Dear Educator, 

It is envisaged that this report will shed some light on the emerging phenomenon of using Artificial Intelligence in Schools in the UK. As Anthony Sheldon eloquently describes education as the Cinderella subject of AI there is a genuine need to give the necessary thought and reflection on how AI is theorised and practiced for enhancing learning and teaching in schools. The report develops its argument for experiencing AI for teaching and learning through the eyes of the teachers. It supports that research in teaching and learning provides the threshold for understanding how AI applications and tools are employed for addressing intended learning outcomes. It is indeed a precursor that defines theories of learning, strategies and processes and inform the use of technology in qualitatively different ways as evidenced from practice. 

This is not a report about school reform but rather an exploration of how educators create an awareness of teaching using AI as means to make informed decisions based on their perceptions, beliefs, intuitions, and sensations of using intelligent systems in education. It is a call to action to rethink how learning and teaching is designed and manifested. The reported teaching strategies are not only relevant to the use of AI, but they take account the entire spectrum of learning and teaching and thereby may also inform traditional educational perspectives. 

This is a profoundly optimistic report that shares the knowledge, developments, and the different ways of experiencing the phenomenon of using AI in the UK’s school system as evidenced from the educator’s standpoint. To situate the study into a context, the report starts with reviewing current developments, trends, and the evidence-base of AI in education which synthesise Part 1 of the report. Part 2 delves into revealing empirical findings of teachers’ conceptions of teaching and learning using AI along with ethical and skills development implications. 

The Author, 

Dr Petros Lameras 

Coventry University