How educators can ride the AI revolution

The Future Skills Centre – Centre des Compétences futures (FSC-CCF) is a forward-thinkingcentre for research and collaboration dedicated to preparing Canadians for employmentsuccess. We believe Canadians should feel confident about the skills they have to succeedin a changing workforce. As a pan-Canadian community, we are collaborating to rigorously The Future Skills Centre was founded by a consortium whose members areToronto Metropolitan University, Blueprint, and The Conference Board of Canada. If you would like to learn more about this report and other skills research from FSC,visit us at fsc-ccf.ca or contact info@fsc-ccf.ca. Contents 4Key findings5Playing catch-up6Uncertainty in the classroom9AI use improves teaching11Educators worry about academic dishonesty 13Optimism and concern14Implications for post-secondary institutions 18Appendix BBibliography Key findings •Educators are unsure how to handle generative AI. Most ofthem have neither explicitly allowed nor banned student useof this technology. Eighty per cent said they had not received •The need for training is top of mind among educators—both •Most educators have not used generative AI in theirteaching practice. •Top concerns surrounding generative AI include its use forcheating and submission of unoriginal work and its potential Educators are less likely to oppose student use of generativeAI for secondary tasks like translation, general research andknowledge acquisition, and grammar assistance. Educators who use generative AI more frequently tend to bemore optimistic about AI’s integration in teaching and learning.However, they remain concerned about the ethical implications Playing catch-up With increasingly powerful generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools available tostudents, post-secondary institutions (PSIs) have been playing catch-up to adapt How are educators at Canadian PSIs responding to the ongoingAI revolution? In this data briefing, we investigate their perspectiveson and experiences with generative AI use for teaching and In June 2023, six months after the release of ChatGPT, less thanhalf of the world’s top 50 universities (ranked by Times HigherEducation) had publicly available guidelines addressing generativeAI.1In Canada, only 23 per cent of public PSIs had guidelines inthe fall of 2023.2Among these, 71 per cent let instructors decide learning. We draw on our national survey of 402 educators7fieldedin December 2023 and January 2024 (see Appendix A) to provide In this context of uncertainty, “old-school” forms of studentevaluation, such as oral examinations and pen-and-paper tests, regained some popularity among educators.3,4However, there isan increasing push toward embracing generative AI in teachingand learning settings, with a parallel focus on the development Uncertainty in the classroom More than half of educators have not explicitly allowed studentsto use generative AI for coursework or learning (see Chart 1).One in five allow it for learning purposes only, and fewer than However, most educators have not explicitly banned AI (see Chart 2)and there are differences between educators across fields ofinstruction. Up to 71 per cent of engineering educators allow students Most educators have not banned student use of generative AI Most educators have not allowed students to use generative AI Q:Have you explicitly allowed or encouraged student use of generative AIfor coursework or learning purposes? (n = 402) Q:Have you explicitly banned student use of generative AI for courseworkor learning purposes? (n = 402) The need for guidance The vast majority of educators have not received guidance ortraining on generative AI from their institution or may be unawareof resources available to them (see Chart 3). This suggests that Training is top of mind among educators Q:On a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree), indicate your levelof agreement with the following statements: (n = 402)(per cent) Indeed, educators are keen to receive generative AI training, andfew of them believe they have the knowledge and skills neededto effectively use these new tools (see Table 1). They also stress Chart 3 Most educators have not received formal guidance or training Q:Have you ever received formal guidance or training from your institutionon how to effectively use generative AI for academic purposes? (n = 402)(per cent) Most educators report rarely or never using generative AI tools(see Chart 4). Interestingly, those who use AI more frequently aremore likely to agree on the need for formal training compared with Educators who use AI more frequently are also more likely tosay they have the knowledge and skills needed to use these tools Educators who use AI more frequently emphasize the need for training(percentage of educators who agree with the statements, by how frequently they use AI; n = 402) Q:Over the past year, how often have you used generative AI tools to help youwith tasks related to