Product reviews for Artificial Intelligence in the Primary Classroom

In a landscape where education constantly evolves to meet the demands of the digital age, Gemma’s latest book stands out as a beacon of innovation and inspiration for teachers and school leaders, venturing as it does into the realm of artificial intelligence in the primary classroom. Important to state at the outset, this is not a book full of lesson plans; rather, it is an extremely helpful tool to help you start to visualise how to constructively incorporate AI into your daily teaching and planning.

The great strength of this book is the sheer diversity of topics and issues it covers in a simple format. From how to incorporate AI into curricular areas such as literacy, maths, science and art, to how to develop schoolwide policies on mobile phone usage or implementing effective behaviour management strategies. This book is a must-use guide to bring your classroom and school in line with 21st century technology and thrive using it.

There is currently a feeling among educators and others that using AI to help in the planning of teaching is somehow cheating or challenging our professionalism. This is a viewpoint that needs to change, and this guide is an ideal tool to help make that shift in our mindset to one that embraces innovation.

As a primary teacher herself, Gemma writes with humour and a full understanding of what your day-to-day job entails, helping to provide practical tips on every page to address the challenges of teaching today. What is hugely commendable is her embedding of inclusive practice throughout the book – especially for EAL learners, neurodiverse learners, and teachers – and decolonising practices. All current and important issues. Gemma also highlights how using AI in the classroom can be a way to model its use in a positive way for learners. AI is not going anywhere, but incorporating it into pupil research, for instance, will help learners to understand that it is not about trying to find the answers, but is about helping them to ask critical questions and delve deeper into their learning.

As Gemma states, ‘We stand at the threshold of a new technological revolution’. We therefore simply must embrace the advancements in technology and I recommend starting with this book as an excellent step forward.