I remember the panic and general anxiety surrounding the use of Artificial Intelligence in education a number of years ago, but in my opinion, there has been a gradual shift in the general mood surrounding AI and its acceptable use. Of course, there are still issues and concerns relating to responsible usage, particularly student AI-generated content. But the question remains: we may have moved past this initial panic stage, but are we effectively embedding AI into our classrooms and in school communities?
Now, with the Digital Strategy for Schools to 2027 firmly in its second phase and support frameworks from Oide Technology in Education maturing, the question for teachers isn’t “What is AI?” but rather “How do we make it work for us without adding to our workload?”
1. Reclaim Your Time!
Teacher burnout is a persistent issue. Before using AI to transform how students learn, use it to transform how you prepare for lessons.
Differentiated Resource Creation: Instead of writing three different versions of a reading comprehension passage for mixed-ability groups, feed your baseline text into a tool like Gemini. Prompt it to adjust the reading age or vocabulary density to suit your students’ learning needs.
2. Shift Focus: From Output to the Learning Process
Issues are arising relating to student AI-generated content. There are a few points we could follow to help keep the assessment authentic, with a focus on the learning process as opposed to the final output alone.
- Emphasize the Draft Cycle: Ask students to generate an outline using AI, and to critique the AI generated material. This allows students to use the AI content as a base but explain how they critiqued and re-developed the assessment.
- Live Classroom Dialogue: Lean into oral assessments, classroom presentations, and peer-to-peer discussions—aligning naturally with key skills in Junior and Senior Cycle respectively. Many of these do not focus on the final output alone, but rather the learning process.
These are just small ideas that may or may not suit – but it is to help transition from simply using AI to generate material, to becoming more purposeful in its use. As a school, it could be an idea to dedicate time to a quick staff survey to audit the AI tools being used, but also to establish a clear AI policy to include ethical and responsible use.
AI will not replace teachers, but it can be used much more effectively and purposefully in our schools. It can be a powerful tool to aid with the learning process, but this requires a mindset shift from AI simply producing end materials. Of course, there is a fear relating to its usage, particularly with authenticity of work generated, but with additional support and training in using AI, I think it can become a more powerful and useful tool to support teachers and students. One in which we can, hopefully, remove the fear and concert, and become responsible and ethical users of AI.