: Between safety and learning
The issue surrounding SkoleGPT shows that the lack of systematic AI education and the absence of democratically regulated models pose a more significant challenge than the technology itself.
Read the post here:
Webinar on AI-generated web search - challenges and opportunities for education
On Monday, April 28, from 15:30 to 16:30, IT-vest invites you to a SIG webinar titled "AI-generated web search: challenges and opportunities for education." The focus of the webinar is on how artificial intelligence is about to revolutionize the way we search and process information online.
The webinar is aimed at educators and others interested in how generative AI can be integrated into teaching to support the development of critical source skills, creativity, and collaboration.
Read more about the webinar and find registration here:
New book: AI in schools - and the use of language models in teaching
The use of AI and language models like ChatGPT challenges classical teaching and potentially enhances learning, differentiation, and creativity. This leaves many teachers questioning how AI can be meaningfully and responsibly integrated, and what role the teacher has when technology plays an active role in teaching.
A new book provides practical insight into how educators in primary schools and youth education can use AI in the classroom.
OpenAI launches advanced audio models for speech recognition and generation
OpenAI has introduced a new generation of audio models in their API, now available globally. The latest models enhance speech-to-text and text-to-speech functionality and are designed to support the development of voice-based AI agents that can communicate. They are naturally, accurately, and with greater emotional nuance.
At the same time, they have launched a website where users can test the models themselves.
Using generative AI can weaken critical thinking
DataTech has written a longer article reviewing new research from Microsoft Research and Carnegie Mellon University. The study shows that while generative AI increases efficiency, it can also lead to users losing the ability to critically reflect and creatively solve problems. According to the researchers, there is a risk of becoming too dependent on AI solutions that are often only "good enough," which can lead to academic decline and reduced learning outcomes.
Assistant Professor Nanna Inie from the IT University of Copenhagen supports these conclusions and plans to explore the phenomenon further in a larger research project.
According to several studies, a central issue is that GenAI users exhibit design fixation - a tendency to stick within the AI's suggestions rather than developing new solutions themselves. This hampers creativity and reflection and can lead to a preference for "good enough" solutions instead of pursuing better alternatives. This is linked to the concept of hyperbolic discounting, where one opts for the quick solution over a better but more time-consuming one.
Nanna Inie calls for more knowledge on when AI creates real value and produces more output without corresponding quality.
In April, she will present a talk on “The Cognitive Costs of AI” during Research Day.
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