St Philip’s joins forces with South Korean delegation for AI project

St Philip’s School were delighted to host a delegation of teachers from South Korea as part of a joint initiative with Kingston University, Kingston Local Authority, the Department for Education and the South Korean Education Authorities. A group of 14 educators from South Korea took part in a conference on Artificial Intelligence in education hosted by Kingston University. Maths teacher Ms Mangat joined the conference alongside other teachers from the Kingston area to collaborate with the South Korean delegation.

They discussed the potential uses of AI in the classroom and also looked at possible pitfalls or problems that might arise from its use. Ms Mangat worked with a team of three teachers from South Korean to devise a lesson plan using AI that could be delivered to pupils at St Philip’s.

The lesson was about 2D shapes and introduced the work of the artist Kadinsky who could hear sound and colour in shapes. The pupils were then introduced to an AI programme called Suno which could create music after a few simple prompts such as the type of music – pop, jazz, rock, classical – and key words or phrases such as ‘a square has four faces and corners or vertices’. The AI then came up with music and lyrics helping to explain the ideas of 2D shapes. The pupils showcased their favourite AI composition and everyone agreed it was a really fun lesson.

As well as helping Ms Mangat deliver the AI lesson, the South Korean teachers also had a tour of the school with Mr Walsh and observed some lessons including a microscope practical in a science lesson. The teachers from South Korea, said it was interesting to see that the lesson at St Philip’s was very similar to one that would have been taught in their own school.

This is a pilot project and we have also had the opportunity to connect with a SEN school in South Korea. We hope it will develop into greater collaboration in the future and the team at St Philip’s are also excited about developing the use of AI in lessons.