A teacher wants pupils to use an AI assistant to improve a text. Before the activity begins, the school must decide which accounts they use, what work they may send and how they acknowledge the assistance. The choice of software cannot answer all of those questions.
A trial can define one teaching activity, review the data and provider, prepare the users and evaluate the results before extending use.
Define the learning activity
In this example, the teacher wants pupils to compare formulations and explain their choices. The assistant can suggest wording, but the pupil remains responsible for the text and the analysis. A precise instruction makes it possible to assess learning rather than only the final document.
The International Baccalaureate discusses AI in learning and assessment. Acknowledging assistance and preserving academic integrity are part of that work. They do not replace the school’s rules on data and accounts.
The activity specifies permitted uses. Asking for an explanation or comparing an argument differs from outsourcing the entire assignment. Pupils need a way to report an incorrect or inappropriate answer.
The school also considers pupils who cannot use the tool under the same conditions. Devices and accessibility matter, as do age-related restrictions. Those factors determine whether the exercise remains compatible with its educational purpose.
Choose the permitted data and accounts
A pupil’s text may contain a name, a personal experience or information about someone else. The teacher selects appropriate material and explains what must be removed before transmission. A fictitious example can avoid exposing unnecessary personal data.
The school then defines accounts and settings. A managed account helps organise access and removal, but does not establish every processing condition. Leadership examines the exact product and contract, including retention and any use of content for training models.
The University of Geneva Faculty of Science directive illustrates the need for explicit rules on personal and confidential information. It applies to that faculty; each school must establish rules based on its own status and activities.
Private schools generally use the federal FADP framework for private processing; state schools depend on cantonal law, with particular cases requiring examination. The article on private-school data protection explains that qualification. A pupil’s nationality alone does not determine the applicable law.
Check the service beyond its interface
The school identifies processing locations and technical access, including other providers involved. It examines deletion and account closure as well as exports and incident reporting.
Test accounts and test data verify the real settings. The exercise should include information visible to the wrong role and content sent by mistake. The team needs to know how to withdraw access and obtain the records required to investigate.
A short approved-tool list can reduce personal-account use when it covers the required work. A process for requesting a missing function lets the school understand needs before untracked alternatives develop.
Prepare people and evaluate the use
Training starts with the planned activity. Pupils learn to recognise limitations and acknowledge assistance. Teachers work through plausible errors and missing sources. Administrative staff receive examples appropriate to the records they handle.
Information for families describes the purpose and tools, the data involved and useful contacts. It must match the actual arrangement. A multilingual school may need several versions with the same rules.
| Decision | Record to keep |
|---|---|
| Educational purpose | Skill practised and expected pupil work |
| Tool use | Permitted assistance and work retained by the pupil |
| Data | Allowed content and information to exclude |
| Accounts and provider | Administration and processing conditions |
| Assessment | Success criteria and acknowledgement of assistance |
| Follow-up | Owner, reporting channel and review date |
After several sessions, the team examines whether pupils better understand the formulations and can explain their choices. It also observes access problems and the time teachers spend handling errors. Those findings can justify an adaptation or a narrower use.
AI then has a defined place in schoolwork. The establishment can explain the purpose, data and conditions under which the activity helps pupils. That coherence provides a basis for extending, changing or stopping the use.
Sources
The activity is an educational example. Cantonal policies and school rules, together with product terms, determine what is permitted in practice.