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Enjoyed reading that Michelle, great lesson, very fun and engaging and a great way of getting them to understand this technology.
Theme: “Jungle Adventure”
Class Level: Junior & Senior Infants
Learning Objectives
Develop descriptive and expressive language using visual and audio prompts.
Practice reading fluency with support from AI tools.
Engage in imaginative storytelling and creative expression.Begin with playing short jungle sound clips (e.g., birds, monkeys, rain) to set the scene. Discussion: “What animals live in the jungle?”
Introduce AI as a helper tool that can create pictures and help us read -(Openartai).
Story Time – a short, fun jungle story for infants.
Use Immersive Reader to highlight key vocabulary and support understanding.
Reading Practice
Pupils use Reading Coach to read short jungle-themed sentences.
Creative Writing & Drawing about what they see or imagine.
Use Immersive Reader to help pupils read their sentences aloud.
Wrap-Up & SharingAs a teacher in an infant classroom and digital coordinator in my school, I found this module very informative. There is a wealth of AI tools introduced throughout the course that offer exciting opportunities to enhance teaching, learning, and assessment. While these tools offer huge time-saving potential, it’s important to acknowledge that time must be invested to learn how to use them effectively. As digital technologies evolve, I’m conscious that our whole-school policies must be updated to include AI, and that teachers need to be aware of the ethical considerations involved. In summary, we must ride the wave of digital tech adoption rather than bury our heads in the sand as children are already using it, and we must teach them to use it responsibly in the digital world they’re growing up in.
I love this response and like you definitely plan to use AI as a time saving tool in the future, especially at infant level. It’s also a great support during those moments when you’re planning your next theme and need some inspiration, whether it’s story suggestions, activity ideas, or ways to link learning across subjects. AI has so much potential to make planning more efficient and creative.
I have used Scratch in the past and found it to be a great resource for introducing children to coding. Its visual interface makes it accessible and fun, allowing students to create games and stories while learning programming concepts. However, one of the challenges I’ve faced is trying to encourage other teachers to adopt it. Scratch can seem specialised, and with limited time and competing priorities, it’s often overlooked despite its potential.
Robo Garden stood out to me in this module as I like the game-based learning concept. after some research, it appears to offer a good structured and engaging way to teach coding through interactive missions and real-world scenarios. One potential advantage is that Robo Garden seems to reduce the need for a very tech-savvy teacher, which could make it more accessible to staff who feel less confident with technology. This could be a key difference from Scratch and might help overcome some of the barriers I’ve seen in my school. I’ll need to explore it further to understand how it works in practice. I’ve since realised that Robo Garden is a paid subscription, which may limit its accessibility. In searching for free alternatives, I came across Code.org, which looks promising. I still need to do more research, so if anyone has experience with it or other similar game based platforms, I’d really appreciate your advice.
I’ve also been exploring NotebookLM and love the concept. I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out how to access something similar within our school’s Microsoft 365 setup. After watching a few YouTube videos, I was disappointed to find that it doesn’t seem to be available as a feature. I’ve emailed Microsoft for assistance. I’m now thinking more broadly, at a whole-school level about how powerful it would be to input something like our monthly newsletter into a tool like this and then use it to refer back to key information simply by asking questions. That kind of functionality could be a game-changer for staff communication and planning. I’ve also realised we need to update out AUP to include AI.
We’re very fortunate to have access to MS too in our school. I was aware of immersive reader but not Reading Coach. Really keen now to explore what other cool features and tools are hiding in MS that I’m not aware of!
This module was a wealth of practical info. A standout for me is Reading Coach, which I see as a game-changer for supporting early literacy, particularly in SET. It provides immediate and custom feedback and allows students to practice reading independently. I also love how it tracks individual progress over time too.
AI image generation tools could also be useful to create visuals that support classroom fortnightly themes to inspire students and provide a stimulus for oral language and discussion, vocabulary and creative writing activities. Generating imaginative scenes like a jungle or a fairytale castle would spark rich discussions and descriptive language and would be especially useful for those with limited vocabulary.
The wealth of AI tools in the module offers exciting opportunities to enhance teaching, learning, and assessment. While these tools are huge time-savers, it also requires us to invest our time into learning how to use them effectively. Magic School AI looks fantastic, and I’m eager to explore its full potential. I also see how MS Speech Coach could benefit older students in developing their presentation skills.
I agree with you, the clip showing brainwave tech gadgets in Chinese classrooms was very impressive but rather unsettling to say the least. The speed at which AI is advancing globally is unbelievable. However, I believe we are still a long way off from seeing that level of integration in our own classrooms. We must ensure that AI supports but doesn’t replace the human connection at the heart of teaching. The focus must remain on how children learn, and AI should be used to enhance creativity, engagement, and inclusivity, not just efficiency.
AI will not replace teachers, but will enhance their ability to meet the diverse needs of students. The most significant benefit I can see with AI is saving time particularly around paperwork and content creation. It allows teachers to focus more on meaningful interactions with children rather than administrative tasks.
In the infant classroom for example, tools like Book Creator can support young learners to create their own digital stories using drawings, voice recordings and simple text. AI can support by suggesting vocabulary, reading the story aloud and helping with sentence structure. This supports early literacy, language development, and creativity while giving teachers real-time and accurate insights into child’s progress. It also allows for differentiated learning, where each child can work at their own pace and ability level.
AI tools in general can support lesson planning, create customised assessments and help identify knowledge gaps in students. With dynamic, interactive content available literally at the click of a button, their learning becomes more engaging and less reliant on traditional textbooks. The shift supports the development of critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration skills, preparing students for the future.
Challenges include limited funding across the entire education system, the need for ongoing teacher training, concerns about data reliability, and ethical considerations such as GDPR and bias. While we are very far from advanced technologies like brainwave-reading devices shown in the video in module 2, the tools we have today already offer endless possibilities to make learning more inclusive, efficient, and inspiring. All that’s needed is enthusiastic teachers and the sky is the limit.
Hi James,
I felt the same way at first. I was sceptical and negative about the impact AI could have on education, worried it would replace meaningful teaching or encourage shortcuts and plagiarism . But over time, my perspective has definitely shifted. Once I started exploring generative AI tools, I realised how much time it can save me as a teacher—from planning lessons, suggesting ideas for thematic learning, to generating resources and speeding up the planning process.More importantly, from my own kids, I’ve come to realise that AI is very much already part of our students’ world. They’re using it, often without guidance, and that’s where we come in. It’s our responsibility to teach them how to use these tools ethically and competently, not just for academic success, but for their future in this changing world. AI isn’t going away, and rather than fear it, we need to embrace it and help shape how it’s used in education.
As an educator, I feel I need to embrace AI tools with optimism and an open mind. I believe AI represents not just a massive technological shift, but an essential evolution in how we as teachers teach, learn, and assess our student. While I understand there are and will be concerns around ethics, data privacy, and the potential for misuse, I also feel strongly that we really need to move with the times. Our students are already engaging with AI in their daily lives often outside the classroom in apps such as snapchat for example. Rather than resisting this change, we should and need to guide them in using these tools responsibly and ethically.
AI offers so much potential to personalise learning, support diverse needs and support assessment. If we equip students with the knowledge to use AI for the greater good (creatively, thoughtfully, and ethically) we’re preparing them not just for exams, but for life in our rapidly changing world. Rather than shy away from it we must embrace it!