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606 – Empowering a Future-Ready Community: VSA’s Design-Driven Holistic AI Integration Framework for Primary Education

VSA's AI integration emphasizes a human centered, holistic and practical approach by embedding it within existing curriculum structures. Rather than overhauling current practices, AI is used to enhance learning and is integrated into current policies, and bilingual interdisciplinary units. A design thinking model focused on continuous improvement enables rapid adaptation and innovation. This approach stems from addressing a student-centered problem, which transformed the challenge of AI integration into an opportunity for innovation.
Building on our success using Design Thinking to develop digital citizenship progression and to address other needs throughout the school, we once again turn to this model to help us integrate AI responsibly and ethically. Design Thinking fosters empathy, iteration, and user-centered solutions, and is our preferred over purely tech-driven approaches. This iterative process cultivates creative capacity, empowering educators and students as active agents of change and emphasizing growth.
Our unique school identity and the practical implementation and application of our approach makes our framework unique from others. It is a key differentiator to other projects. Professional development and AI tool exploration have empowered initial learners to share their knowledge and become leaders. We have already seen these promising results in the early stages of our initiative.

Key innovations include:
AI Literacy Scope & Sequence: A Year 1-5 transdisciplinary integration via Units of Inquiry (UOI), aligned with UNESCO standards and SAMR/TPACK frameworks. It connects academic, social-emotional, and AI navigation skills, and is re-evaluated annually.
Human Centered & Community-Driven: The establishment of AI committees for parents and teachers, and AI clubs for students. The initiative is focused on connecting with the broader Hong Kong community and AI experts to drive experimentation and academic rigor.
Balancing Creativity & Consistency: The framework balances consistency in foundational AI education with creative agency for teachers and students.
Transdisciplinary Integration: AI is integrated across the curriculum, enhancing relevance, unlike siloed approaches.
Dynamic Adaptation and Growth: This involves continuous reflection and framework adaptation to incorporate advancements and professional development, fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing.

The catalyst for our focus on AI in education is best summarized by an experience our Technology and Innovation Coach had with a student using the technology. The student had, unknowingly to his teacher, employed AI not only for sophisticated questioning but also for completing assignments, revealing both the allure and the potential pitfalls of this technology. When discovered, his apprehension highlighted the ethical complexities. He got emotional and afraid of getting in trouble, unsure if he was allowed to use it but unaware of the safety of using it. This raised a crucial question: As a community of educators, admin and parents, are we equipped to help guide students through this? This incident made it clear that we couldn't ignore AI; we had to integrate it thoughtfully into our IB programs. This realization prompted us to adopt a more adaptable and context-aware approach, one that actively involves stakeholders in shaping how we prepare students for an AI-driven world, and to explore the opportunity to empower the student to use AI to enhance learning.

Hypothesis and Rationale

Our model is based on several interconnected premises:
We hypothesize that a community-led approach to AI integration, with input from educators, parents, students, and professionals, will foster ownership and responsibility regarding AI use. Educating our community means educating our students, and this approach is relevant, practical, and has buy-in from the community.
We believe that aligning AI literacy with the IB, integrating into the transdisciplinary Units of Inquiry (UOI), and connecting them to digital citizenship, attributes of learning and social-emotional learning. This is important because it ensures that AI education is not an isolated subject, but rather a skill that is developed across the curriculum, making it more meaningful and applicable for students.
We propose that teacher-led experimentation with AI tools will build teacher confidence, AI literacy, and interest, which will foster creative agency in AI implementation. Creative agency for teachers is core, empowering them to explore, share, and inspire others. It leads to cultivating creative agency in students. Creative agency fosters a culture of innovation, and a clear vision provides purpose.
These hypotheses will succeed because they address the challenges of context-specific adaptation, ethics, and the need to empower students and teachers, while fostering a holistic framework. A shared vision and purposeful change will work best.

The VSA primary school's AI framework is designed with feasibility and functionality in mind. It leverages AI tools for educational activities like research, writing, and image creation, and uses models like SAMR/TPACK to assess implementation. Resources include professional development for staff and parents, an AI committee, and dedicated time and space.

Core functionalities focus on integrating AI literacy across the curriculum, promoting ethical AI use, and developing creativity and problem-solving skills. The framework aims for clear guidance and consistency in AI education throughout primary years at VSA.

A human-centered approach prioritizes safe learning environments, with continuous assessment to ensure effectiveness and relevance.

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The VSA’s Design & Holistic AI Integration Framework represents an innovative and creative solution to the challenges of integrating AI in primary education by:
Addressing a real-world problem: The framework directly tackles the problem of how to responsibly and effectively integrate AI into schools, acknowledging the fears and challenges of students, teachers, and parents.
Taking a holistic approach: It goes beyond simply teaching AI tools. It includes ethical considerations, digital citizenship, and the development of 21st-century skills.
Emphasizing community and collaboration: The framework stresses the importance of involving all stakeholders—teachers, parents, students, and administrators—in the process.
Promoting consistency and creative agency: It balances the need for a structured approach with the importance of fostering creativity and innovation in both teachers and students.

The project demonstrates innovation and creativity through:
Design Thinking: VSA uses a Design Thinking approach, which is inherently a creative problem-solving approach, to develop and implement the framework.
Transdisciplinary integration: AI is integrated across different subjects, promoting a connected and relevant learning experience across all subjects.
Focus on ethical AI use and digital citizenship: The project creatively addresses the ethical implications of AI, ensuring students are responsible and thoughtful users of the technology.
Empowering community: By providing professional development and encouraging collaboration, the project empowers teachers to creatively incorporate AI into their teaching.

These elements enhance the framework's effectiveness by:
Relevance: Addressing real concerns and preparing students for the future.
Engagement: Fostering creativity and collaboration makes learning more engaging for both students and teachers.
Responsibility: Emphasizing ethical considerations ensures AI is used in a safe and responsible manner.
Sustainability: The framework is designed for continuous improvement and adaptation, making it sustainable in the face of rapid technological change.

Scalability Strategies:
Modular UOI Integration: Developing AI-integrated lessons in coordination with existing Units of Inquiry (UOI) allows for flexible adaptation and expansion to new grade levels or subject areas.
AI Ambassador Program & Teacher/Parent committees: Training teacher ambassadors fosters a culture of AI fluency and provides a support network for wider implementation across the school and potentially to other institutions.
School Networking: Sharing best practices and experiences with other schools through events like the AI Trailblazers event facilitates the adoption of the model in new contexts.
Community and Collaboration: Building strong communities that include teachers, students, and parents. This collaborative model can facilitate the spread of the program.

Addressing Potential Bottlenecks:
Phased PD: Providing differentiated professional development (PD) tailored to teachers' varying levels of AI understanding and confidence helps address the bottleneck of teacher readiness.

Sustainability Mechanisms:
VSA Primary School emphasizes several mechanisms to ensure the long-term sustainability of its AI integration project:
AI Growth Portfolios: Tracking student progress from Year 1 to Year 5 ensures consistent and equitable AI learning and development, creating a sustainable foundation for future growth.
Self-Renewing Framework: Employing annual design-thinking cycles to update the AI framework, curriculum, and standards ensures that the project remains current and adaptable to evolving needs.
Relevance and Purpose: Equipping students with skills for an AI-driven world maintains engagement.
Creativity and Agency: Fostering creativity and providing agency increases motivation
Continuous Improvement: Ongoing reflection and adaptation ensure the framework's continued relevance.

VSA Primary School's AI integration project addresses social issues, enhances lives, and aligns with broader social goals in the following ways:
Addressing Social Issues: The project directly addresses the social issue of preparing students and the community for an AI-driven world. It aims to equip them with the knowledge and skills to use AI creatively and responsibly, fostering ethical considerations and digital citizenship.
Enhancing Lives of Beneficiaries: By integrating AI education, the project enhances the lives of its primary beneficiaries—students, teachers, and parents—by:
Empowering students with AI literacy, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills, enabling them to thrive in the 21st century.
Providing teachers with professional development and resources to effectively incorporate AI into their teaching practices.
Engaging parents in the learning process and fostering a shared understanding of AI's role in education.
Alignment with Social Goals: The project aligns with broader social goals such as equity and inclusion by:
Ensuring that all students, regardless of background, have access to quality AI education.
Promoting a human-centered approach to AI integration, emphasizing ethical considerations and responsible use.
Fostering a culture of collaboration and knowledge sharing among all stakeholders.

VSA Primary School intends to measure the social impact of its AI integration project and ensure responsiveness to the evolving needs of the community through several metrics and strategies:
Regularly evaluating the effectiveness of AI initiatives.
Adapting the framework to incorporate the latest advancements and best practices.
Investing in ongoing professional development for educators.
Fostering a culture of collaboration and knowledge sharing within the community.

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