This real-world case study illustrates how an Irish state funding agency responsible for further education and training (FET) were able to support 25 craft apprenticeships using AI-powered authoring technology that reduces SME workload and paves the way for more blended learning in the near future. This is the first step in the agency's commitment to supporting future skills by investing in the innovative technology needed to underpin the apprenticeship experience.

The skills of tomorrow need to be trained for today, and a leading European state funding agency is committed to embracing pioneering technology in order to better support learners and speed up essential processes for their SMEs without compromising quality or test integrity.

The agency is responsible for a number of FET initiatives, but their craft apprenticeships, which include vocations like electrician and plumbing courses, make up 90% of their apprenticeship programs. These programs have seen soaring success with many people now gravitating to more ‘earn as you learn’ education paths. Learners have the opportunity to work in their chosen field from day one, building their skills and their networks whilst studying. More and more learners are opting for this hands-on, practical approach to their careers and qualifications as opposed to the traditional classic university degrees. In the current economic climate it also removes the financial barriers which have traditionally hindered access to higher education.

Important work then, and work that was proving difficult to navigate for the agency with each course out of the 25 consisting of 6 phases that needed assessments for each. The challenge, common to many organizations in similar fields, was that the SME workload was too high. Authoring and reviewing questions, the back and forth on creating distractors, constantly updating questions in line with regulatory changes, all took tremendous amounts of time and effort. And with so many courses needing so much content and upkeep - this soon became untenable.

Appreciating the need to embrace innovation, the agency partnered with a leading online assessment company and leveraged cutting-edge AI-powered authoring technology to manage their question banks.

The AI-powered tool allowed the agency to take weight from their SMEs using Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) technology, meaning the agency could securely upload course material, guides and similar, in order to generate expert-level questions. Additionally, they could also tailor question complexity level using inbuilt standards via Bloom’s taxonomy, while also using the essential bulk feature to generate high-volume, high-quality and non-overlapping questions easily.

This freed up significant amounts of time for all involved and has allowed the agency’s SMEs to be reviewers, rather than central figures needed to do the heavy lifting.

Going forward, the tool will be used as part of a blended delivery of paper-based and online learning, with the agency looking to continue to embrace new technologies to enhance the apprentice experience.

Join the session and discover a real-world example of how AI is changing learning for the better.