What we learned from teachers at Sydney’s Day of AI
AI in Education Podcast
We kick off Series 17 with a multi-interview episode! Recorded live at the , this episode brings together three educators who are reshaping teaching, assessment and student learning in real classrooms with AI. You’ll hear from at on how teachers are building shared “Brains” in NotebookLM to save time, improve differentiation and support pedagogy, while reducing workload by more than 50 hours a week across staff workflows. from shares how AI is opening new creative possibilities for students and teachers alike, and why schools needed to guide students toward using AI well rather...
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The Castlereagh Moment: Education at a Turning Point with AI?
AI in Education Podcast
This week’s episode explores a defining moment for education in the age of AI. Fresh from a week of major events in Sydney, including the Microsoft AI Summit, Dan and Ray unpack the newly released Castlereagh Statement - a collaboration between 70+ education leaders calling for urgent change across schools, universities, and training systems. Their message is clear: education isn’t ready for the speed and scale of AI disruption. But that’s only part of the story. We’re also seeing a growing pushback on technology in classrooms, with schools limiting screen time and universities...
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From Classroom to Impact: How Dawn Knight Uses AI to Help Students Thrive
AI in Education Podcast
In this episode, we’re joined by , a sustainability lead and specialist support educator working with deaf students in a UK secondary school (). Dawn shares how she’s using AI in simple, practical ways to make learning more accessible - not just for students with additional needs, but for everyone in the classroom. From generating transcripts and differentiated resources to using AI as a planning “checklist,” Dawn explains how these tools are helping her save time and reinvest it where it matters most: supporting students directly. The conversation explores how technology originally...
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Australia’s AI moment: Fast adoption, slow policy, big questions
AI in Education Podcast
In this episode, Dan and Ray explore how AI is rapidly reshaping education, workplaces, and policy - often faster than institutions can respond. They unpack new guidance from NSW’s NESA on student AI use, highlighting the growing tension between rules, real-world behaviour, and the need for clearer, more consistent policies across education systems. The conversation expands globally with insights from the 2026 Stanford AI Index Report, revealing that while over 80% of students are already using AI, formal education and policy frameworks are struggling to keep pace. The distinction between...
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Jocelyn Brewer - How schools and parents rethink student wellbeing in the age of AI
AI in Education Podcast
In this episode, Dan and Ray are joined by psychologist and cyber psychology expert , founder of , to unpack one of the biggest challenges facing education today: how schools and parents can support student wellbeing in an AI-driven world. Jocelyn introduces the concept of “” - a more balanced, intentional approach to technology use that moves beyond simplistic ideas like screen time limits. Together, they explore how young people are already using AI for everything from homework to navigating friendships, often in ways adults don’t fully understand. The conversation dives into the risks...
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Inside the latest AI in education research: tutors, bias, and impact
AI in Education Podcast
This week’s episode dives into a wave of new research shaping how AI is actually being used in education. We explore what works (and what doesn’t) when it comes to AI-generated feedback, including why blended, “hybrid” feedback may be the most effective approach - and why more feedback doesn’t always lead to better outcomes. The conversation then turns to one of the most important emerging issues: bias in AI systems. From subtle differences in tone to stereotyping based on student characteristics, the research highlights why educators need to be cautious about the data they provide...
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UnBlooms: Tina Austin on thinking well with AI and rethinking Bloom’s
AI in Education Podcast
joins Ray and Dan for a wide-ranging conversation about what AI adoption really looks like in US education beyond the hype, the headlines and the endless frameworks. Tina is an educator, consultant, policy adviser and the founder of GAInable. She works with schools, colleges and faculty teams on responsible AI adoption. In this episode, she shares how her work evolved from teaching bioethics and AI ethics into supporting educators across the US as they grapple with policy, privacy, assessment, tools, and changing classroom practice. The conversation explores the fragmented reality of AI in...
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AI News: the future of work we’re not ready for
AI in Education Podcast
In this AI News episode, Dan and Ray explore the fast-moving reality of AI in the workplace - and why many of us might not be as prepared as we think. They unpack a striking story of a KPMG partner fined for using AI to cheat on an AI ethics course, raising questions about assessment, responsibility, and what “cheating” even means in an AI-enabled world. The conversation then shifts to a growing trend: organisations and universities rolling out AI tools like Copilot at scale, and what this means for equity, productivity, and expectations in the workplace. Dan and Ray also dive into new...
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Stephen Heppell on Building Smarter Schools in the Age of AI
AI in Education Podcast
Professor joins Dan and Ray for a wide-ranging conversation about the future of schools, assessment, and learning in the age of AI. Stephen reflects on more than four decades of innovation in education technology — from early experiments with AI and HyperCard through to today’s generative AI systems. Drawing on work around the world, he shares stories from radical learning environments including beach schools, post-hurricane classrooms in the Cayman Islands, and experimental learning spaces designed with students themselves. A central theme of the episode is the growing gap between how...
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From Classrooms to Careers: The New AI Skills Race
AI in Education Podcast
In this news-packed episode, hosts Ray and Dan explore Purdue University’s bold new requirement for all graduates to demonstrate AI competency; and the strategic partnerships between Harvey.ai (the specialised system for the legal profession) and universities in Sydney, Oxford and Chicago. The conversation turns to the "first in the world" move by the University of Manchester to provide Microsoft 365 Copilot to 65,000 students and staff - paying homage to the legacy of Alan Turing. A highlight of the episode is the deep dive into "vibe coding"— the phenomenon of non-programmers using AI to...
info_outlineBONUS EPISODE ! We'd love to meet more of our listeners in person, so here's a list of events over the next few weeks when Dan, Ray, or Dan and Ray are speaking about AI in Education. One of the things that makes the podcast special is the amazing stories we get from our guests, and there's more stories than fit into an episode, and we're always on the lookout for more. So come and say hi at any of these events, and per haps we can share an untold story, or you can tell us yours!
August
19 August - Melbourne - Ray
Ray's on the panel discussing "The Transformed Learning Landscape Through AI" at this event for edtech companies and universities
21 August - Sydney - Ray - Free event
If you're in Sydney, the Institute of Applied Technology has scheduled the perfect event on Wednesday evening (starting at 6PM). Ray's hosting the free learning session "The Future of Human AI", designed for the thousands of small businesses and employees around Western Sydney who want to make sense of the AI hype and start to understand what everybody else is talking about. If you're a teacher, you'll also walk away with some good ideas of how businesses are using AI to help with your discussion of AI in the classroom
23 August - Sydney - Dan
AI in Education Conference | Teaching Tomorrow: Harnessing AI Tools Today
Organised by friends of the podcast Matt Esterman and Nick Jackson at WSU's Parramatta campus, it'll be a festival of ideas from a great lineup of teachers. Dan's one of the speakers, and will be wearing his Microsoft badge on the day, talking about all the latest great tech announcements from that world.
September
3 September - Online - Dan - Free event
Build a Bot in Copilot Studio
Doing his day job, Dan's taking part in this online workshop designed to help Microsoft Copilot users build their own bot. Like Build a Bear workshop, but with less bear and more bot. Open to any Microsoft customers in Australia and New Zealand.
4 September - Christchurch, NZ - Ray
For New Zealand listeners Ray's heading over the ditch to deliver a keynote called "AI, why?" at the annual conference for digital teams of universities and polytechnics. If you're going to be there, please say Hi!
12-13 September - Adelaide - Ray
Ray's taking part in the "Marketing, Recruitment, Advancement and AI in Higher Education Conference" in Adelaide. Ray's on a panel discussion "The place of AI in university " with Eddie Major, on applications of AI beyond teaching and learning, and then delivering the closing keynote, grandly titled "The future of HE - The future of higher education in a world where gen AI is ubiquitous"
16-19 September - Online - Dan and Ray - Free event
Toddle's AI for AussieEd online event
The toddle team have pulled together 20 speakers from across Australia, who will be talking about assessment, LMSs, chatbots, the AI Framework for schools, leadership and data-driven learning. And tacked on right at the end of the run, at 5:15 on the 19th, we're going to have a crack at a live podcast recording