AI in Education – MASBO
This week I was invited to join the Manitoba Association of School Business Officials (MASBO) in Russell for their NW Regional meeting. This is a yearly event and this was my second time attending. This group is comprised of school division employees in the fields of finance, maintenance, transportation, and human resources. My involvement in this meeting was to deliver professional development at their opening evening following a welcome supper.
I had a fantastic experience last year and was fortunate to have made some connections that led to further partnerships through the 23/24 school year. So, naturally, I was honoured and excited to be able to rejoin the group this year. As I am sure is no surprise, the hot topic continues to be the role of artificial intelligence and what automation can look like for these specific departments.
Our evening was divided into three main sections that explored the following:
- What is AI and how does it work
- Examples of “normalized” AI
- Predictive vs. generative
- How large-language models work
- AI in the context of Manitoba Education
- Manitoba gov
- CUPE
- MGEU
- MAETL
- Board policies & procedures
- The role AI could play for you
- Limitations to be aware of (how to spot areas of concern)
- Capabilities (specific to the audience departments)
- Software examples
- How to complete an AI audit
While there were a few environmental conditions working against us (the room as quite warm to the point where it was hard to concentrate), I felt like the session was still a success! I will be working with MASBO leaders to gather feedback to fine-tune this session as I will be joining them again at their provincial meeting at the end of May.
Thank you again to MASBO for having me as part of your event!