Researchers at the University of Tartu, led by Associate Professor in Computational Neuroscience and Artificial Intelligence Jaan Aru, have launched a large-scale study to determine the impact of the AI Leap learning app on students’ development. The survey, which will run until the end of the academic year, aims to pinpoint the best way for students to learn with AI.
Since January, 10th and 11th graders in Estonia have had access to the AI Leap app, which was devised especially for students at their level. Unlike regular language models, AI Leap – which was developed by Estonian researchers and OpenAI based on ChatGPT – does not simply give the user answers, but is designed to support learning.
Professor Jaan Aru says that Estonian students, like many other people around the world, are already using commercial AI apps, and mostly the free versions of them. “But they slam the brakes on critical thinking and the learning processes that take place in the brain,” he cautioned. “In Estonia, we’ve chosen a different path: we’ve created a learning app that’s pedagogically smart. But we’re not sure whether our AI really is conducive to learning, so we need to investigate it.”
Researchers are using questionnaires and tests to determine how students are evolving while learning with AI and what factors support this process. Among other things, they are examining the impact of the AI Leap app on students’ motivation and tenets of learning, their use of learning strategies and the fostering of AI competence.
Ivo Visak, the CEO of the AI Leap foundation, says that the march of AI in schools has already changed both teaching and learning. “Our goal isn’t to get students to use AI more, but to help them use it in a meaningful way,” he explained. “The results of the study will enable researchers and developers to improve the learning app and, in the future, to evaluate how effectively other AI apps could support our learners.”
According to Visak, AI Leap learning app has now been tested among secondary school students for almost a year. “Now, we’re assessing the impact of the learning app in broader terms to give schools and parents a clearer understanding of how to use AI in the classroom in a responsible way,” he said.
The first survey of students using the learning app is being carried out this month among those who have consented to take part. Their data will be analysed in a way that does not allow the responses to be linked to specific individuals. The schools participating in the study will receive an overview of their results and practical recommendations on the use of AI in their teaching.
The results of the study will be published on AI Leap’s web channels and in an international scientific journal later this year. The study was commissioned from the University of Tartu by the Ministry of Education and Research.
Launched by President Alar Karis last year, the AI Leap educational programme aims to help secondary school students develop stronger learning habits and to support teachers in adopting new tools. It has been introduced in almost all of the upper secondary schools in Estonia. The AI Leap app is being made available to students in the 10th and 11th grades. Around 20,000 learners and 4800 teachers from 154 schools have joined the programme.