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Module 5 Assessemnt Part I: Reflection
I’ll be honest—when it comes to AI, I’m still a bit on the fence. It’s exciting, sure, but also a bit overwhelming. I keep wondering what it means for how we teach—and more importantly, for the relationships we build with our pupils.
Still, I’ve started dipping my toes in thanks to this course, trying out a few tools like Gamma, ChatGPT, Quizizz, Diffit and CoPilot.
Gamma will been handy when I’m putting together presentations. It’ll save time, and the slides it creates actually look quite slick—even better than what I’d usually come up with myself. But I feel like I’ll always need to go back and tweak things, because sometimes the tone or examples don’t quite fit an Irish classroom or my own teaching style. It’s good for a starting point, not the finished product.
With ChatGPT, I use it more for myself than with the kids. I’ll ask it to help reword something or generate ideas for lessons. It’s like having someone to bounce ideas off—especially helpful when I’m tired and not thinking clearly. That said, I don’t fully trust it. I double-check everything, and I worry that relying on it too much could make me a bit lazy over time.
Quizizz will be a hit with the kids. They love quizzes, especially when they get competitive. It’s a fun way to revise or check understanding without making it feel like a test. I like how it seems to give me quick feedback, but I still try to balance it with other types of assessment—chatting with the kids, looking at their work etc.
Diffit is something I’m just getting into, but so far it’s been a lifesaver for differentiation. I can give all the kids access to the same content but at a level that suits them. It’s not perfect—I still read over the outputs and sometimes change a few things—but it’s definitely helped with planning for mixed ability groups.
As for CoPilot, I’m only scratching the surface. I’ve used it here and there when writing reports or organising notes. It’s like a quiet assistant in the background, helping keep things ticking over. There’s always that bit of guilt, like I’m cheating the system somehow, even though I know I’m still doing the thinking.
I suppose I’m cautiously open to using AI. I don’t think it’ll ever replace real teaching—it can’t see when a child is having an off day, or sense when a lesson needs to go off-track because the class is suddenly curious about something. But if it can save me a bit of time or make learning more engaging, then I think it’s worth exploring.
Feels like I’m late to the party with AI but happy to have completed this course so that I can orientate myself a little better towards using it how I need it most.
Geography Lesson Plan: Continental Drift
Class: 6th Class
Topic: Continental Drift
Time: 60 minutes
Goal: To help pupils understand what continental drift is and how the continents have moved over time.
Learning ObjectivesBy the end of the lesson, pupils will:
Know who Alfred Wegener was.
Understand the idea that continents used to be joined together.
See how the continents have moved over time.
Use fun AI tools to learn and show what they know.
🧑🏫 Lesson Steps
1. Starter (10 mins)Ask: “Do you think the continents were always where they are now?”
Show a fun video about Pangaea (e.g. “Continental Drift for Kids” on YouTube).
Use Gamma to show a simple slideshow with pictures of how the continents moved.
🔧
2. Main Lesson (20 mins)Talk briefly about Alfred Wegener, who came up with the idea of continental drift.
Show how Africa and South America look like puzzle pieces.
🌍 Activity:
Pupils use Microsoft Copilot to search:“What did Alfred Wegener say about the continents?”
📄 Pupils write down 2–3 short facts with Copilot’s help.
3. Group Activity (15 mins)
In small groups, pupils:
Choose one piece of evidence for continental drift (fossils, rocks, or climate).
Make 1 slide each using Gamma to explain their idea.
Share it with the class (or just the teacher).
4. Quiz Time! (10 mins)
Use Quizizz to run a fun quiz with questions like:
“Who came up with continental drift?”
“What was the name of the big supercontinent?”
Image match: Which two continents fit together?
5. Wrap Up (5 mins)
Ask: “What did you learn today?”
Pupils can share one fact or write it on the board.
🎒 Optional Homework:
Ask Copilot to help write a short story:“Imagine you lived on Pangaea millions of years ago. What did the world look like?”
Not always possible to fit ideas like this into one lesson but the goal would be to cover the most impirtant points re continetal drift and then present it in a fun and interesting way. I would also aim to engage the pupils’ interest further by asking them to reseacrh and present information they have come up with by mirroring their iPads onto the screen.
As much as I love the ideas shown in module 5, nothing will beat a Kahoot with my class! I think they love the time limit and the competitive nature of it all, seeing their names appear/disappear on the ldeaderboard. I usually pair up the children who might not cope as well by themselves.
Will definitely be using the AI suggested in this module to create simple quizzes in other subjects throughout the week though.
Yes, more important than ever today, especially when the very concept of what the ‘truth’ is is under attack from all sides. I found the fact-checking and bias-creation of texts fascinating. Would have taken ages to source these articles or generate them by yourself so it’s a blessing from that point of view.
Plenty of options to choose from but I’d like to try using Teachable Machine with my 6th Class next year.
I think it could make history lessons more engaging and inclusive for 6th class students with mixed abilities. I could create interactive activities that bring historical topics to life—for example, by training it to recognize images of important figures e.g. Wolfe Tone landmarks e.g. Newgrange or artifacts.
This would support visual and hands-on learners, making it easier for everyone to stay involved. Children who find reading or writing difficult can still participate by using images or movement giving them new ways to express what they’ve learned. I could also build sound-based activities, using music or famous speeches e.g. Pearse in 1916 from the steps of the GPO – from different periods to deepen understanding.
Using this approach would hopefully engage active learning and allow students to explore history through multiple senses. It could make lessons more fun and memorable while giving every student, no matter their ability level, the chance to take part and feel confident in their learning.
I think Teachable Machine is a great tool for children because it can make learning fun, interactive, and hands-on. It supports different learning styles, helping all students feel included. It also builds confidence by allowing children to show what they know in creative ways, not just pen and copy.
Part 1
First tool I’ll be using in September will be Gamma. I often use P/Point presentations as things stand but haven’t found Twinkl’s stock of resources to match the specific goals of the lesson I’m teaching. Being able to pass this over to a bot and refine the results I’m presented with feels like I’ve got a cheat code of sorts which I’m happy to have. So much that I can use from it.
I’ve also liked what I’ve seen from Diffit, specifically differentiating specific comprehension sheets for the mixed ability 6th Class I’ll teach next year. I also like the translation function as I’ll be teaching international students whose English is decent but who’ll appreciate the opportunity to learn from a bilingual sheet.
Part 2
Above anything else they’ll save time. It seems that gone are the days of devising your own P/Point slides or even Kahoot when you can pass that over to AI. Can’t say I’ll miss searching for images! I imagine becoming used to the possibilities of the resources outlined in the modules and using them so that they become best practice is the challenge for someone who’s been teaching for a long time and still harbours ‘chalk and talk’ tendencies.
I also like the assessment possibilities, being able to quickly see what’s been understood/misunderstood. The facility for pupil-designed assessment is also something that appeals, giving the children a chance to feel like they’re fully participating in their academic journey.
Like you, I use P/Point quite a lot and it’s taken a long time to put information together in a way I’m happy with e.g. Twinkl rarely satisfies, especially with mixed abilities, so becoming aware of something like Gamma or Twee seems like a remarkable time saver, almost too good to be true!
We’ve had the screen time discussion in our school and with the advancement of more and more AI technology and apps, it’s become more of a discussion of the need to possible acquire more devices to cope with the class to class demand for access to IT and AI tools. It’s hard to maintain a balance between important subjects such as PE, Drama and Art (all of which are no doubt considerably enhanced by some AI bot or other!) and the need to maintain best practice regarding the latest advancements in technology.
I signed up to this course to learn more about the possibilities of AI in the classroom and this module has both intrigued and repelled me. To the latter first: I assume that the video from China was posted as a type of dystopian alarm bell as to what could happen if we take things too far with AI learning? Seems utterly ridiculous to post it without comment/context otherwise.
As for the possibilities, they do seem limitless. Like others already in this form, the Immersive Reader seems excellent, not least the ability to enable struggling readers to become independent and achieve success. The fact that it seems easy and fast to set up is also appealing.
Assessment is also an area where AI could improve things in the classroom. The ability to generate quizzes quickly and easily, allowing children to gain instant results on how they’ve fared (or allowing them to collaborate on designing quizzes for one another on topics covered) seems an exciting alternative to the end-of-week test!
Some of the challenges would be ensuring that children have enough access to screens/devices when needed. Truth be told I’ll need to do my own research to ensure that I’m up to speed on the technology also so that I can get the best out of it and make it work for me though most of it seems relatvely intuitive.
Hi Fiona,
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I think that it’s the adapting of our teaching methods that will possibly prove to be the most challenging initially, especially those teaching for a few years. Navigating our way through a new curriculum in Maths & English and embracing AI to do so seems challenging but worthwhile I imagine.
Anything that makes the job easier, I guess!
I’ve chosen to do this summer course to learn more about a concept that I’m still quite ‘green’ about. I’m well aware of Chat GPT but beyond that it’s all quite new to me.
I’m excited about the possibilities, but having taught for many years part of me wonders what we might be losing by fully embracing generative AI. Happy to hold off on the negativity for the time being and embrace what’s out there.
I think the thought of having something which will aid planning more enjoyable and engaging lessons (whilst also reducing the planning time for same) has to be exciting, no matter how long you’ve been teaching.
With regard to assessment, I’m still awaiting further information in this course to be able to gauge the impact of AI on that. If we could create a bot that would correct 30 6th Class Maths copies in 10 seconds, I’d be all over it, to hell with the moral scruples! Wishful thinking.
As educators, in the future, we’ll need to be wary of how AI is used by ourselves and our students so that the passing on of information is not completely left to the bots. They generate the ideas and the scripts but we, as teachers, will still have to be mindful of guiding the children using the information we’ve generated.