Making success criteria meaningful for students
How can we engage our students more with success criteria? We often walk into the classroom feeling excited about what our students will learn that day and what they will be able to produce ...
For educators, using AI well isn't only about developing AI literacy: knowing how to use AI effectively, ethically and responsibly. It's about curiosity, critical awareness and weaving AI into planning, assessment and collaboration, while keeping learners, language and cultural contexts at the centre of what we do!
This article sets out ten shifts to consider as we move from simply knowing about AI to becoming fluent in how it can support teaching and learning.
1. Think of AI as a colleague rather than a tool
Calling AI a tool suggests it's passive, like a hammer or calculator. But AI interacts with us differently, shaping how we think, frame problems and make decisions.
It's less about simple execution of tasks and more about influence on how we execute them.
| Example: Instead of asking AI to 'write a lesson plan,' you might work with it to generate alternatives for different learner contexts or highlight potential cultural sensitives. |
2. Use AI to pose thoughtful questions, not just find answers
AI's value isn't only in providing quick answers but is in helping us ask ourselves better questions.
It can test our assumptions, reveal blind spots, and suggest questions we might ask ourselves to deepen our reflection. In this way, AI becomes less of an answer machine and more of a partner in inquiry.
|
Example: 'My students struggle with group work. I’ve tried mixing ability levels and setting clear roles. What blind spots might I have, what alternative approaches could I try, and what questions should I be asking myself to better understand why learners disengage? |
3. Look beyond tasks to re-imagining workflows
AI is useful for drafting emails or creating texts, but its real power is in rethinking planning processes, creative assessment and adaptation to learners' needs.
Used this way, it provides insights helping you align tasks with outcomes and see new pathways.
|
Example: Instead of creating individual resources as you go, you could redesign your whole planning process by asking AI to map out a unit sequence, suggest assessment formats with rubrics, and highlight ways to adapt tasks across CEFR levels. |
4. Build practical awareness of how AI works
A few key concepts go a long way: context window (how much AI can 'remember'), hallucination (confident but inaccurate information), bias (patterns in the data), and fine-tuning (training on specific examples).
Understanding these helps us use AI critically and guide learners responsibly.
|
Example: AI might produce a convincing fact that turns out to be inaccurate (a hallucination). Recognising this risk encourages us to check sources and teach learners not to accept outputs uncritically. |
5. Be proactive, not just reactive
AI isn't only for emergencies. Woven into routines, it can provide a steady stream of ideas, perspectives and resources.
This means moving from reactive use to incorporating AI into your professional practice.
|
Example: Rather than scrambling for discussion topics, you might ask AI each week to scan current events (according to students’ interests and contexts), suggest texts suitable for your learners’ level and highlight how the same theme could be presented for your different learners. |
6. Focus on framing, not just promoting
Clever prompts are entry-level. The deeper skill is framing problems clearly so AI can help you explore them in useful ways.
That means stating your goals, outlining the real context you are working in and asking AI for feedback on your approach.
The more concrete you are, the more valuable the response – and the less risk of vague or biased suggestions.
|
Example: Instead of 'Give me a business English activity,' try: 'I want to design an activity that builds negotiation skills for a B1 learner in my class who struggles with turn-taking in group tasks. Here’s my draft idea…what blind spots might I be missing, and how could I adapt it to support this specific learner while keeping the activity engaging for the rest of the group?' |
7. Assemble your personal AI repertoire
No single AI does it all. A small, complementary set makes AI genuinely useful.
Different platforms shine in lesson design, research, resource creation, or professional development.
|
Example: You might use ChatGPT or Claude for drafting lessons, Perplexity or Consensus for research overviews, NotebookLM for professional development, and NapkinAI for building slides. |
8. See AI as an augmentation, not a replacement
This shift is in how we think about AI's place in education. It is not a rival to teachers but a partner that supports planning, reimagines assessment and sparks new ideas.
Our expertise is grounded in empathy and awareness of our learners' diverse needs, interested and behaviours and remains central.
|
Example: Rather than fearing AI will take over lesson design, we can view it as a way to illuminate new pathways, challenge our assumptions, and strengthen the human elements of teaching and learning. |
9. Use AI socially, not just solo
AI isn't only a private assistant. Used collaboratively, it can spark dialogue, creativity and collective decision-making among teachers and learners.
|
Example: In a planning meeting, a group of teachers could use AI to generate different approaches to a new syllabus, then debate which best fits their learners’ needs and contexts. |
10. Encourage trust, responsibility and what makes us human
Fluency with AI isn't about blind trust, but about recognising its limits and balancing them with our uniquely human qualities. AI can generate ideas and analyse patterns, but it does not feel empathy, exercise moral judgement, act on intuition, or possess self-awareness. These are the qualities we bring as teachers. By understanding ourselves better, we also see more clearly what AI can and cannot do.
The goal is not to choose between human and artificial intelligence, but to blend them, letting AI extend our reach while grounding our work in the traits only humans offer.
|
Example: If students use AI to explore a theme, you might guide them to compare its outputs with other sources, then reflect on where human empathy, intuition, or moral judgement are essential in interpreting the topic. |
Final thoughts
Moving from AI literacy to AI fluency in education isn't about mastering every new platform or writing clever prompts. It's about weaving AI into teaching and learning in ways that enhance creativity, reshape routines and encourage critical reflection, while always grounded in what makes us human. If we blend AI's strengths with our own unique qualities, we can create a future for education that is both innovative and deeply human.
Responsible use of AI
A reminder that when using AI for teaching and learning, refer to the British Council AI guidelines.
Related Posts
Teachers
Teachers
Oliver Jones
From AI literacy to AI fluency: Ten shifts for educators
For educators, using AI well isn't only about developing AI literacy: knowing how to use AI effectively, ethically and responsibly. It's about curiosity, critical awareness and weaving AI in...
Teachers
The New Directions Team
Multilingual approaches to English language teaching
Multilingual approaches to English language teaching: what does this mean for assessment? In today’s classrooms and workplaces, English often acts as a bridge; a common language that connect...
Teachers
The Future of English Team
AI will never replace English teachers - it needs them
Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming classrooms worldwide – and English language learning is no exception. With AI-powered tools offering round-the-clock access to powerful resources...
Teachers
The Future of English Team
How AI-powered language assessment data can provide key insights
Beyond LLMs: How AI-powered data analysis of your language assessments can provide critical learning insights For many of us, artificial intelligence (AI) has become synonymous with large la...
Teachers
The Future of English Team
Your AI-detection tools may be biased against speakers of other languages
Your AI-detection tools may be biased against speakers of other languages – is there a better way? AI-detection tools are now common in schools, universities, and training organisations. The...
Teachers
Nadia Cooke
AI and neurodiversity: supporting learners with ADHD and Autism
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping education, offering tools that personalise learning, enhance accessibility, and support teachers. For neurodivergent learners, particularly those wi...
Teachers
The Future of English Team
Is speaking becoming more important than writing?
In an age of voice notes, podcasts, and TikTok monologues, it’s worth asking: is speaking becoming more important than writing? As we navigate a world increasingly driven by digital platform...
Teachers
Cerys Wright
The Future of English: one year on
Since launching The Future of English: Global Perspectives in April 2023, the Future of English research programme has grown and flourished. New research projects have been commissioned and ...
Teachers
Mina Patel
In our rapidly changing world what is the future of the English language?
English is one of the most spoken languages in the world, but what will English look like in the future? Here Mina Patel, one of the authors of the new British Council publication ‘The Futur...