I've now met with dozens of Headteachers to talk about AI in schools. Quite often, the questions are: "How do I make a custom Gem?" "What's NotebookLM? "How do I get Gemini to do this?" And these are useful questions and help in the micro sense of a school. But increasingly, I think there are more important questions that school leaders need to be asking. How much AI is already being used in my school? Particularly by ECTs and younger, more tech-confident members of staff. AI

By Ben | Taught AI Last week was a pretty special. I'm very proud to say that the AI CPD programme I've spent the last few months developing has now been formally accredited, giving participants 18 CPD points on completion. And ever better than that, I had the opportunity to deliver the programme in full at the Wandsworth Professional Development Centre to 15 colleagues from five different schools. The group included Headteachers, Deputy Heads, a Head of School, subject leade

By Ben | Taught AI Academy For the last two years, much of the conversation around AI in education has focused on tools like ChatGPT. And rightly so. It introduced many educators to what AI could do. But something significant has changed. For schools using Google Workspace for Education, AI is no longer an external tool. It's becoming part of the ecosystem teachers already use every day. Gemini is now embedded across Google Workspace, Classroom, Drive, Docs, Slides, Gmail, Me

I’m excited to officially launch the Taught AI YouTube Channel — a space designed to cut through the noise and bridge the gap between AI hype and the reality of UK schools. Why a Taught AI YouTube Channel? As a former Deputy Head of school and classroom practitioner, I’ve seen first-hand how quickly AI has entered education — and how unclear it still feels for many schools. Leaders are being pulled in two directions: the pressure to innovate and the responsibility to safeguar

By Ben | Taught AI As AI becomes more embedded in schools, one question is coming up more and more: Should we be using Gemini… or NotebookLM? The answer isn’t either/or. It’s understanding what each does best — and how to use them together. Gemini: Fast, Flexible, User-Friendly Gemini is what most teachers naturally gravitate towards. It’s: quick intuitive easy to prompt great for drafting lessons, emails, and resources For busy staff, this matters. Gemini feels like a natura

By Ben | Taught AI One issue I’m seeing more and more with schools using Gemini is this: A teacher creates a strong lesson, clicks into Canvas to turn it into slides, then tries to edit them… and suddenly everything becomes a wall of text, broken formatting, or code-like confusion. In some cases, it even feels like the work has been lost. The key point is this: this isn’t user error. It ’s a reflection of early-stage technology that is still evolving. Gemini is incredibly p

By Ben | Taught AI Academy School leaders spend huge amounts of time writing and updating documents like the School Improvement Plan (SIP) , School Development Plan (SDP) , curriculum maps and subject action plans. The challenge isn’t writing them.It ’s turning them into insight . That’s why I’ve just introduced a major upgrade to the Taught AI Leadership Tools : they now sync directly with your school’s live improvement documents . A Live Brain for School Leadership When lea

By Ben | Taught AI In a world full of flashy AI chatbots and clickbait tools, I’ve been doing something different at Taught AI: the quiet, unglamorous work that actually makes school-based AI safe, smart, and aligned with what matters— staff, pupils, and policy . I’m proud to announce that I've just completed a major infrastructure update across the entire Taught AI ecosystem. A 1,000-Page Brain, Now Powering Taught AI Tools Behind the scenes, I’ve indexed over 1,000 pages

By Ben | Taught AI Academy I’m excited to share that the Taught AI school microsites — built for fictional school environments to model what’s possible — have just had a complete redesign . These updates aren’t just cosmetic. They’re about making AI more accessible, more powerful, and more aligned with how staff actually work. These microsites are live demos of what AI can look like when it’s done safely, smartly, and on-brand for a school’s unique ethos. A Fresh Design with

By Ben | Taught AI Academy At Taught AI, I’ve always been committed to staying ahead—not just in AI innovation, but in grounding everything I build in the latest educational research. That’s why I’m proud to share that all Taught AI tools have now been updated to reflect the refreshed guidance from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) on metacognition and self-regulated learning. This update ensures every prompt, resource, and workflow I design is not only intelligent and

By Ben | Taught AI Academy AI is evolving faster than policy, and nowhere is that more alarming than in the rise of AI character chat apps like Character.AI — platforms marketed as entertainment but increasingly used by children and young people for companionship, escapism, and even emotional advice. At first glance, these apps look harmless: create a digital “friend,” talk about your day, or role‑play your favourite character. But beneath the friendly surface lies a growing

By Ben | Taught AI Academy AI has officially entered the classroom. In 2025, the majority of UK teachers now say they’re using AI tools regularly—whether for planning, differentiation, admin, or communication. And confidence is growing fast: 87% of educators now say they feel either completely or somewhat comfortable using AI at work. But here’s the concern: the policies, guidance, and safeguarding protections that should sit alongside AI use are either missing—or unknown

Google has just rolled out Gemini across Google Workspace for Education—embedding over 30 powerful AI tools into the platforms teachers...

Yesterday the Department for Education released its long-awaited guidance on the safe and effective use of AI in education. At Taught AI , we didn’t panic—we reviewed the guidance and found ourselves already ahead . This blog explores where we were before the guidance dropped, the key improvements we made to our offer, and how we’re now helping other schools do the same. Before the DfE Guidance: What We Were Already Doing At Taught AI, our core mission has always been practic

From AI to ABC's: Texas School Puts a New Spin on Learning https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmix-IUSAN0 A recent article spotlighting a...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s20O1a4xczQ In an era defined by rapid technological change, the role of education is no longer to “keep...