This is also the spirit emphasized at the launching ceremony of the OctoAI project, an initiative to apply AI in education to support Vietnamese teachers to master technology and bring AI into the classroom, on the morning of October 19 at Hanoi University of Science and Technology.
OctoAI is an initiative developed by STEAM for Vietnam and partners to expand the scale of teacher training using AI in teaching.
Mr. Tran Viet Hung, founder of STEAM for Vietnam, pointed out a fact: each year they only train AI for about 100,000 teachers, while the whole country has more than 2 million. At this rate, it will take 20 years to "upgrade" the team while AI changes every day.
Therefore, OctoAI uses a different approach, which is to use AI to train AI, helping to shorten the time to train a large number of teachers nationwide.
The project has attracted support from partners such as Meta, Hoc Mai, Vietnet-ICT and will be piloted with 5,000 teachers in the fourth quarter. The ultimate goal of the project is to have AI accessible to all teachers by 2026.
OctoAI is more than just a lesson planning tool. In the demo, the system can automatically create a complete course: from the program outline, lecture videos , slides, reference materials, practice exercises to exams - while collecting student interaction data to suggest personalized learning strategies.
These features help teachers save time on administration, focus on in-depth instruction, and expand learning opportunities for students in remote areas or those with special circumstances.
Sharing on the sidelines of the event, Mr. Tran Viet Hung emphasized the importance of two skills: problem-solving and critical thinking. He said that AI is essentially a tool and can only perform well the tasks set out when clearly described.
A problem-solving person will know how to identify the right requirements, set the right tasks, and assign the work to AI in a way that helps it produce useful results.
Meanwhile, the second skill - critical thinking - prevents us from falling into the trap of absolute trust: AI can be wrong, sometimes even "fabricating" information, so verifying, comparing and asking questions is indispensable.
According to the founder of STEAM for Vietnam, at the current stage, teachers should be the ones directly using AI, while students should access it indirectly through teachers.
The reason he gave was that AI is currently “not reliable enough for students to use independently”. Later, when the technology is safer, we can deploy the program for students to use directly.
The indirect approach is currently the safest option while still leveraging the power of AI.
AI offers huge opportunities to narrow educational inequality
Assessing the role of AI in education, Ms. Silvia Danailov, UNICEF Representative in Vietnam, said AI offers “a truly wonderful opportunity” for all children to have equitable and comprehensive access to digital technology – including children with disabilities, children in remote areas and ethnic minority children.
AI can personalize learning, opening doors for students who are underrepresented in formal education and at the same time providing an opportunity to increase girls’ access to STEM.
However, along with the opportunities come risks such as data privacy, online protection, accountability and transparency – factors that need to be tightly managed when deployed in schools.
From the perspective of a technical partner, Mr. Ruici Tio - Director of Meta Security Policy in the APAC region - pointed out that in order for AI tools to be truly useful in the Vietnamese educational environment, it is necessary to develop Vietnamese language models and resources that are suitable for the curriculum framework of the Ministry of Education and Training, instead of just "importing" complete foreign tools.
The process includes building local language data, AI literacy content, and then developing tools to deliver customized programs to teachers.
“AI is evolving so fast and we need to make sure we are providing core competencies and core training to teachers across Vietnam. Then they can bring its work and power to students,” said a Meta representative.
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/hai-ky-nang-song-con-de-song-chung-voi-tri-tue-nhan-tao-2454230.html
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