AI has been high up on our digital agenda for well over a year now. The potential it offers for our students is tremendous, with the ability to significantly impact their learning, progress and experiences. How are we leveraging this technology to personalise learning, foster independence, and provide students with previously unobtainable opportunities? At the same time, how do we create a safe environment where students can learn about AI responsibly without encountering risks? How do we instil the importance of AI ethics?

Our approach has been to develop a comprehensive AI policy that allows students to learn how to manage and utilise AI responsibly which was published earlier this year. This policy was accompanied by staff training sessions, and we’ve focused on integrating AI Literacy into the curriculum through assemblies and the Computing curriculum. The result is that we are starting to see some fantastic examples of AI being put into practice, and I would like to share some examples below:

AI Image Generation in English:

UII students in Mr. Page’s class have been combining AI with their own fantasy novels to create images. The journey began with them sketching their own maps with the settings – caves, forests, valleys (incidentally, I firmly believe all good books start with a map!). They then channeled their creativity into planning and drafting vivid descriptions of each setting, planning their writing, and receiving feedback before crafting detailed passages.

Publishing with a Twist:

“Publication” took on a whole new dimension when students began using Canva’s AI image generator. They fed their descriptive pieces as prompts, and Canva created stunning visuals based on their writing. This sparked a frenzy of excitement in the classroom as students witnessed their words come to life

The Impact:

This innovative approach has yielded several benefits:

• Visualisation: Students were able to see their writing come to life in high-quality images, fostering a deep sense of satisfaction. It gave them a unique opportunity to see their work beyond the page, acting as a powerful motivator and offering a taste of what it might be like to be a published author.
• Critical Thinking Skills: The exercise challenged them to engage in higher-order thinking skills through comparison. They analysed how the AI-generated images compared to their own mental visualisations, considering how their word choices influenced the results and exploring the limitations of AI’s understanding of literature. This critical analysis then fueled discussions about potential revisions to improve their writing.

In the words of Heer (UIIP) “It was really cool to see such a good image be created from our writing, it was exciting. I think we should do it again!” 

We are thrilled with the initial success of AI integration and look forward to exploring its potential to further enhance the learning experience for our students.