Be a part of the making.

In October 2024, CEnet launched the pilot of cechat, an AI driven tool designed to enhance teaching, learning and administration in Catholic education.

Catholic education entities were invited to take part in this unique pilot project by engaging with the tools and providing collaborative feedback. By participating in this pilot program, educators, administrators and IT staff had the opportunity to develop and shape cechat to best suit the needs and values of the Catholic education community.

This presented an exciting step forward in our shared mission to deliver inclusive, high-quality Catholic education, and we encourage your input into shaping the future of Catholic education.

All pilot participant schools were required to complete an application to be configured into the cechat system. This form collected all of the information required by CEnet to allow a school to participate in the pilot.

Eligibility criteria is detailed below. If applications were received from an individual school from within a CEnet member Diocese, permission was required from at least one of the following; the Director of Education or the Head of Learning Services (or equivalent) or the Head of Information Technology (or equivalent) before completing the application form.

Eligibility + expectations of participation

Organisation  Eligibility

Any Catholic Education entity could apply to be a participant in the cechat pilot program. You did not have to be a CEnet member nor required to become a CEnet member during or after the pilot program.

During the application process the applicant was guided through the process of providing information required to configure applicants within the cechat system.

Pilot participants were sorted into a number of categories:

School Readiness

To ensure a school was eligible to participate in the pilot of generative AI, there were seven key criteria to consider:

  1. Commitment to Innovation: The school should demonstrate a clear commitment to embracing educational technology and innovative teaching methods. This can be shown through prior participation in tech initiatives or readiness for AI adoption in their strategic plan.

  2. Infrastructure Readiness: The school must have adequate IT infrastructure, including reliable internet access, sufficient computing devices, and technical support. This ensures smooth implementation and use of AI tools across classrooms.

  3. Data Privacy and Security Compliance: The school should have policies and practices in place that comply with local and international data privacy laws (for example the Australian Privacy Principles). Schools must ensure the secure handling of sensitive student and staff information.

  4. Leadership Support: School leadership, including the principal and administration, should actively support the pilot, facilitating necessary resources, teacher training, and a school-wide commitment to the project's success.

  5. Teacher Readiness and Participation: Teachers at the school must be open to adopting AI tools and willing to participate in the training required for effective use. A core group of motivated teachers will ensure proper integration into classrooms.

  6. Evaluation and Feedback Process: The school should be ready to participate in data collection and provide feedback throughout the pilot. This includes student performance metrics, teacher observations, and any technical issues or successes experienced during the pilot.

  7. Alignment with Educational Goals: The school must show how the use of generative AI aligns with their pedagogical objectives, such as improving personalised learning, reducing administrative burden, or enhancing student engagement.

Remember, for 2024 the Pilot will be focussed on getting teachers used to AI in schools. Initially students will not be able to directly access cechat. Student participation is to be enabled in January 2025.

Expectation of Pilot Participants

CEnet's cechat is an AI-powered chatbot designed specifically for Catholic education institutions in Australia. cechat aims to assist schools and educators by providing a range of automated services, enhancing communication, and supporting educational needs within the Catholic education system.

It leverages artificial intelligence to:

  • Facilitate administrative tasks, like scheduling and answering frequently asked questions.

  • Offer pedagogical support by assisting teachers with lesson planning, resource recommendations, and student engagement strategies.

  • Enhance communication between teachers, students, parents, and administrators, providing a streamlined way to resolve inquiries or issues.

cechat is part of CEnet’s broader effort to integrate innovative AI technologies into Catholic education, ensuring that schools have access to tools that respect privacy, security, and ethical considerations, aligned with the values of Catholic education.

cechat is a work in progress and using the Agile methodology and as such the cechat presented in the initial stages of the pilot project will not be a complete robust product. However using Agile as a group cechat will develop over time into a robust scalable project that implements use cases required by the members.

The Agile methodology is an approach to project management, particularly in software development, that emphasises flexibility, collaboration, and iterative progress. It focuses on breaking projects into small, manageable increments called "sprints" or "iterations," which typically last 1 to 4 weeks. Each sprint results in a working product or feature, allowing teams to continuously adapt to changes and feedback.

Key principles of Agile methodology include:

  1. Customer Collaboration: Continuous collaboration with the customer or end-user to ensure the final product meets their needs. Feedback is gathered frequently and incorporated into the next iterations.

  2. Iterative Development: Projects are broken into smaller cycles or sprints. After each sprint, a working version of the product is delivered, enabling quick adjustments based on feedback.

  3. Flexibility and Adaptation: Agile allows for changes in project scope, priorities, and requirements as the project progresses, ensuring that the final product stays relevant to evolving user needs or business goals.

  4. Cross-functional Teams: Agile teams are usually small, self-organising, and cross-functional, meaning they include members from various disciplines (e.g., developers, testers, designers) who collaborate closely.

  5. Continuous Improvement: After each sprint, teams conduct a "retrospective" to evaluate what went well, what didn’t, and how to improve in the next sprint. This helps in refining processes and enhancing team performance.

  6. Working Product over Comprehensive Documentation: Agile emphasises delivering a working product over extensive planning and documentation. Documentation is still important, but the focus is on delivering functional software.

  7. Simplicity and Focus: Teams prioritise delivering the simplest solution that meets the customer’s needs, avoiding unnecessary complexity.

Participants must understand that they are needed to actively participate in this Agile process.

Frequently Asked Questions

Applicants should read our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)