Green light for six new co-creation projects

Cross-team collaboration 

Based on this, NOLAI is looking for relevant scientists and a company that want to develop and research a prototype together with a school. Co-creation director Kim Brandes: “Unique this year is a project that forms a continuous line from upper primary to secondary education. We received the same question from a primary school board and a secondary school board, and we are working together with them to develop a tool for reading comprehension. Another special feature of this round is that we are not only encountering different themes, but also different forms of AI. For example, in a project on mind mapping, we are using image-generating as smart technology.” 

Starting in September, six co-creation teams will begin working on the following topics:

1. Increasing motivation to speak with AI

How can a task-oriented spoken AI chatbot support teachers in teaching modern foreign languages (MFL)? And, how does this bot help lower secondary school students to really learn to communicate in a foreign language? 

The aim of this project is to develop a task-oriented AI-based speech bot that helps secondary school pupils to practise their MFL conversation skills in a safe, individual environment. The AI bot will function as a conversation partner with which the students can practise freely without any social pressure or fear of making mistakes. This will help to reduce fear of speaking and it will improve speaking skills in languages like German, French and English. 

Together with A. Roland Holst college, Universiteit van Amsterdam, HAN University of Applied Sciences, Nxt Phase AI. 

#secondaryeducation #studentsupport #languageeducation  

2. Improving presentation skills with AI

How can AI-driven technology provide secondary school students with automated feedback and effectively support them in developing presentation skills and reducing presentation anxiety? 

The development objective of this project is to further develop a prototype (Honest Mirror: developed for tertiary education) to make it suitable for secondary education. The AI model will be refined to provide feedback to the target group on body language and voice use. Further development is focused on making the prototype suitable for integration into teaching practice. 

Together with College de Heemlanden, Anna van Rijn College, Hogeschool Utrecht, Universiteit Utrecht, NOLAI.

#secondaryeducation #studentsupport 

3. begrAIp: supporting text comprehension with AI

How can AI be used to support pupils in years 7 and 8, and the broad transition year, in terms of the cognitive and linguistic factors that are needed for reading comprehension? And, how can AI technology give teachers insight into the cognitive and linguistic factors that cause students to get stuck in the reading process? 

The aim of this project is to develop an AI reading environment with four core components: 

• AI support: support for the cognitive process through contextual and interactive support based on automatically generated content. 
• Data collection: real-time registration of reading time, clicking behaviour, looking behaviour, text interactions and use of AI functionalities. 
• AI insights: insight in elements of the cognitive process, such as vocabulary, strategy use and text comprehension based on dynamic student models. 
• Adaptivity: adaptive AI support based on the student models, where teachers retain the ability to turn the functionalities on or off. 

Together with Nestas scholengroep, Portus scholengroep, Radboud Universiteit, Immer.

#primaryeducation #secondaryeducation #languageeducation #teachersupport 

4. mAIndmap: learning words visually with AI

How can an AI-supported interactive mind map tool improve teacher-led vocabulary education for primary school students in years 1 to 3? 

The objective is to develop an interactive mind map tool aimed at broadening and deepening Dutch vocabulary in pupils in years 1 to 3 with the following functionalities in the prototype: 

• A user-friendly mind map interface for primary school teachers 
• Automatic age-appropriate selection of concepts 
• Sorting concepts on the mind map without reinforcing stereotypes 
• Visualisation of the concepts through age-appropriate images that can change over time 
• Generation of appropriate assignments on the screen, in print and on tablets 

Together with ATO scholenkring, Donders Centre for Cognition, University of Twente, Prowise.

#primaryeducation #teachersupport 

5. Filling in and maintaining OPPs with AI

How can AI support education professionals with filling in and maintaining the accountability section of OPPs; does this reduce their workload, and does it guarantee and potentially improve the quality of OPPs? 

The development goals are: 

• To provide insight into how OPPs are completed in practice and to reach a consensus on criteria that can be used to assess the quality of OPPs. 
• To create an AI model that can automatically complete a first version of an integrative picture of the OPP for further editing by the relevant education professional. 
• To develop an AI chatbot that can discuss the OPP with the education professional and suggest changes and/or improvements during the update of the OPP and, if necessary, when writing the evaluation. 

Together with De Onderwijsspecialisten, Achterhoek VO, Presentis, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

#specialeducation #secondaryeducation #teachersupport 

6. Smart feedback for mathematics

How can we use AI to detect errors and misconceptions in mathematics among secondary school pupils at VMBO level at an early stage, so pupils receive targeted feedback, can practise repeatedly, and teachers gain insight into where the learning process is stagnating? 

The aim of the project is to develop an AI-based prototype that focuses on the following elements: 

• Detection of misconceptions: recognising systematic errors in students’ solution strategies for multi-step maths problems. 
• Automatic feedback: providing direct, targeted feedback and hints to enable students to progress independently. 
• Step-by-step learning with a consistent approach: guiding students in small, clear steps according to a set strategy. 
• Teacher insight: analysing (persistent) error patterns and learning data per student and per class, enabling targeted interventions. 

Together with Lauwers College, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Algebrakit.

#secondaryeducation #studentsupport #mathematicseducation