AI in learning: ‘It’s a reality. We cannot avoid it anymore.’
IEU member Charles Neave, Director of Innovation at St Leonard’s College, says schools embracing technological changes must ‘keep teachers at the centre of the educational experience’.
But they can’t ignore it.
‘We should be having these big discussions around ethics, safety and literacy, but there needs to be a really organised way of ensuring even that 30 per cent of teachers who are very slow adopters come on the journey.’
Charles likens the onset of AI to the start of the internet era.
‘Within five years, you couldn’t work without the internet.
‘AI will be exactly the same.’
AI adoption in schools
Charles said bans on AI are counterproductive and ‘push everybody’s use underground’.
‘The much more open way is, (to say) ‘look, come and discuss it with me. If you want to use something, generally the answer will be yes’.’
Discussing AI tools with staff allows the school to assess risks and identify worthwhile platforms.
Charles says it is important that schools assess and pay for proper models, because ‘as soon as it’s a free platform, then basically you’re handing over (your data) for free’.
‘If you pay for it, platforms are much clearer about protecting your data.’
St Leonard’s appointed five ‘technology integrators’ for a year.
They helped staff use AI and produced short training videos on topics including image generation and AI citation.
Ten teachers have also developed AI agents for students to use. Charles says students studying late can ask questions through these bespoke chatbots and receive answers in their teacher’s voice, allowing staff to disconnect after hours.
Charles says the key is ‘crafting AI agents to respond to students in a way that doesn’t directly answer the question but puts the students on the right track’.
While debate about AI often centres on cheating, Charles says students themselves are worried about being reliant on the technology.
‘We don’t want this to replace our thinking. We think it’s making us dumber,’ they have told researchers.
More than prompts
Charles says it is good to teach students how to write good prompts for AI but ‘critical and creative thinking in analysing responses’ is much more important.
‘The AI is going to get so smart it’s not going to need quite as much when it comes to prompting.
‘The real skill is the ability to critically analyse the responses that it’s giving.’
Redesigning assessment
Charles says AI is forcing schools to rethink assessment. ‘If you are designing an assessment which is write an essay and it’s homework... the kid will use AI to do it.’
Rather than trying to prevent cheating, schools should redesign assessment to include in-class collaboration and tasks that deliberately incorporate AI before requiring students to work independently.
Equity
Charles acknowledges that St Leonard’s is well resourced and says schools must ensure ‘these powerful tools’ are accessible to all students. ‘St Leonard’s is a wealthy school, so we’re very lucky,’ he says. ‘I think there are issues around equity.’
Parents’ access to and use of AI varies widely, with some using it to challenge teachers’ assessment decisions. While this can increase workload if teachers feel compelled to cross-check their marking, Charles sees value in AI as a confidence-building tool for less experienced teachers.
‘I love the idea of a second or third-year-out teacher cross-checking with the AI to feel a little bit more comfortable before a parent-teacher interview.’
Ultimately, he says AI should support, not replace, the work of teachers.
‘The human interaction is actually so much more important than knowledge transference.’
