On-the-ground at Sussex <\/h2>\n\n\n\nSussex Education Festival 2026 <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The fourth Sussex Education Festival happened last week at the Student Centre. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The festival is for anyone involved in delivering education at Sussex and provides a supportive and collaborative space to celebrate and share experiences, research and reflections on teaching, learning and assessment. This year was a well-attended event with lots of interesting and thought-provoking talks on a range of topics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There were three AI sessions as part of the programme <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n 1.Using an AI-generated reception class to enhance deliberate practice in initial teacher Education.<\/strong> Using an AI-generated reception class, Hayley Preston-Smith explored how trainee teachers could safely practise classroom activities, behaviour management, report writing and other early-years skills, while also benefiting from peer reflection and more equitable learning experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2.Teaching gen-AI prompting to develop science communication skills. Greig Joilin (Life Sciences)<\/strong> Greig examined how teaching students to use and critique generative AI prompts can support science communication skills, while highlighting the need for stronger critical thinking, self-evaluation, and a staged AI literacy curriculum across degree programmes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3.Designing with AI: A backward -design and TBL approach focused on inputs, not outputs. Gabriella Cagliesi (USBS)<\/strong>\u00a0Gabriella\u00a0argued that, through backward design and clear pedagogical rules, AI can move beyond being a passive chatbot to become an active teaching partner that supports questioning, reflection,\u00a0communication\u00a0and critical engagement with AI-generated answers.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Teaching with AI Community of Practice will meet again Monday 8th June, when we look forward to hosting a salon-style event with opportunities to reflect on 2025\/26 and discuss your ideas, experiences and questions with each other. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We will meet in-person on the University Campus, in the Library Teaching Room (Ground Floor, by the step-free access next to IDS). Please register to attend here: <\/a> Completing the form is particularly useful for us to accommodate any access requirements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Read more about our previous AI CoPs on the blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Please review our new and improved AI in education hub<\/a>. Here you will find everything you need to know about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in teaching, learning and assessment at The University of Sussex. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Self-enrol to Educational Enhancement\u2019s Canvas module \u201cAI at Sussex\u201d<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sussex staff and students only) to support your use of AI in your teaching and learning, Please remember that CoPilot and other tools are constantly being developed, and the material might not always reflect how the tool operates on a given day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The JISC Building Digital Capabilities Toolkit<\/strong> is available to all Sussex staff and students, and includes guidance on how to improve your own digital skills. Access the toolkit here.<\/a> The specialised question set looking AI focuses on <\/p>\n\n\n\n You can read more <\/a>about the University of Sussex principles on AI here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Find out more and book your place<\/a>\u202fon the Summit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From my reading this month the concept of values and our AI driven future have come up on both the micro and macro level and ultimately looking at the enduring quality of AI use. Here are two articles talking about this subject: <\/p>\n\n\n\n In this post it looks at how Nottingham Trent University, University of the Arts London, and Norwich University are exploring generative AI and how it is reshaping art and design education. They are attempting to respond by developing practical support to help students and staff integrate AI tools confidently while addressing authorship, ethics, originality, and creative practice. [altc.alt.ac.uk]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The resulting open Art, Design & Artificial Intelligence: Educator\u2019s Toolkit<\/strong> offers design-cycle activities, case studies, and reflective \u201cspark card\u201d prompts grounded in nine shared AI design values (e.g., human creativity first, transparency, inclusion, process over output) to encourage critical, values-led use of generative AI in teaching. <\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n This statement resonated with me and is something I wish to explore more. \u201cWhilst technologies evolve rapidly, the values cultivated through creative, critical and material practice are more enduring\u201d <\/em>These kind of activities described in the article put the process and the skills front and centre while taking emphasis off the final product are important reminders, for me personally, as I develop my professional work with AI as tool to support. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In this WonkHE article the author talks about the tension in the HE sector about AI use isn\u2019t just about governance or a policy problem, they argue it\u2019s a \u201cdopamine problem,\u201d because AI offers fast cognitive relief (turning friction, uncertainty, and drafting effort into neat output). Instead, universities need to rethink what they value and design for slower, difficulty, revision, and critical engagement especially as AI tools become embedded as invisible infrastructure [wonkhe.com]<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have seen this pattern before. Fast fashion was convenient before it was environmentally destructive. Social media was connective before it was corrosive. Plastic was revolutionary before it was everywhere\u2026 forever. In each case, the benefits were immediate and personal; the costs were distributed, delayed and easier to ignore. We normalised first and interrogated later.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Martin Compton\u2019s article looks at a 12-month-old post asking \u2018What GenAI tools can do well\u2019 has had hundreds of responses from educators around the world. Compton later asked contributors in the post \u201c<\/em>……What are your top personal and\/or professional uses of generative AI tools?\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Compton reports\u201d The teachers, lecturers and students shared examples of what they were doing, along with anxieties and uncertainties. These comments revealed messy, sometimes confused pictures that reflect anything but consensus. Rather than any sort of transformation either to digital utopia or intellectual ruin there is nevertheless a sense of change over time that suggests increased normalisation and experimentation alongside heightened wariness.\u201d [HEducationist]<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Further Afield <\/p>\n\n\n\n Global Accessibility Awareness Day, is a worldwide initiative that encourages everyone to talk, think, and learn about digital access and inclusion for the more than one billion people living with disabilities. By spotlighting the importance of accessible design across web, mobile, and emerging technologies such as AI, GAAD highlights how inclusive digital experiences can remove barriers and create more equitable opportunities for all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For more information about events, news and resources visit the website<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n The University of Kent’s Digitally Enhanced Education webinars! <\/p>\n\n\n\n These webinars are organised into playlists based on different elements of AI use. The employability list has nine episodes with Q&A elements. These are all available for free on YouTube with other playlists focusing on topics about AI digital technologies for teaching<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In case you missed it <\/p>\n\n\n\n Other links on the topic of AI in teaching and learning you may have missed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This was a Spotlight on AI in Education update from Educational Enhancement<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\nNext AI Community of Practice 8th June <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
AI in education hub <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\n Across the Sector <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Topic<\/strong>: \u201cIs AI the new plastic?\u201d <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Values-led Generative AI in Design Education: A Toolkit for Confident, Critical Practice <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe tensions of AI shouldn\u2019t come as a surprise in a system wired for speed and output <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Novelty, assistance and potential embarrassment: patterns of change in AI use amongst teachers. April 2026 <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nGlobal Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) 21st May 2026 <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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