AI in the classroom: opportunities and challenges

AI in the hands of students is no longer optional or hypothetical. It is already part of how they research, write, and think. The question for teachers is no longer whether students will use it but how, and how lessons can be designed to take genuine advantage of what AI offers while protecting academic integrity, student data, and the kind of thinking that schools exist to develop.

The first of two 90-minute sessions focuses on the opportunities. Richard works through the AI tools that are genuinely useful in a classroom setting, the lesson types that AI changes most (research, idea generation, feedback, differentiation), and the practical approaches that put students in the driving seat rather than reducing them to passengers.

The second session takes the harder questions head-on: how to teach in a way that preserves academic integrity rather than chasing AI-written assignments, what data protection actually looks like when students log into AI tools, and the thoughtful practices that schools and departments need to agree on. Richard shares real-life lesson examples that have worked across DP Geography, ESS, and TOK.

Leave with classroom-ready ideas, a clear sense of where the lines need to be, and a more confident, informed view of what AI in your teaching actually looks like in practice.