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Welcome to the course, Colin. I’d certainly agree that Copilot can be a great help when you’re up against it and just need to get a first draft down on the page. The bit about editing it afterwards is so crucial. It’ll give you something to work from, sure, but you’re still the one who knows what your class can handle, spots anything that isn’t quite right, alters the language where it needs it, and makes sure it fits the lesson you actually had in mind. I know a good few teachers are dipping into it for the day-to-day stuff like worksheets, questions, and the odd lesson idea, etc. Handled with a bit of sense, it saves you time and still leaves all the real decisions where they belong, with the teacher.
I like the way you’ve linked the local and global effects together Lorna. It shows clearly how something like access to education can have a knock-on effect later in life, particularly around work and future opportunities. Like you say, when teaching this in a DEIS Band 1 setting some of these topics need to be handled very carefully, especially when children in the class may have direct experience of housing insecurity or emergency accommodation. The poster project sounds like a nice idea. It would give the children something active and visual to work on, while also helping the wider school community stop and think. Including children’s stories as well as statistics would make it more meaningful too, as the personal side often connects with pupils more than numbers alone.
I really like this idea, Angela. The 1916 example seems very easy to transfer into other history topics, and the famine would definitely give plenty of scope for discussion.
I think it would be very powerful for children to compare different “versions” of the same event, especially from the point of view of people on famine ships, people left in workhouses, or families trying to survive at home. It could help them see that history is not always told from just one perspective. I also like that you would bring it back to reliable sources like library books or museum materials or artifacts. That’s the really important part, I think. The AI-generated piece might get them interested, but then they have to check it properly and see what is accurate, what is missing, and what might be biased.
I’m glad the module opened up the positive side of AI for you, Sinéad. Differentiation is such an important part of teaching today, and being able to build activities at a few different levels, or adapt a task for one particular pupil, could save a fair bit of time and make the work more accessible for the children. I’d agree with you; the teacher’s role stays central through all of it. AI can throw out ideas, resources, or a starting point, but it’s the teacher who knows the class and decides what’s actually going to suit them. The tools you mentioned, Immersive Reader and Minecraft Education, could help with engagement too, especially for pupils who tend to struggle with the more traditional tasks. Your last point is maybe the most important one, though. Teachers need proper training and the time to actually explore these tools, or the whole thing just ends up feeling overwhelming.
This is a really strong example, Emer. The “draw a scientist” activity says a lot, doesn’t it? It must have been disappointing to see so many children draw a male scientist, especially with an even mix of boys and girls in the class, but it also gave you a very real starting point for the lesson.
I agree with you about SESE books too. Sometimes the bias is not obvious at first, but when you start looking closely, men are often shown much more in history, science, and discovery-type roles. Children pick up on that without us even realising. I like that you used it as a chance to introduce female scientists and women in STEM. That kind of follow-up is so important, because it helps children see that their first idea of a “scientist” might be quite limited. The Nike “like a girl” video is a great suggestion as well. It could easily allow you to have a good discussion about the phrases children hear and how they can affect confidence.
Lovely activity, Michelle. Dinosaurs never fail as a hook, and breaking the reading into short sections with the images alongside would make it so much more manageable for the pupil. Immersive Reader really earns its place here. A child who finds reading tiring or a bit frustrating can have the text read out to them, dip into the picture dictionary whenever they get stuck, and just work through it at their own speed. The multiple-choice questions are a smart call as well. You’re still checking if they’ve understood without asking them to create a big written answer. That last point about confidence and independence is the one that resonates with me. Often, it’s just a matter of giving a child a bit of breathing room, and then they can show you what they knew all along.
Welcome to the course, Sarah. As you say, Development Education often works best when it isn’t looked on as a separate add-on but is worked into everyday teaching in small, natural ways. The examples you gave are good ones. Geography, children’s rights, sustainability projects and current issues all give children a chance to think past their own classroom. The whole-school side matters too. When staff are sharing resources and planning things like Fairtrade activities or cultural awareness weeks together, the children get a far more consistent message out of it. One simple idea might be to create a shared folder of Development Education resources and lesson ideas that teachers add to as they try things out.
You’ve made a nicely balanced point here, Angela. The personalised learning side of AI is one of the more interesting possibilities, especially for children who don’t fit neatly into a one-size-fits-all approach. The examples you mentioned, Century AI and Squirrel AI, show how useful it could be if a programme can spot where a child is struggling and pitch the work at the right level. That could be a genuine help to teachers too, particularly when you’re trying to hold a wide range of needs together in the one room. I liked that you brought in the school examples from the module as well. It makes the whole thing feel more real when you can see schools already trying these tools out, rather than AI being talked about purely in theory. Your last point is the important one, though. AI might help create resources or lift the engagement in a lesson, but it still has to be handled with care; data protection, privacy, parental awareness, and the children’s well-being all have to come first.
This sounds like a really valuable support in the community, Mairéad. What I like is that the hub isn’t only about handing out practical items, important as that clearly is, but about helping families feel less isolated and a bit more connected. The translation support, the children’s activities, and the workshops must make a real difference to people trying to settle into a new place. It’s easy to forget how hard it must be to land somewhere new and have to figure out schools, doctors, work, language, and the everyday routines all at the one time. Your reference to keeping links with Ukrainian culture stood out to me as well. Integration was never meant to mean leaving your own culture at the door, and it sounds like the hub is helping people hold that balance.
This is a good example of where AI can save time, but the teacher still very much needs to be the one steering, David. Generating questions for Under the Hawthorn Tree is handy in itself, but the fact that you used ai to cater for a pupil with dyslexia and a visual impairment is the part that really matters. Your point about teaching in a rural school rings true too. Resources nearly always need a bit of tweaking to actually fit the children and their context, and AI won’t catch that unless we tell it to. The next step might be asking it to produce the same questions in a more accessible format, shorter sentences, extra spacing, or a version with fewer on the page. That could be handy for any pupil who needs less visual clutter to deal with.
The part about the children being shocked that women couldn’t study certain subjects or follow certain careers really stood out for me Anna. It shows how strange and unfair it seems to them now, which is a good sign in itself.
I also think you’re right that the bigger historical examples are easier for children to notice, but the smaller everyday comments can be harder to challenge. Phrases like “she’s actually good” can sound harmless, but they do say a lot about what children have picked up somewhere along the way.
Sport is definitely an area where these attitudes can still come through, even in schools where boys and girls mix well in lots of other ways. It’s a good reminder that we have to keep an eye on the little things, not just the obvious examples of inequality.I’m glad you found the module useful, David. As you say, the number of tools out there is a bit overwhelming, but it sounds like you’ve already picked out the ones that would actually suit your own planning and classroom work.
Magic School AI and Diffit are both very practical, especially for things like lesson hooks, differentiated resources, etc. Those are the kinds of jobs that can take up a lot of time, so even if the tool just gives you a starting point, it’s still a help.
Using AI as a “worktop” rather than letting it design the whole lesson is a sensible approach, David. That feels like the right balance. The teacher still knows the class, the levels, and what needs tweaking, but the tools can speed up the first draft or give a few ideas to build from.It’s good to tie climate change to something the children are actually living through in school, Rachel. Warm weather, hats, sun cream, shade and water are all very real to Senior Infants.
The three actions are lovely and simple as well. Recycling, getting to school in a more sustainable way, and planting flowers or trees are all things young children can take part in without it tipping into something heavy or frightening.
Stories and outdoor observations would work well at that age too. Even noticing where the shade is, where things are growing, or where the rubbish ends up could open up a good little discussion.Welcome to the course Melissa. I’m glad that you found that this module really shows how useful assistive technology can be, especially in an SEN setting. Something like a C-Pen could make a big difference for a pupil who is able to understand the content but is being held back by the reading.
You make a good point too about pupils who are struggling but haven’t been identified yet. It can be very frustrating for them, and sometimes the behaviour we see is really coming from that frustration or from not being able to access the work in the same way as others.
I liked that you mentioned that schools are still doing their best even when they don’t have access to expensive tools. Low-tech supports, good planning, and knowing the pupils well still matter a lot. At the same time, you’re right that there does come a point where schools need proper support and funding too.I think you’ve summed up the SETT model really well here, Dolores. The big strength of it is that it makes you stop and look at the child first, rather than jumping straight to a piece of technology and hoping it works. I like your point about looking at the whole context too. A tool might be great in theory, but if it doesn’t suit the classroom setup, the task, or the child’s own confidence and needs, it probably won’t be used properly. The collaboration piece is really important as well. Parents, SET, class teachers and the pupil themselves can all give a different part of the picture, and that makes the decision much more useful.
