DF Labs Shows Sleman School Principals Where Generative AI Fits in the Classroom

At the Sleman Education Office's National Education Day Seminar, DF Labs Walks School Leaders Through AI's Potential and Its Limits

9 May 2024 – The Sleman Regency Education Office (Dinas Pendidikan Kabupaten Sleman) held its Education Seminar for National Education Day 2024 (Seminar Pendidikan, Hari Pendidikan Nasional Tahun 2024) on May 8, 2024, at The Alana Yogyakarta, for school principals across Sleman Regency. Under the theme "Perkuat Kompetensi Global yang Berakar pada Keunggulan Lokal DIY" (Strengthening Global Competence Rooted in Yogyakarta's Local Strengths), the seminar invited DF Labs, an Applied AI R&D collective, to speak on "Generative AI untuk Inovasi Pendidikan" (Generative AI for Educational Innovation).

The seminar brought together regional leadership and education experts, including the Regent of Sleman, Dra. Hj. Kustini Sri Purnomo; Drs. R. Kadarmanta Baskara Aji, Regional Secretary of the Special Region of Yogyakarta (2019–2023); Drs. Ery Widaryana, MM, Head of the Sleman Education Office; Dr. Ali Mahmudi, M.Pd., Vice Dean I of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta; and Almer Akbar, Co-CEO of DF Labs, supported by Nuel Cahyanto of DF Labs.

As generative AI enters classrooms faster than school policies can follow, principals face practical questions: which tools are worth adopting, what they can do for teachers and students, and what they cannot be trusted with. DF Labs' session set out to answer those questions in concrete terms.

Almer opened with tools already in use in classrooms around the world: Khanmigo, which helps teachers build modules and assess student work while supporting students as they learn; Grammarly, for writing, drafting emails and preparing exam questions; Duolingo Max, for language learning; and Kidaptive, for learning that adapts to each student's style and understanding.

He then grouped these uses into three roles principals could recognize in their own schools: AI as a personal mentor for each student, as an assessment assistant for teachers, and as a designer of learning modules.

Almer gave equal weight to what ChatGPT does poorly. It is strong at processing information, developing concepts, creative work and natural conversation, and reasons well; but it is unreliable as a source of facts. It can hallucinate, give wrong or misleading answers, struggle with mathematics, and, at the time, could not reach current information, access the internet or cite references reliably. For school leaders, the lesson was to adopt AI where it genuinely helps teachers and students, while keeping human judgment wherever accuracy matters.

DF Labs reaffirmed its commitment to supporting educators across Yogyakarta as they navigate generative AI, with practical guidance grounded in both the opportunities and the limits of the technology.

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About DF Labs

DF Labs is an Applied AI R&D studio committed to experimental exploration and analysis of artificial intelligence and its implications in our future. Through workshops, community gatherings, and collaborative research, DF Labs bridges visionaries, creative thinkers, and technical innovators to co-design an AI future that enriches society.

About Dinas Pendidikan Kabupaten Sleman

The Sleman Regency Education Office (Dinas Pendidikan Kabupaten Sleman) is the regency government's education department, led by a Head of Office reporting to the Regent. It assists the Regent in carrying out government affairs in education, including technical policy, services, guidance and oversight of education in Sleman.