DistantNews
Support us
🇦🇹 Austria /Technology

Wiederkehr wants to adapt school assessment because of AI

From Die Presse · () German

Translated from German and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Austria’s education ministry plans a new AI strategy covering permitted tools, examination rules and the use of AI in schools.
  • Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr wants to discuss giving schools more flexibility to assess students as AI reduces the value of homework.
  • The strategy is due to be published on Nov. 6 and will address both AI’s learning opportunities and its risks, including possible effects on mental health.

Homework no longer shows as clearly what students can do on their own, Austrian Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr says. As AI chatbots such as ChatGPT become widely used by young people, he wants schools to place greater weight on what happens in the classroom.

Testing, arguing together, presenting and discussing are becoming more important, Wiederkehr said. Those activities also make cheating much harder. He wants the education ministry’s new AI strategy to set out which tools students may use and what rules should apply during examinations.

It is also much more difficult to cheat there.

· Christoph WiederkehrThe Austrian education minister explained why classroom testing, argumentation and presentations should carry more weight.

Teachers currently have limited room to respond. In subjects such as mathematics, additional checks, including asking students to solve individual homework problems in class, are not allowed in written-exam subjects. AHS teachers’ union representative Georg Stockinger recently criticized those restrictions to the APA.

I also see a need to adapt the rules on assessment so that schools can set assessments more flexibly and autonomously.

· Christoph WiederkehrWiederkehr argued for greater freedom in how schools evaluate students.

Wiederkehr supports changes to Austria’s rules on student assessment so schools can act more flexibly and autonomously. The ministry has already begun considering possible changes, but he said the issue still needed broader discussion within the governing coalition because assessment is sensitive.

The new AI strategy is scheduled for publication on Nov. 6 and will be updated continuously. An advisory board made up of student, parent and teacher representatives and experts will address practical questions as well as the ministry’s general position on AI tools. Wiederkehr said students should learn about AI first, develop critical thinking and then learn with it. He also warned that uncritical use could harm both learning performance and mental health, particularly as many young people use AI before turning 14, including for social and psychological questions.

Our basic line is to learn about AI first, convey critical thinking and then learn with AI.

· Christoph WiederkehrHe described the approach he wants schools to take toward AI education.
About this summary

Originally published by Die Presse in German. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog