Harris Federation participates in hackathon to explore how AI could supercharge education
Harris Federation staff and students have participated in a two-day hackathon, a government-led initiative in collaboration with the National Institute of Teaching, to work towards unlocking the benefits of generative AI for students in England’s schools. This was the first-ever event of its type in education.
Over the course of the hackathon, Harris teachers, including the Federation consultant teachers who run our IT curriculum, and students from Harris Academy Wimbledon experimented with AI tools to understand their potential.
The government will now review the outcomes of the session, which involved teachers and students from a variety of trusts, with a view to delivering a demo of the best tools for schools across the country to test and use.
As part of the hackathon, our Senior Executive Principal & CEO, Sir Dan Moynihan, was interviewed by radio about the potential for generative AI in schools. He stressed that the personal interaction between teachers and children is irreplaceable but AI has the potential to free teachers from time-consuming administrative tasks and therefore enable them to spend significantly longer directly with pupils.
He added that AI has the potential to support even better education in schools through tools that enable staff to adapt teaching and resources to the exact characteristics of each student; for example if they have special needs or if they need to catch-up after being absent.