Review and Photos

Evija Mirķe, Ph.D., is a lead researcher at Riga Technical University, the head of the National Research Programme project “Artificial Intelligence Tools in the Work of General Education Teachers” (AItools4Teachers), and the founder and lecturer of the KOPĀ AUGAM Training Centre. She regularly leads training sessions for educators and professionals from other fields, helping them understand the potential applications of artificial intelligence in their work and everyday lives by explaining key concepts, describing the specifics of the technology, and presenting practical examples.

Evija’s professional journey has included working as a teacher, in recruitment and project management, and even as a technical translator in the construction sector. This diverse experience enables her to explain technology through simple and accessible examples.

Evija believes that learning the fundamentals of artificial intelligence is worthwhile at any age, as it helps people develop a better understanding of developments taking place in the world.

In her presentation, Evija Mirķe emphasised that the decisive element in the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) into education is not the technology itself, but the human factor. She explained that teachers’ readiness to adopt AI is determined not by their technical skills, but by personality traits—optimism and innovativeness as opposed to discomfort and insecurity. Successful AI adoption requires a balance between technology, organisational support, and educators’ psychological readiness. If any one of these elements is “zero”, the adaptation process is likely to fail.

The presentation revealed findings from the Latvian Teachers’ Technology Readiness Index study, highlighting a paradoxical situation: although approximately 70% of teachers already use generative AI tools, 91% lack official guidelines from their institutions. This has created what may be described as the “kitchen-table conversation” phenomenon, in which educators learn to use new tools on their own, often feeling as though they are acting in secret or “cheating”.

The study also found that teachers in rural areas tend to be less optimistic, while male and older educators are more likely to experience discomfort and insecurity regarding ethical and safety issues.

As the principal solution, Mirķe proposed moving away from individual self-directed learning towards knowledge sharing and collective intelligence. She emphasised that competence develops significantly faster in groups of teachers who actively collaborate, helping them overcome anxiety associated with AI.

In conclusion, she stressed that AI should be viewed not as a replacement for teachers, but as a “co-pilot” that can help plan lessons and reduce administrative workloads. At the same time, educators must retain their critical thinking skills to prevent the use of AI from creating “cognitive debt” and weakening students’ thinking processes.

Jonas Hall is a mathematics and physics teacher. He represents the Swedish GeoGebra Institute and is also known by the pseudonym “The Mad Mathematician”. He is an expert in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital tools, such as GeoGebra, in education. Hall emphasises that AI is a practical everyday tool for teachers, particularly when time is limited and lesson planning is incomplete.

Jonas Hall is the author of GPT-handboken, a Swedish-language handbook on the use of AI assistants by teachers. It contains practical advice and a collection of assistants designed to support teaching, planning, and learning.

https://gpt-handboken.se 

Jonas Hall highlighted that AI can serve as a practical everyday assistant for teachers. It can save time by helping them create learning tasks, produce structured lesson summaries from photographs of the board, and formulate quick reflection questions for students. He encourages teachers not to fear AI, but to use it as a form of support so that they do not have to start every lesson from scratch. At the same time, teachers must remain responsible for reviewing and editing AI-generated content.

At the conference, Jonas Hall introduced the PHASE strategy, which defines the role of AI in the learning process: students should first work independently, and only afterwards should AI be introduced as a co-creator. He illustrated this principle with a compelling gym analogy—if you merely watch someone else exercise, your muscles will not grow. The same applies to the brain when using AI.

Jonas Hall also demonstrated specialised AI assistants for mathematics, including “Question Maker” and “Helpful Maths”. These tools help teachers create personalised tasks and provide students with guided support by asking prompting questions.

The central principle is to regard AI as a “sparring partner” that can help visualise proofs and generate new ideas, but should never assume full responsibility for the final outcome.

 Bjarnheiður (Bea) Kristinsdóttir is a lecturer at the University of Iceland and a researcher in mathematics education. Her professional work focuses on mathematics teaching methodology, the use of GeoGebra, and the integration of artificial intelligence into teachers’ work.

In her presentation, “Developing Task Sequences for the Thinking Classroom”, Bea demonstrated how artificial intelligence can become a practical assistant for teachers when planning the learning process. She showed how the BTC Script Creator AI assistant can be used to develop lesson plans, create task sequences, prepare “Check Your Understanding” tasks, and adapt them to a specific curriculum and topic.

http://tiny.cc/BTCgem 

Bea emphasised that artificial intelligence does not replace the teacher. Its primary purpose is to reduce the time required to prepare teaching materials, allowing educators to focus more on developing students’ thinking and creating high-quality learning experiences. It is the teacher who evaluates AI-generated materials, adapts them to students’ needs, and makes the final decisions concerning the learning process.  http://tiny.cc/rigaBea26 

One of the presentation’s key messages was that artificial intelligence is most effective when it complements teachers’ professional expertise rather than attempting to replace it. By using AI thoughtfully, teachers can save time on routine tasks and devote greater attention to developing their students’ thinking.

Bo Kristensen is a Danish mathematics teacher. In his work, he explores how digital tools can make mathematics more interesting, engaging, and accessible while helping students think, explain their reasoning, and develop a deeper understanding of mathematics.

In the workshop “Algorithms of Geometry” (https://www.geogebra.org/m/dg8eyt26 ), led by Bo Kristensen together with Rikke Teglskov, participants explored how programming can deepen their understanding of geometry. We can often recognise a geometric shape intuitively, but simply telling a computer, “Draw a square,” is not enough. The sequence of actions, side lengths, and turning angles must be specified precisely. Students are therefore required to formulate the properties of a shape and translate everyday language into mathematically precise instructions.

During the practical activities, participants used Turtle Academy and Scratch, created pseudocode, compared drawings with programming code, and identified errors in algorithms. Such activities help students not only draw a shape but also explain which properties define it and why a particular piece of code produces that specific result.

The second workshop, “Using AI in Mathematics to Make the Students Think More, Not Less” (https://www.geogebra.org/m/zbykxv83 ), focused on the use of artificial intelligence in mathematics lessons. Bo encouraged educators not to limit discussions about AI to the prevention of cheating, but instead to offer students meaningful ways of using it and teach them to evaluate AI-generated responses critically in a safe environment.

During the workshop, the chatbot was not used merely as a source of ready-made answers. It could take on the role of a student who needed help understanding a task, a member of a working group, or a digital consultant whose advice had to be compared and evaluated. Participants analysed how different formulations of AI prompts affected the quality of the support provided and created their own “teacher bot” designed to guide students towards a solution rather than reveal the answer immediately.

Bo Kristensen’s central message is that artificial intelligence should not become a shortcut to the answer in mathematics lessons. When used thoughtfully, it can encourage students to explain, justify their reasoning, verify information, and ask more precise questions. In this way, technology does not replace students’ thinking but becomes a tool that helps them think more deeply.

 Lauri Hellsten is a Finnish mathematics and physics teacher, a professional development trainer for educators, and an author of digital learning materials. His work places particular emphasis on student-centred teaching and the meaningful use of technology. In 2023, he was named Finland’s Mathematics Teacher of the Year, and in 2025, he received the Teacher Award from the Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters.

In the workshop “Reflective Education in the AI Era: Generating Self-Assessment Guidelines” (https://www.geogebra.org/m/xqqwgcsa#material/fqmq2g2y), Lauri emphasised that assessment is not merely a way to determine students’ achievement at the end of a learning period. It also has a significant influence on how students learn, what they focus on, and how they evaluate their own progress. For this reason, students’ reflection on their own learning plays an important role in the learning process.

Reflection skills do not develop automatically—they must be taught. Students need clear criteria, regular opportunities to evaluate their own work, and support from their teacher. Lauri demonstrated a self-assessment approach in which students do not simply indicate whether they have or have not mastered a topic, but describe their level of understanding much more precisely.

This is where AI can become a practical assistant for teachers. During the workshop, participants used AI to develop questions for analysing the learning process, assessment criteria, and instructions for students. Lauri demonstrated an example of a prompt that can be used to generate a self-assessment checklist structured from the understanding of basic knowledge to its application, analysis, and transfer to new situations. At the same time, he emphasised that teachers must always review AI-generated content before using it.

In the age of AI, when a ready-made answer can be obtained within seconds, it is particularly important for students to recognise what they genuinely understand and what they still need to learn. In Lauri’s view, self-assessment helps students take responsibility for their own learning and reduces the risk of technological convenience replacing independent thinking.