The Future of AI at School
3rd December 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM GMT
How are school leaders, policymakers and teachers planning to work with AI in the classroom? What does AI mean for the way we teach, assess and understand learning and the cultures and practices of schooling? This event will bring together key figures from the Scottish education landscape to talk about AI in schools and our education futures.
The event will be public-facing, and carefully designed to provoke active discussion and debate with the audience. It will build on research taking place over recent years at the University of Edinburgh with the Data Education in Schools and BRAID research programmes and draw on the wide network of schools and sector leads who have cocreated this work . It will provide audiences with engaging insights from colleagues working with AI at the chalk-face of teaching and policy development, opening up debate to a wider public audience.
The event will be relevant to anyone with an interest in schools, schooling and education policy futures.
Speaker Biographies
Louise Hayward is Professor Emerita of Educational Assessment and Innovation (University of Glasgow) and Honorary Professor (UWTSD). Originally an English teacher, her research focuses on improving future assessment policy and practice and she has published widely on Assessment and Processes of Change. In 2018, Louise founded the International Educational Assessment Network (researchers and policy makers from twelve nations across four continents). She has worked with OECD on the Learning 2030 programme and with UNESCO on Assessment in STEM education. Recently, Louise chaired two Independent Reviews of Qualifications and Assessment- the first in England (A New ERA, 2021) and most recently in Scotland (It’s Our Future, 2023).
Ollie Bray is currently Strategic Director at Education Scotland. Education Scotland is a Scottish Government executive agency charged with supporting quality and improvement in Scottish education. At Education Scotland Ollie has overall strategic responsibility for National Improvement Initiatives and Professional Learning and Leadership. This includes major national initiatives, such as the review of the Scottish Curriculum (the Curriculum Improvement Cycle); Digital Learning & Teaching (including Glow) and National Professional Learning and Leadership Programmes. Immediately before rejoining Education Scotland he was Global Director: Connecting Play and Education at the LEGO Foundation (www.legofoundation.com) where he led the Foundations work related to education improvement through the use of technology and play. As part of this role he also led the Foundations COVID-19 distance learning response stream. Prior to joining the LEGO Foundation in November 2018 he was headteacher of Kingussie High School, Scotland. He has over 25 years experience in all aspects of education. As well as his philanthropic, school and systems leadership work he has also been an award winning teacher, Scotland’s former national advisor for emerging technologies in learning and a non-executive director at Inverness College: University of the Highlands & Islands and was until recently Chair of the Board at the International School of Billund, Denmark.
Theodore Pengelley is a Digital Manager at the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), within its Digital Assessment Services team. Theo has a diverse background of delivering innovative digital services spanning the private, public, and third sectors.
Currently, he oversees SQA’s digital learning provision, while exploring new opportunities to use emerging technologies across SQA’s qualifications and assessments. As the chair of SQA’s Artificial Intelligence and Emergent Technology Group, he is at the forefront of addressing the opportunities and challenges posed by AI and other evolving technologies. Through rigorous research, engagement across the Scottish education system, and cross-sector collaboration, this groups explores the impact of adopting these technologies within learning, teaching and assessment.
Professor Judy Robertson has been researching and developing technology with and for children for over twenty years. She is Chair in Digital Learning at the University of Edinburgh, in the School of Informatics and Moray House School of Education and Sport. She has active research projects in exploring children and young people’s views on AI in school, and in documenting early adopter teachers’ use of AI.
