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Increasing AI Proficiency and Productivity: How Lakefield College School Realizes Greater Success with the AppDirect AI Marketplace & Creation Studio

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Challenge

  • Ensuring secure use of AI applications, plus limited ability to provide oversight

  • Limited proficiency in using AI applications effectively

  • Data privacy concerns with consumer-grade AI tools

  • Lack of scalable AI solutions available for academic applications

Solution

AppDirect AI Marketplace & Creation Studio—AI applications created using AppDirect.ai

Results

  • Build AI apps, with no coding needed 

    Students and staff can access pre-built AI apps and use Large Language Models (LLMs) to create custom apps without technical skills

  • Data is secure 

    Students and staff can safely create AI applications while staying compliant and meeting privacy regulations

  • Increase in AI proficiency

    Proficiency rose from 21% to 43%. Previously, 28% of staff had zero AI experience; now, only 2% do, over a 10 month period.

Embracing the “arrival technology” & the “jagged frontier”

Artificial Intelligence is rapidly finding its way into almost every industry. One emerging field is education. Lakefield College School is at the forefront of integrating AI to enhance student learning.

Joe McRae, Teacher, Director of Academic Operations at Lakefield College School, notes a range of views at the intersection of AI and the education industry: some avoid it entirely, others fully embrace it, while many take a balanced approach—welcoming AI’s use with clear guidelines. With proper guidelines, proponents believe they can help students use it as a tool for learning rather than a replacement. The way McRae sees it, AI is at the stage that he calls an “arrival technology."


Quote

“AI is a technology that we're not choosing to bring into the school, but it's arriving sort of like social media; it's going to change the way education happens whether we like it or not.”

JOE MCRAE, Teacher, Director of Academic Operations, Lakefield College School


McRae also cites the work of social scientists who are looking at the productivity impacts of AI. He talks about comments from a joint Harvard-Wharton paper that calls this landscape the “jagged technological frontier” where AI can complete certain tasks flawlessly while others simply yield inaccurate results.

“Our students would have access to all these different AI applications and language models regardless of if we decided to sanction them or not. We decided early on that we wanted to embrace and educate students about these LLMs rather than trying to vilify and protect against how students use them.”

He believes that part of embracing AI means striking the balance between providing access and providing guardrails for using AI applications in an academic setting.

Balancing act: keeping the “friction of learning” with students

Learning something new can be challenging. During the learning process, McRae and others believe it is important to pay attention to where the “friction” of learning occurs. LLMs are designed to eliminate or reduce the friction involved in writing and thinking tasks, so it is important for educators to understand their capabilities and design learning activities that ensure students themselves experience this “friction.”

That’s why at Lakefield College School, the team focuses on creating activities and assessments that help students develop skills for future studies and careers, ensuring learning occurs alongside AI use.

By taking it one step further, the Lakefield College School team is looking at ways AI can help students reflect on their work. McRae explains: “We want to deepen the friction of learning as opposed to replacing it.”

Introducing AppDirect AI

In this environment, Lakefield College School adopted the AppDirect AI Marketplace & Creation Studio. AppDirect AI is a secure, user-friendly platform that organizations and individuals can use to create AI apps—no coding required. AppDirect AI offers top-tier data protection, rapid deployment, and easy customization of AI apps, from data sources to model customization. Users can assign their LLM of choice to build AI apps tailored to their productivity needs as well as easily embed their AI apps into any webpage or application of their choice.


Key benefits—Intuitive, secure, and highly-customizable

Intuitive

McRae highlights that one of the key value propositions of AppDirect.ai is its intuitive and easy-to-use interface. The interface enabled teachers and staff to experiment and create AI applications without any prior technical expertise.

The platform also offered the ability to customize AI tools for both productivity, and classroom purposes.

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““We had this way to customize and build AIs that were going to be useful for our operations—and we could do it really safely.”

JOE MCRAE, Teacher, Director of Academic Operations, Lakefield College School

Access to LLMs like ChatGPT and Anthropic Claude

Another standout feature for McRae and his team was direct access to cutting-edge LLMs. Unlike other AI interfaces, AppDirect AI provided the same high-quality outputs as the frontier models themselves.

“We've loved having access to the variety of LLMs to create our AI applications and compare the outputs between them to learn more about the models. That has been one of our favorite uses,” McRae explained.

This direct access to customize LLMs allows teachers to develop AI solutions tailored to their needs while maintaining the flexibility to simply use the AI applications to ask questions as one would normally be able to do when interacting directly with models such as ChatGPT.

Maintaining data privacy

Data privacy was a leading factor in Lakefield College School's decision to adopt AppDirect AI. The platform’s robust security measures ensured compliance with government regulations on student data protection. “Having access to the AI Creation Studio has helped us continue to build positive trust with how data is handled,” McRae said.

“The gap that AppDirect AI filled was creating a safe environment for us to be doing all this work in, and that’s been incredibly important for us.”

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Lakefield College School’s AI Use Cases

Transforming classroom activities–Embracing AI through lane 2 assessments

At Lakefield College School, the faculty has adopted a forward-thinking approach to assessments with a dual framework: Lane 1 and Lane 2 assessments, inspired by the University of Sydney. McRae believes the school is fostering a balanced perspective on AI, preparing students for a future where these technologies are integral to both academic and professional environments.

  • Lane 1 assessments: These focus on traditional tasks, such as in-class essays or tests, to develop critical thinking, research, and writing skills.

  • Lane 2 assessments: This is the boldest shift, where AI is seen as a tool to enhance learning rather than a threat. These assessments encourage students to use AI to explore creativity, boost productivity, and engage in innovative problem-solving.

Creative writing

McRae explains that Lakefield College School is embracing AI to help students enhance their creative writing skills. In some classes, students collaborate with AI applications in their writing process, for example, to craft long-form mystery novels, relying on their AI applications to brainstorm plotlines, develop characters, and refine chapters. This interactive process empowers students to push creative boundaries while receiving support to build compelling narratives.

In addition, students may also use AI to receive personalized feedback on their work. They can ask the AI to highlight repetitive text, provide suggestions for improving grammar and sentence structure, or even bold areas in need of improvement. This approach not only helps students enhance their output but also demonstrates how AI can be a valuable partner in their learning journey.

By integrating AppDirect AI into creative tasks, Lakefield College School is not only fostering innovation but also equipping students with tools to enhance their skills and embrace technology as a collaborative partner in learning.

Enhancing math class with visual learning

For instance, AI has been used to design whiteboard activities that align with classroom lessons or to explore new ways to visualize three-dimensional concepts. These AI-driven responses have inspired unique and innovative approaches, allowing teachers to transform traditional math instruction into hands-on, visually engaging experiences.


Empowering faculty & staff with AppDirect AI

The faculty and staff at the school have embraced AI as a versatile tool for their work. For tasks involving spreadsheets, it has become the go-to resource for how-to questions on creating formulas and performing calculations.

In communications, AIs serve as both a writing partner and brainstorming tool. Whether summarizing ideas, refining tone, or overcoming writer's block, AppDirect AI supports tasks ranging from newsletters to lesson planning. To encourage broader adoption, the school shares an “AI Tip of the Week” in faculty newsletters and hosts all-staff meetings on AI every two months, creating a culture of continuous learning and experimentation with the technology.

The impact: Amplifying confidence in using AI and enhancing productivity

Since adopting AppDirect AI, Lakefield College School has seen AI proficiency skyrocket among its staff and reaped substantial productivity benefits. Before implementation, 28% of staff reported zero AI experience. A year later, this number dramatically dwindled to just 2%.

Staff confidence and capability in AI have also surged in the last 10 months. AI proficiency has climbed from 21% to 43%, highlighting the significant impact of integrating AppDirect AI into their workflow.

Over 70% of staff says AI makes them more productive

A survey also revealed that 46% of faculty and staff initially agreed that using AI boosted their productivity. After incorporating AppDirect AI more widely into their workflow, that number has risen to 71%. This progression goes to show that AI hasn't just improved operational aspects—the tools support educators in achieving more with less, paving the way for a more efficient and productive educational environment.

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“71% of staff surveyed agree with the statement that, ‘AI has boosted my productivity’, up from 46% just one year ago!”

JOE MCRAE, Teacher, Director of Academic Operations, Lakefield College School

What’s next: Expanding AI use and unlocking its full potential

Looking ahead, Lakefield College School aims to share its successful AI experiences with the larger community. Faculty and students are sharing strategies that boost productivity and improve learning outcomes. By leveraging AI to help students build their critical thinking skills, create assessments, and enhance both teaching and learning processes, the school aims to raise the overall level of engagement. Currently, early adopters are leading the way, but McRae believes that with increased professional development and collaboration, AI use will become more consistent across the school.

Top 5 AI strategies

For schools beginning their AI journey, McRae recommends key strategies:

  1. Develop a vision for AI use that aligns with the school’s educational goals

  2. Once that vision is in place, study how AI is being used by all audiences—students, faculty, and staff

  3. Test what’s working and what’s not

  4. Make refinements to your plan

  5. Continue iterating and applying this process to optimize the effective and responsible use of AI in across your school or organization


“AppDirect AI has opened the doors to safe AI use, enabling creativity while ensuring security, and has been surprisingly easy for most faculty and staff to integrate into their daily routines.”

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