Alloprof and artificial intelligence in education

AI has been the subject of much discussion in recent years, particularly since the rise in popularity of conversational agents such as ChatGPT and Gemini (generative AI). But what exactly is it? AI is designed to replicate processes usually carried out by human intelligence through the execution of complex mathematical calculations known as algorithms. These algorithms ‘train’ themselves using data – vast amounts of data! – and rules that make them more effective.

AI has been around us for a long time. It personalizes what we see on social media and streaming platforms. It also calculates our GPS routes and coordinates bike-share and car-sharing services, to name just a few examples.

In the field of education, AI has many potential benefits. This is notably so for students facing greater difficulties, especially when it comes to adapting and personalising educational content. For example, AI allows learning tools to be tailored to a student’s specific needs, challenges and pace, thereby complementing human support. For teaching staff, AI can perform repetitive tasks or help generate new educational ideas, freeing up valuable time and allowing teachers to focus on high-impact activities with those students who need it most. 

Alloprof offers several tools that make strategic use of AI, always with the aim of supporting students in their learning and making our resources more accessible to everyone.

For example, in addition to algorithms that recommend the most relevant content when searching the site, Alloprof uses smart summaries that provide quick answers to student questions. Smart summaries deploy an AI that searches through the most relevant content on Alloprof to answer a student’s question and generates a summary, citing its sources. This tool extracts the key points from the relevant resources and allows students to get answers quickly so they can focus on their current task and avoid becoming discouraged. As the information is drawn directly from resources designed by our team of teachers, the answers provided are better suited to students in the Quebec school system than those provided through a different search engine. To encourage thoughtful use, the number of monthly summaries is limited via the Alloprof account.

In our Parcours, a virtual assistant is available on demand to help students complete their tasks and achieve greater independence. The assistant’s interactions are limited and tailored to the current exercise to ensure students remain focused on their work. Some interactions use AI, notably to generate examples to aid the student’s understanding in a context of explicit instruction.

Speech recognition uses AI to analyze voice commands. This tool facilitates access to Alloprof’s content for students who have difficulty putting their thoughts into writing.

AI also helps younger children read the texts in certain games or concept sheets. Thanks to text-to-speech, the text is read aloud to help them understand.

To find out more about these AI tools and how they can support students with learning difficulties, read this article.
 

Alloprof stands out for the high quality of our educational content, all of it carefully written by our team of specialist teachers.

We are currently exploring how AI might speed up small-scale content creation. For example, by generating additional exercises so students can continue to practice. As with all our initiatives, our educational experts remain at the heart of the development process: they are the ones who draw up the instructions for the AI and systematically review every piece of content before it goes live.

This is already the case in some of our educational tools, such as the story mode in the Verbivore game and the interactive Pronoms exercise.

To save teachers precious time, we have also developed teaching assistants to generate writing tasks and dictations based on specific instructions. This project is the result of an interdisciplinary collaboration between our technical and educational teams, aimed at producing high-quality results while maintaining teacher agency.

Alloprof now offers a variety of AI-related content for students, teachers and parents alike. This content serves to educate on the various applications of AI in education and to provide practical tools to better understand AI and use it effectively. It also serves to explain, in a fully transparent manner, how Alloprof integrates AI into its products.

Parents’ Guide

Teachers’ Guide

Students’ Guide

Alloprof has been exploring ways AI might better support the academic success of students in Quebec for many years. Our team, with its diverse expertise in teaching methodology, digital development and research (among many other areas) works closely with experienced partners to ensure that every step forward supports our mission. At every stage, we ensure that our solutions align with our values and contribute to a genuine social project. To this end, our development approach is based on three key pillars.

To ensure that our technological projects are carefully thought through and implemented, Alloprof has adopted an ethical charter on AI, which is available for consultation here.

As part of our commitment to the responsible integration of AI, we are mindful of the environmental impacts associated with digital technology. We take care to select AI models and operational processes that strike the right balance between energy consumption while maintaining the high educational quality of our products. Any use of technology, including AI, is rigorously justified by assessing its potential impact on improving student learning.

The quality of our resources and the accuracy of our content have always been Alloprof’s top priorities. AI alone cannot solve all academic challenges, but it’s an additional tool in our efforts to support and encourage students in Quebec.

Any further questions?
Would you like to know more about AI and Alloprof, or do you have any questions or suggestions? Get in touch with us!