Singapore – The teachers here are one of the most active users in the world of AI (AI) in education, with 75% of them using it to teach and support students' learning.
This is more than twice the 36% of the overseas counterparts, according to the results.
New Global Education Survey released on October 7th
.
Teachers in Singapore also believe that AI has its advantages. 82% agree that using such tools will help them develop or improve lesson plans, while 74% agree that AI can automate administrative tasks.
Overall, the findings from the latest International Survey on Educational Learning (TALIS) show that teachers here are extremely sensitive to digital technology. The best global AI.
A study of teachers around the world is being conducted by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to help countries consider policies to improve their education professions. This report provides information on teachers' education and professional development, their workloads, educational beliefs and educational practices.
Approximately 3,500 teachers and principals from 145 junior high schools in Singapore and 10 private junior high schools were voted between April and August 2024.
Overall, 194,000 teachers from 55 education systems participated in the survey.
This is Singapore's third time participating in the survey after previous rounds in 2013 and 2018. This survey is conducted every 5-6 years.
This edition is the first to examine the use of AI teachers in teaching and learning, as well as the adoption of online and hybrid teaching methods.
Teachers in Singapore most frequently use AI to learn and summarise topics (77%) efficiently, generate student feedback or communication with parents (69%), create lesson plans or activities (65%), and the survey found.
This is followed by 40% of teachers using AI to help students practice new skills in real-world scenarios, automatically adjusting the difficulty of lesson materials according to the student's needs, at the same rate and at the same rate.
AI has not been used to assess or mark students' jobs (34%), review data on student participation or performance (28%), and support students with special education needs (16%).
Such tools used by teachers are of their range
Developed by the Ministry of Education
– Learning Feedback Assistant, Adaptive Learning Systems, and Lesson Planning Tools – Commercial use such as ChatGpt and Prperxity AI.
Speaking to the media about the findings, Moe's Education Director Liew Wei Li said it was encouraging that Singaporean teachers can incorporate AI into education, despite their fairly newness.
“They also use it to increase work productivity and analyze how students learn,” she added.
Talis' study found that 81% of Singapore teachers worked in schools that conducted online or hybrid lesson modes. This is one of the highest adoption rates for such teaching methods compared to the average OECD 16%.
Hybrid mode refers to formats such as home-based learning, which has been a regular feature of schools since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Teachers in Singapore reported working average 47.3 hours a week, up slightly from 46 hours in 2018, exceeding the OECD average of 41 hours.
Lesson preparation time rose 0.9 hours to 8.2 hours per week, but time spent on time fell from 7.5 hours to 6.4 hours. The management task was stable in about 4 hours.
A Moe spokesman said, “It takes time and effort for teachers to learn new tools, integrate them into practice, and continually improve.”
He added that the ministry only tracks usage and tracks time saved from using these tools. “It is difficult to estimate net time saved from AI use, given that teachers are likely to fill in the time saved by engaging in other meaningful activities.”
Mrs. Helen Tan-Lee, principal of Hillgrove Middle School, said most teachers use AI in both education and administrative tasks, including generating the first draft of parental communication, matching survey responses, and keeping them up to date on educational trends.
Although some teachers initially face challenges with learning new tools, she said, peer sharing sessions and more training helped them adapt.
Sabrina Soh, a secondary teacher from Hillgrove, uses AI primarily for brainstorming, providing immediate feedback to students or obtaining quick snapshots of student responses.
She also uses AI to design engaging lessons, including generating visuals, storylines, and real-world scenarios. “Now I can quickly generate multiple drafts and spend time refined the best drafts,” she said.
Moe's feedback assistant will free her to reduce the burden on the mark, give students instant feedback, and free her to spend time interacting with students, more accurate markings, and professional collaboration with colleagues.
While teachers in Singapore employ a strong technology, fewer people feel confident in supporting students with special educational needs.
The number of teachers here is a small -38%, compared to an average of 62% in the OECD – we feel that we can design learning tasks or “lots” suitable for students with special educational needs.
55% say they can work with other experts and staff to teach such students to similar beings below the OECD average of 72%.
