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Marguerite highlights many of the practical benefits of M365 Copilot in supporting inclusive teaching. One of its main strengths for me is its ability to quickly adapt and differentiate resources which helps ensure that all pupils can access learning at a level appropriate to their needs. Copilot is a powerful tool for any teacher which allows them more time to focus on pupils learning. In particular, the use of learning accelerators can greatly reduce the barriers to learning for some children while also providing the teacher with up to date formative assessment data for the teacher to work with going forward. A win win situation.
The accessibility tools and learning accelerators in M365 CoPilot that I have explored as part of this module include Immersive reader and Reading Progress and Reading Coach. While I was somewhat familiar with Immersive Reader, I was not familiar Reading Coach. By utilising these learning accelerators from the beginning, you are reducing the barriers to learning to not alone the children who may experience difficulty in their reading but you are also ensuring that the different learning styles of other children in the class are being met.
From my experience of using Immersive Reader in the mainstream classroom with a child with dyslexia, I have found it to be very beneficial but this module has highlighted to me that I have not been using it to its potential. I have adapted text and background colour using Immersive Reader and adjusted spacing etc but I wasn’t aware of the visual dictionary or on the fly translation.
The use of Learning accelerators would greatly increase pupil engagement in the mainstream classroom. M365 Copilot has the ability to create interactive activities and resources that appeal to the interests of the children and by incorporating the use of some of the learning accelerators outlined in this module, I am certain pupil engagement will be improved.
In relation to SSE, you could use Reading Coach to identify pupils facing literacy or accessibility barriers and use the data to guide targeted interventions very simply and effectively.
I found myself nodding in agreement while reading Cormac’s comments about not knowing how CoPilot could hep with SSE. And I must admit, I did the exact same thing, I asked Co Pilot for three suggestions based on what my schools current focus is for SSE. I have to agree with your comment Helen regarding Co PIlot having the ability to streamline school administration which in turn drives whole school improvement.
Class Level & Topic: 5<sup>th</sup> Class/SPHE/Farm Safety
The overall quality of the AI Output: I found the overall output of the AI output to be quite effective and would be accessible by the average ability child in my class. There were aspects of the lesson that would have proven too tricky for the lesser able child and too easy for the high achieving child. Having experimented with Teach on Co Pilot over the duration of the course and reading other participants reflections, it is becoming increasingly obvious to me that the quality of the output very much depends on the quality of the input. And that is where the autonomy of the teacher really has to come to the fore. We know our class best. We need to provide AI with the prompts that will generate the outputs that best suit our class.
The level of adjustment required for use with learners: As outlined above, the lesson plan generated by Teach would be suitable towards the average ability child in my class. I do feel though that I would be adjusted it both up and down: i.e making some of the content more accessible to less able children and more detailed for the higher ability pupils. To do this, one prompt into the re generate section of Teach and I was happy with the output.
One specific adjustment you would make: Reading through the lesson plan, I quickly realised that some of the lesson activities were not ‘active’ enough for my class. I prompted Co Pilot to adjust two of the activities to include more active methodologies and was happy with the amended output.
How Copilot Teach could be used in School Self-Evaluation (SSE) at your school: Currently, our focus of SSE at school is towards improving Oral Language skills of our pupils. Co Pilot could be used effectively in this regard by creating age appropriate debate topics, producing interview questions for pair or group work, creating quizzes and games that encourage verbal interaction. Co Pilot could be used to generate rubrics to assess children’s oral language skills both at the beginning and end of a certain timeframe. I can envisage Co Pilot being very effective in helping our SSE efforts at school.
Cormac, I really like your point that AI can act as an “enthusiastic child” that still needs teacher guidance. Our experience as teachers shows how Copilot can provide a valuable starting point, while professional teacher judgement is needed to adapt materials for specific learners. One practical suggestion might be to ask Copilot to generate resources at three different levels of difficulty from the outset. This could support differentiation and reduce editing time further.
Your comment about pupils preparing questions for Copilot is also interesting. It raises a reflective question: how can we explicitly teach pupils to write effective prompts so that they use AI to deepen their thinking rather than simply seek answers? Developing these skills could help pupils become more independent, critical users of AI.
I used AI to create some questions based on chapter 1 of Under The Hawthorn Tree. I differentiated the questions for a particular pupil in my class who has dyslexia and a visual impairment.
Using AI to create lower-order comprehension questions for Under the Hawthorn Tree was a positive experience. It quickly generated clear, age-appropriate questions that focused on key information from Chapter 1. This saved planning time and allowed me to spend more time considering how to adapt the resource for a pupil with a visual impairment and dyslexia. AI can support teaching by helping teachers create differentiated materials, generate questions at different levels of difficulty, and provide ideas for accessible learning activities.
One limitation is that AI does not know my pupils personally and may not always produce questions that perfectly match their individual needs or the exact focus of a lesson. Therefore, teacher judgement remains essential when reviewing and adapting AI-generated resources. I teach in a rural school and often find that some of my lessons have to be adapted to reflect this.
To ensure pupils remain the ones doing the thinking, I will use AI as a planning aid rather than a replacement for learning activities. Pupils will still be expected to read, discuss, analyse, and answer questions independently, with AI supporting my preparation rather than completing the learning process for them.
