AI Insights #2
Matthew Wemyss
Assistant School Director | Co-host of Ctrl+Alt+Teach Podcast | Edufuturists Awards - A.I. Pioneer 2024
It's week 2 of the newsletter, and here we are – already three weeks into the school year over here in Romania. The initial new year boost is starting to wear off and the black bags are sneaking in on the occasional day.
This week, I’ve actually set this up as a proper newsletter! You can now subscribe ??
AI Fueled Independent Learning
I've continued teaching Year 9 with a combination of the the Canvy AI Chatbot and Canva tutorials to help students develop their design skills more independently. The setup is simple but effective: each student follows a personalised rubric and four-week plan tailored to their individual project goals.
Every class has its own quirks, but it's clear that two out of three groups are embracing the independence more naturally. They’re diving in, working through their AI generated project steps with relative ease. However, there’s one group that seems to be coasting a bit, and seem a bit lost within the increased independence.
Next week, I’m planning to step in with a demo on how to use the chatbot to better support their learning. Many students don’t seem to realise they can have a back-and-forth with the bot. Take colour theory, for example: rather than simply accepting the first output, students should be asking the bot to explain it in a way they truly understand, perhaps even request examples or explore how different colours evoke emotions in design. It’s all about asking the right questions, and right now, that part isn’t happening as much as it should.
We cannot assume all students know how to use these tools and use them well.
I’ve also had a few students ask if they can continue working on their projects at home, which I’m completely on board with. Thanks to Mindjoy ’s interface, I can track all the chatbot interactions. It’s reassuring to know that I can monitor progress, giving me peace of mind that they’re staying on task even outside of class.
Top 3 Things to Be Aware of So Far From this Project:
In a few weeks, I'll be sharing the results of this trial, along with my reflections on what I wish I'd done differently from week one. I'll also include some student feedback gathered through surveys. I'm really interested to hear how they have found the experience.
SmAIrt Lesson Planning
What if you could trim the hours spent on prep work to mere minutes? That’s exactly what I achieved using AI for a Year 13 networking lesson.
We had technically wrapped up the unit, but I felt the class needed one more push to really grasp the material. Instead of falling back on past papers or questioning, I wanted something more hands-on, something that would truly engage them. AI allowed me to design that extra layer of learning in no time.
Let's go through it step-by-step:
Step 1: Keywords & Definitions I started with a classic sorting exercise—keywords and definitions. Instead of manually gathering and typing them out, I gave AI a few prompts, and after a couple of tweaks, I had a perfect table of networking terms. Job done.
Step 2: Creative Ideas, Anyone? Next, I wanted an interactive way to explain networking. I fed the resources I had—pavement chalk, markers, post-its etc.,—into ChatGPT. A list of ideas rolled in, but the standout was using chalk to illustrate packet and circuit switching networks. Students would draw out the networks on the ground, seeing nodes and pathways in real-time. An abstract concept made visual.
Step 3: Bloom’s Taxonomy Questions With the activities sorted, I needed some retrieval practice. AI generated questions based on Bloom’s Taxonomy, with model answers that were spot-on but a bit long. No problem—I asked for a mark scheme version, and the answers were condensed in seconds.
Step 4: Extensions in Seconds I realised I needed extension tasks for differentiation. I asked AI to generate some options, and within seconds, I had a variety of tasks ready. All I had to do was choose the best ones for my class.
Step 5: Building a Quiz in Quizizz To round it off, I generated some AI content on networking and protocols, gave it a quick check to ensure it matched the spec, then uploaded it into Quizizz. In minutes, I had a retrieval quiz that was set using mastery peak set (students needed to get 80% mastery on the quiz to get to the end).
Total Time: 10 Minutes From brainstorming to a mastery quiz, AI helped me breeze through lesson prep. I cut about 30 to 40 mins down to 10 (including cutting out).
With AI, you really can work SmAIrter, not HAIrder.
A Practical AI Guide For Educators
Feeling a bit lost in the AI whirlwind? This week I have continued to work on my latest project: "AI in Education: An Educator's Handbook."
This guide, now over 10,000 words (I may have got a bit carried away!)
I promise no fancy jargon, no pie-in-the-sky theories. Just practical, down-to-earth advice you can actually use in your classroom.
What's inside?
The guide will officially launch to the audience at the BRILLIANT festival, but you can get access by signing up here before 15th October.
Whether you're AI-curious or already testing the waters, this guide is here to help. It's all about making AI work for you and your students in the real world of education.
StudySesh - Chapter 2
A-level students have been integrating AI bots, like Adabot for coding and StudySesh, into their learning flow. It’s been brilliant to see how responsibly they’re using Adabot, asking thoughtful follow-up questions and tapping into the bot’s help at just the right moments. Their judgement has been spot on.
As for StudySesh, the 1:1 tutoring bot (based on Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction), we’re still using it for 20 minutes a week during our final lesson. This week, students were grappling with the difference between the layers of the TCP/IP stack and packet vs. circuit switching. It was fantastic to watch them break down the areas they hadn’t grasped during the week and tackle those misunderstandings head-on. Many of them even asked for exam-style questions to make sure they had it nailed. Year 13 seems to have taken to AI more naturally than my Year 9s, which has been interesting to observe.
This part is also called Chapter 2 because the students asked for a version of StudySesh that’s tailored to each chapter or topic in the course. I’m happy to follow their lead on this one!
In two weeks I'm going to get 'official' feedback from them, and get their input on how to improve the bot prompts.
AIDUCATION'25
Join us on 15th February 2025 at the Cambridge School of Bucharest for AIDUCATION'25, a event focused on practical applications of AI in education. This year we won’t just be talking about the future of AI in education—we’ll be rolling up our sleeves and diving into practical applications that you can implement in your school today.
We’ve assembled an incredible line-up of speakers, each of whom will bring a wealth of experience and fresh perspectives:
Dan Fitzpatrick – Best selling author of The AI Classroom and leading expert in AI-driven education. As a regular contributor to Forbes, he provides insightful commentary on educational transformation, reaching a broad audience of educators, parents, and entrepreneurs.
Philippa Wraithmell – Award-winning educator and author of The Digital Ecosystem, Philippa will lead workshops on digital strategy and safeguarding, helping schools navigate technology integration with confidence.
Ben Whitaker – Co-host of the Edufuturists podcast and EdTech consultant, Ben will run dynamic sessions on fostering creativity and problem-solving.
Al Kingsley – A recognised EdTech advisor, mentor, author, CEO of NetSupport and EdTech thought leader, Al will explore the transformative power of A.I.
Early bird tickets are on sale now —don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn from the best and prepare your school for the future!
A huge thanks to our event partners: NetSupport , sAInaptic , Ben Whitaker (IDEAS Guy), Inventor Club , British Romanian Chamber of Commerce and COBIS - Council of British International Schools .
This week, we welcomed two new partners to the event— Texthelp and Quizizz . Absolutely delighted to have them on board!
If any companies, organisations, and individuals who share a passion for innovation and education. Let me know if you are interested in partnering with AIDUCATION'25. Reach out! I'd love to explore opportunities for collaboration.
AI Explainer Guides
Last summer, I created a series of AI Explainer Guides based on UNESCO’s global AI curriculum review, and I'm now sharing for FREE on Gumroad!
If you're curious about AI or just want to brush up on the essentials, these guides are perfect for you.
They cover:
?? What AI is (and isn’t)
?? Parts of an AI System
?? The History of AI
?? Natural Language Processing
?? Design Thinking & AI
?? Generative AI Tools & Features
Whether you’re an educator, student, or AI enthusiast, these guides make AI accessible to everyone.
Download them for free and kickstart your AI learning journey! AI Explainer Guides ( gumroad.com ) ??
AI and Authenticity
I have a question for you:
If all the thoughts are mine, do all the words need to be as well?
There are plenty of reasons why people might struggle to fully express themselves – dyslexia, language barriers, or even just the pressure of time. Does that mean their ideas are any less valid?
AI can step in to help. It can shape and refine your thoughts into something clearer and more polished. But does working with AI still count as your work if only the thoughts, not the words are entirely yours? For some, as long as the ideas are their own, that's enough. The tool is just that – a tool.
But for others, there's a nagging sense that putting your name to words crafted with AI raises questions of authenticity. If the thoughts are yours but the words aren't, is that still good enough? And does it matter what type of communication we’re talking about?
Take lesson planning, for instance. Many AI demos often highlight how AI can create study guides, lesson materials, and more. But should these also be original, crafted entirely by us? Is that fact it is for students make it okay? Where do we draw the line between AI supporting the process and it taking ownership of the outcome?
Does it make a difference if it’s a blog, an email, or even a newsletter?
Or is the ability to give a voice – or even new options for that voice – something that should be embraced?
Perhaps AI isn't about taking over but about enhancing how we communicate.
If AI helps us say what we mean more clearly or in ways we couldn’t before, is that really a bad thing? I’ve had a complicated relationship with the written word being dyslexic, so maybe I feel I’m less precious about it than some. Now, to be clear, I’m not saying we should let ChatGPT or any AI write from scratch without any input – that’s a definite no for me. AI isn’t capable of original thought, but it can produce the words. Parts of this newsletter were spoken to ChatGPT Voice, and I asked it for advice on how to structure it in a coherent manner. Is that wrong? Should I have left the full, random train of thought to be truly authentic?
Is there’s a balance to be found between maintaining ownership and expanding the possibilities, regardless of the platform.
But maybe the real question is...why did I asked so many questions in this section?
??
Ta-ra, duck!
On that note, I’ll wrap things up for the week.
Have a great weekend, everyone!