Amazon Partners with Australian Schools For Imparting Free AI Training

Amazon and Tech Futures Australia launch free AI programs to bridge the digital skills gap for 10,000 teachers and 500,000 students.

To address the growing gap between teachers’ interest in AI training and the practical tools available in classrooms, Amazon and Tech Futures Australia have launched two free education programs for Australian schools. According to a study commissioned by Amazon, 96% of teachers responded that they would take part in free AI training, but only 32% could access the tools approved for use with students in class. The study found that 76 percent of participants expressed enthusiasm for classroom AI use while 78 percent of the participants used AI tools to boost their work efficiency. The study also found three primary challenges to AI adoption, including 43 percent of teachers who had no formal training for digital technologies, 39 percent of teachers who had no access to curriculum-based materials, and 24 percent of teachers who did not know how to apply digital technologies in their teaching.

To address these challenges, two initiatives were launched to support teachers in utilizing curriculum-linked materials and school-appropriate tools for delivering digital technologies and AI-enabled lessons to students. These are Virtual Teacher Training, which is an online professional development course for teachers, and Lumen AI, which functions as a classroom AI learning environment for kindergarten to Year 12. These launches come in the backdrop of pressure on governments, schools, and employers to improve digital skills as directed by educational policies and the labor market. Amazon and Tech Futures Australia justified their twin initiatives by citing figures highlighting the potential contribution of AI to Australia’s GDP, in the range of AUD $600 billion by 2030, and the potential shortfall of 60,000 AI professionals by 2027 without prior intervention.

Moreover, Virtual Teacher Training would be available to Australian teachers online, aiming to cover 10,000 teachers and 500,000 students across the country by 2028. On the other hand, Lumen AI is being introduced nationally in stages and is built specifically for classroom use. Instead of open-ended access to consumer AI systems, it focuses on approved and structured engagement. CIO Bulletin views the launch of the two initiatives as laying the groundwork for Australia to make significant strides towards becoming a global leader through national capacity building.