Leadership, IT and AI in Education.
Hi, I’m John, a current primary headteacher with lots of experience in UK education, including advising and supporting schools. I’m exploring how AI and digital tools can reduce workload, simplify school systems and give staff more time to focus on children and learning. I am particularly interested in judicious use of IT and AI in education. Through The Digital School Leader, I share thoughts, useful tools, practical ideas and a critical look at the evidence behind the claims. **Join the free weekly update** for a clear, practical roundup of what’s changing and what could make a difference in your school.
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All articles →Let AI do the boring stuff
Most of the conversation about AI in schools is about teaching and learning. My most useful experiment so far has been with something far duller: a COSHH risk assessment for a box of dishwasher tablets.
AI tutoring matched human tutors in the lesson, but not on the test: the Eedi and Google DeepMind trial
A trial with 1,179 secondary pupils found AI tutoring helped pupils correct mistakes in the lesson as well as expert human tutors, but produced no clear gain on an independent maths test.
Similar schools, different stories: will the new attendance expectations stay low stakes?
The DfE has updated its similar schools attendance reports and each school's Attendance Baseline Improvement Expectation. Comparing schools in context is better than relying on national averages, but only if it stays a tool for improvement. Recent history suggests that is a big if.
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About John
I'm a practising school leader with a particular interest in school improvement, systems, workload reduction and the thoughtful use of technology in education.
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