Professional Development and Professional Learning Resources

Courses

Online courses such as those provided by Coursera, edX, Google, Microsoft Learn and Udemy, are designed and/or taught by experts in the digital technologies field. By participating in these courses, teachers can build confidence in using AI and other digital technologies, ensuring they stay ahead in a rapidly evolving educational landscape, as well as having these courses potentially contribute to the minimum amount of professional development activities required of teachers, to maintain their teaching registration.

Coursera

Free courses that help teachers (and other educators) in understanding the basics of AI and how to apply them in the classroom, such as:

Google Cloud’s Introduction to Generative AI, which explains what generative AI is, how it is used, and provides an insight into Google Tools that can help individuals develop their own generative AI apps: https://coursera.org/learn/introduction-to-generative-ai

DeepLearning.AI’s Generative AI for Everyone, which takes the individual through the basics of what generative AI is, how it works, what the technology can and can’t do, and how to build effective prompts: https://coursera.org/learn/generative-ai-for-everyone

edX: Introduction to Generative AI

Free courses that cover the fundamentals of AI and generative AI such as:

IBM’s Introduction to Generative AI, which takes the individual through understanding the capabilities of generative AI: https://edx.org/learn/computer-science/ibm-introduction-to-generative-ai

Other courses are available, such as How to Use ChatGPT in Education by doing a search of the courses offered on the edX.org site.

Elements of AI

Free online course which is a collaboration between University of Helsinki and MinnaLearn.

Beginner-friendly that covers the basics of AI, its applications, and its potential impact on various fields, including education (i.e. allows teachers to build foundational knowledge of AI).

FutureLearn

FutureLearn is an online learning platform that provides a variety of courses/programs, both free and paid, which includes AI-centred courses/programs.

Google for Education

Google offers a range of tools and professional development resources for integrating AI into the classroom. The Google for Education Teacher Center provides training modules on AI-powered tools like Google Assistant, machine learning in Google Workspace, and AI-based accessibility features.
Decorative image of a woman using a laptop

Microsoft Learn

The Microsoft Learn Educator Center provides teachers with access to courses and other learning resources, such as:

  • A guide to artificial intelligence (33-minute module):
    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/training/modules/a-guide-to-artificial-intelligence
  • Introduction to generative AI – Exploring the basics (22-minute module):
    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/training/modules/intro-generative-ai-explore-basics
  • Create images with generative AI (26-minute module):
    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/training/modules/create-images-with-generative-ai
  • Use AI tools to create an inclusive learning environment (22-minute module):
    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/training/modules/use-ai-tools-to-create-inclusive-learning-environment

The courses are categorised into Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced levels, and tailored to the use of AI tools on the Microsoft platform.

OpenAI

Provides teachers with an insight, from the perspective of generative AI developers, on how their company teaches their “AI right from wrong”. Additionally, OpenAI provides some insights into the processes and procedures they use to mitigate the risks associated with AI.

Udemy

Offers a broad range of courses, including courses on AI, such as:

  • Generative AI for Beginners
  • Mastering AI with ChatGPT, Gemini, Feedly and 25+ AI Tools

While Udemy offers both paid and free courses, the majority of its courses do require payment. The free Udemy courses will typically provide access to basic materials without additional feature (e.g. no course completion certificates, no interaction with the course instructors).

Resources Hub: Articles, blogs, books, reports and websites

Activities such as ‘professional reading’ of publications, whether in the form of articles, blogs, books and reports, can contribute to teachers’ professional development, as part of renewing their teacher registration.

AI in Education

Dan Bowen (Microsoft Australia) and Ray Fleming (InnovateGPT) host a weekly chat about AI in Education.

Provides a “not too serious, or too technical” podcast that discusses what AI is, how it works, and the different ways it can be used in school classrooms.

Apple Intelligence

5 Tools for Educators:

By JacobW (14th January 2025)

In this blog, Jacob shares five recent features added to the iPad and iPhone devices that can be used by educators in the classroom. These include: (1) Safety Filter, which provides a “quick and simple way to pixelate faces in photographs”; (2) Inbox Summary, for providing a summary of message contents; (3) Summarise Text, for which can be used for transforming a “large passage of text into a set of key points in seconds”; (4) Reduce Distractions, which uses “machine learning tools to intelligently pick and choose which notifications are important in the moment and which can wait until later on”; and (5) Spelling + Grammar, which proofreads a highlighted block of text.

Many schools, especially those with a commitment to integrating technology into classrooms, have iPads available for teachers and students. For teachers working in such schools with access to class sets of iPads, this blog can provide teachers with ideas on using the latest Apple features with in-built AI capabilities, to nurture their students’ AI literacy, and develop their understanding of gender inclusivity.

General items

The following two articles and book provide ideas that can be adapted by the teacher to suit the use and application of AI as part of the teaching and learning process in their classroom/s. The purpose of these articles/book is to help build teachers’ knowledge of generative AI and their capacity to use generative AI effectively in the school classroom. Having this knowledge will better position teachers to be more aware of the double-edged nature of AI. With this base knowledge, teachers would be better placed to ensure a gender inclusive classroom.

What is ChatGPT and how is it used in education?

A very brief discussion that addresses questions such as: What does the GPT in ChatGPT stand for? How does it work? Is it infallible? Is ChatGPT done evolving?
https://www.edweek.org/technology/what-is-chatgpt-and-how-is-it-used-in-education/2023/01

New modes of learning enabled by AI chatbots: Three methods and assignments

By Ethan Mollick and Lilach Mollick, 13 December 2022, University of Pennsylvania - Wharton School.

The authors share their ideas of AI being able to “to overcome three barriers to learning in the classroom”, specifically, “improving transfer, breaking the illusion of explanatory depth, and training students to critically evaluate explanations”. Background information and techniques on how AI can be used to overcome the barriers are provided, and include prompts and assignments that teachers can adapt for their classroom teaching.
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4300783
http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4300783

Teaching with AI (book)

Written by two academics, Bowen and Watson, the reviews suggest that their book presents content in understandable terms and reveals innovative ways to integrate AI to reduce workload and transform educational practices.

While written for the tertiary sector, its ideas can be adapted in the primary and secondary school classrooms.

Bowen, J. A., & Watson, C. E. (2024). Teaching with AI: A practical guide to a new era of human learning. American Association of Colleges and Universities.

Decorative image of a man reading a book

Harvard Graduate School of Education

The Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) offers a range of articles and resources to assist teachers in integrating AI in their classrooms, as well as providing insights into how students use generative AI. These resources provide teachers with strategies for effective implementation, and discussions on the ethical considerations involved, which helps to further teachers’ professional development. For more information, and other AI-related articles, please visit the HGSE website.

In relation to the issue of gender bias/inclusivity, the teacher can draw inspiration from Ross’s (2023) article, and her advice on teaching students how to ask ChatGPT questions. Specifically, teachers can use this article as part of their learning activities, where students develop familiarity with the use of ‘non-gender’ language.

Some of their articles include:

Students Are Using AI Already. Here’s What They Think Adults Should Know

By Ryan Nagelhout (10th September 2024)

This article provides an insight into what teenagers believe parents and teachers should know about how they use, or don’t use, generative AI.
https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/usable-knowledge/24/09/students-are-using-ai-already-heres-what-they-think-adults-should-know

How Generative AI Can Support Professional Learning for Teachers

By Elizabeth M. Ross (2nd October 2024)

This article hosts a discussion involving two researchers (Karen Brennan and Paulina Haduong) as part of an introduction to the free online tool BlockTalk, which uses generative artificial intelligence (AI) to provide teachers with a way to practice creative problem-solving with their students’ Scratch projects.
https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/usable-knowledge/24/10/how-generative-ai-can-support-professional-learning-teachers

Embracing Artificial Intelligence in the Classroom

By Elizabeth M. Ross (20th July 2023)

Ross’ advice includes: (1) stop pretending that it [generative AI] doesn’t exist; (2) use AI alongside your students; (3) teach students how to ask the ChatGPT tool questions; and (4) use generative AI tools to spark imagination.
https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/usable-knowledge/23/07/embracing-artificial-intelligence-classroom

Educating in a World of Artificial Intelligence

By Jill Anderson (9th February 2023)

In this educational podcast, senior researcher Chris Dede discusses how education can evolve to work with artificial intelligence, rather than fight against artificial intelligence
https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/edcast/23/02/educating-world-artificial-intelligence

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

The OECD publishes a broad range of articles, in addition to providing access to data collected on varying aspects of education. Increasingly, these articles include examples such as:

  • Education Policy Outlook 2024: Reshaping Teaching into a Thriving Profession from ABCs to AI (published 25th November 2024). Link to the article can be found here.
  • The working paper Trustworthy artificial intelligence (AI) in education (published 8th April 2020). Link to the article can be found here.
  • The case study AI Challenge: Empowering vulnerable youth through generative AI (published 24th June 2024). Link to the article can be found here.

These and similar publications produced by the OECD are useful for the classroom teacher as they provide an important outlook on the direction in which technology, and AI specifically, is heading. The dual nature of generative AI, such as the ability to empower students but also the issue of trustworthiness, are discussed and analysed. Overall, these contribute to further developing teachers’ understanding of AI and the complexity of integrating AI in the classroom.

World Economic Forum

With a focus on the intersection of technology, education, and workforce development, the World Economic Forum can provide teachers with a global perspective on how AI can help shape the future of learning and teaching.

Article Examples include:

  • How AI can accelerate students’ holistic development and make teaching more fulfilling (published 1st May 2023), which provides useful insights for teachers on the important skills that could/should be nurtured through embedding AI tools in the classroom. Link to the actual article can be found here.
  • Can you trust your AI assistant? A worker's guide to predictions, decisions and collaboration (published 21st January 2022), which provides the scenario of a radiologist working at a busy hospital and using an AI system as part of the medical diagnosis process. The question posed in the article is one around the benefit offered by AI, which is faster diagnosis, but how does the radiologist know when to trust the predictions made by AI. This article and scenario can be used by the teacher as the basis for a student research project (e.g. in Science, English), that focuses on the question of who makes the decision. Link to the actual article can be found here.