Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: State University Higher School of Economics – State University Higher School of Economics –
The global education industry’s revenue growth could reach 4% in the coming years thanks to the introduction of artificial intelligence technologies. In addition, AI reduces the working hours of teachers by 4-5 times. HSE experts explained how teachers and administrative staff of universities are mastering neural networks, bots and other tools and why there is no need to be afraid that AI will replace them.
AI is being introduced into higher education
According to data research HSE and Yandex Education, 49% of students already use generative technologies, and 54% of university employees are confident that these skills will positively influence the career development of students. However, AI technologies are actively used not only by students, but also by teachers and administrative staff.
Possible scenarios for the use of AI by teachers:
work with educational programs, curricula, individual modules and topics;
development of educational content: presentation materials, tests, essay topics;
assessment of written work and analysis of students’ skills.
Possible scenarios for the use of AI by university administrations:
optimization of the educational schedule;
consulting students on organizational issues and applicants on admission issues;
analytics and forecasting of educational results;
creation of marketing content;
management of local regulatory documents, generation of documents upon request.
Features of training teachers in AI tools
Mass training of teachers is not an easy task. To teach such a demanding audience, highly qualified lecturers are needed, and this is a limited resource. Teachers from different faculties and areas expect to receive subject knowledge and specific tools that will allow them to automate the execution of various tasks right now. And all listeners want to hear about cases that are directly related to their field, explained Evgeny Sokolov, scientific director of the Center for Continuous Education, head of Department of Big Data and Information Retrieval HSE Faculty of Computer Science.
“This complexity is not new at all: we have extensive experience in corporate training in the field of AI, and there we also always hear a request for very specific recommendations and very close cases,” says Evgeny Sokolov. “And this always requires elaboration and explanation. Yes, AI and machine learning are extremely powerful technologies that have already proven themselves and that may have great prospects. But not everyone has learned to use them, not everyone has bright examples of implementation. And therefore we can explain what it is and how it works, show how it brings a lot of benefits in other areas, and then together think about transferring this experience.”
In total, in 2024, HSE trained 1,750 teachers, researchers, and administrative staff from all campuses to work with artificial intelligence for free. The training was conducted as part of the Priority 2030 strategic academic leadership program. Employees could choose one of the areas based on their level of training — from prompting and Python programming to machine and deep learning.
Here are some of the applied skills that students learn:
using generative models to simplify and automate work;
data analysis and visualization;
using Python for editing and generating text files: contracts, memos in pdf and word;
Sending Emails with Python;
creation of telegram bots to collect information from students, etc.
The core of the teaching staff of the programs was made up of specialists Faculty of Computer Science HSE University. The organization of advanced training programs was carried out by Center for Continuous Education of the Faculty of Computer Science, and administrative support for all courses was provided by Center for Advanced Studies.
The Center for Continuous Education of the Faculty of Computer Science trains not only HSE employees. Employees of the Irkutsk National Research Technical University passed advanced training program “Python for automation and data analysis”, and employees of the Vladivostok State University of Economics and Service – program advanced training “Modern approaches and methods of teaching the course “Digital Literacy””.
How Teachers Are Using AI in Their Work
Project work plays a significant role in the programs. Students reflect on how AI methods can be useful in their tasks, formulate corresponding ideas and receive feedback from experts. These are ideas about simplifying teaching routines, restructuring disciplines and new research tasks.
Then these proposals begin to receive full implementation. Within the framework of the program, each student prepares a final project on the implementation of neural networks in work processes, some of which are already successfully used in practice.
For example, the course “Venture Capital” has an assistant based on the bot-psychologist “Anna”. The AI assistant interacts with students, helps answer difficult questions and improve psychological preparation for interaction with investors. Using the assistant has improved the quality of students’ training and provided new tools for discussing the psychological aspects of entrepreneurship.
Another example is the use of AI to create educational materials. Tools such as Narakeet and invideo AI reduce the time it takes to create presentation-quality video materials by more than 10 times. Teachers now have a wider range of ready-made templates and ideas for visual presentation of lecture material. All this makes the educational process more visual and understandable for students.
According to teachers, after training they use AI to prepare notes, presentations, cases and tests, check assignments, work with databases, search for scientific literature, and translate texts.
“Useful content, accessible presentation of the material, as well as patience with our pace and questions. I was genuinely interested in the tools presented in the course, I will study and apply them further in my work. To be honest, I did not even guess that the speed of a heart attack can be predicted by the voice, and about some other discoveries that have already been implemented in practice. So special thanks for keeping us informed of human technical progress,” noted Anastasia Pyatachkova, Deputy Head of the Asia-Pacific Sector. Centre for Comprehensive European and International Studies HSE.
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