AI in Schools: Reflections from our EDUtech ConnectED Session
Earlier this month the CSER team headed to the Sydney International Convention Centre for EDUtech 2026, Australia’s largest conference and exhibition for educators and EdTech providers. Alongside exhibiting at Stand 1214, Dr Rebecca Vivian, Toni Falusi and Jaclyn Steffan hosted a ConnectEd conversation, ‘AI in Primary and Secondary Schools: Where are we now, and where do we want to go?’.
The session wasn't about arriving with all the answers; it was about opening up a genuine conversation and creating space for educators to share practice. Our goal was simple: swap ideas on teaching and learning AI literacy, start building a community-generated list of what schools, teachers, and students actually need, and give everyone room to ask the questions that are still on their minds.
We opened with an AI Pulse Check poll to gauge how the room was feeling, and the results were encouraging: half of attendees (50%) said they're already experimenting with AI tools for planning, resources or admin, and a third (33%) told us they're confidently using AI regularly and want to deepen their understanding of effective, ethical use. Only 8% were curious but cautious, and another 8% were concerned or unsure, with questions about accuracy, bias, privacy and impact on learning still front of mind for a few.
We also asked everyone to describe AI in three words, and the results told its own story. Words like ‘unlimited’, ‘beneficial’, ‘exciting’ and ‘endless possibilities’ sat right alongside ‘risky’, ‘scary’, ‘unreliable’ and ‘daunting’, while ‘evolving’ and ‘constantly evolving’ came up again and again, a nice snapshot that shows educators are excited, but still discovering exactly where AI fits within teaching and learning.
The heart of the session was a table conversation on what's working well, what's worrying people, and what's worth exploring. On the positives, teachers indicated real-time savings on admin and planning, AI-generated personalised feedback for students, diagrams and comic strips for engaging lessons, and trusted closed AI tools for building curriculum knowledge. The clearest worry by far was that students might start believing learning is no longer necessary because “AI knows everything”, risking basic literacy and numeracy skills, closely followed by concerns about the pace of change outpacing skill development, and how AI fits into assessment.
When it came to what's worth exploring, ethics and rethinking assessment, with suggestions such as in-class demonstrations, debates and portfolio work, topped the list, alongside embedding AI into school policy and helping families understand it.
Thank you to everyone who joined us in the ConnectEd space; these conversations directly shape our work, including a community-generated list of recommendations for what schools, teachers and students need in AI literacy.
If you couldn't make it along, have a look at our free self-paced courses and AI training for teachers on offer, or reach out to us at cser@adelaide.edu.au. We look forward to continuing the conversation and seeing you at one of our upcoming events!
- Dr Rebecca Vivian, Jaclyn Steffan and Toni Falusi