Louise N

This morning I had the honour of participating in day 3 of the South Asia Online Conference organised by The British Council. My presentation, titled "Enhancing English Teaching and Learning with AI: Practical Tools for Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing", was a fantastic opportunity to share practical, inclusive, and accessible ways of applying AI in English language teaching—particularly in diverse, low-bandwidth, and mobile-first contexts. The session was designed to support teachers' professional development, especially those working with limited resources. The webinar began with a strong emphasis on ethical and responsible AI use. I highlighted the importance of transparency with learners and school communities, stressing the need to check privacy policies, avoid sharing personal data, and verify content for factual accuracy. I also shared the “80-20 rule”: AI can take care of 80% of the heavy lifting, but teachers should adapt and fine-tune the remaining 20% to suit their specific classroom needs. We then explored how AI is making a real difference in teaching: - Reducing planning time - Improving feedback and assessment - Supporting print-based and mobile learning - Enhancing access to content in low-resource settings Throughout the session, I demonstrated practical tools that teachers can use immediately, even offline: - Lesson planning: Using my Google Doc dropdown system and ChatGPT to generate levelled, printable lessons aligned to CEFR (e.g. A1, A2, B1). - Suno: Creating child-friendly MP3 songs for listening and vocabulary practice. - Brisk Podcasts: Producing downloadable conversations with transcripts for listening and reading. - Magic Padlet: Generating safe, copyright-free AI images for storytelling, speaking, and writing. - Google Translate & TTSmp3: Building personalised phrasebooks with downloadable pronunciation support. - Brisk Quiz Generator: Turning YouTube links or texts into mobile- and print-friendly quizzes in seconds. I showed how these tools are not only free and easy to use, but also work well for offline classrooms or mobile-only learners. We also discussed ideas for differentiated instruction, accessibility, and inclusion. In the Q&A, we covered CEFR levels, AI-generated stories, plagiarism, free vs paid tools, and how AI can help teachers and learners strengthen their English. I recommended tools like Clipchamp, Lumen5, and Mizou, and explained how to verify privacy policies quickly using Perplexity.ai. The session, livestreamed via Zoom and on the British Council Teaching English Asia Facebook page, attracted a huge audience. With thousands of views already, it’s clear that there is a strong global appetite for practical, ethical AI in education. The recording is now publicly available: https://lnkd.in/eTmRXHNH

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Good job, team #NCERT! 📌 Download & dive in — this is worth your time. After 3 years of releasing the NCF, this alignment of Competencies with Learning Outcomes at the Foundational Stage is a meaningful step forward. It’s not just a document — it’s a bridge. Teachers don’t need jargon. They need clarity. -What do I teach? -What should I look for in class? -How do I know if learning has happened? This mapping answers that. Simple. Structured. Practical. Exactly what was needed — and we need the same across all stages. This isn’t just a policy milestone. It’s a real tool for lesson planning, classroom design, and daily decision-making. Hoping this framework reaches every teacher’s hands — and sets the tone for what’s next. #NEP2020 #FoundationalStage #CompetencyBasedLearning #NCF #EarlyYearsMatters #CoBuildEffect

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🧠 Finland is teaching kids how to spot fake news — and it starts in preschool. Finland has taken an innovative step in the global fight against misinformation—by embedding media literacy into its national school curriculum. From preschool through high school, Finnish students are learning how to critically evaluate news articles, social media posts, and viral content. The goal? Equip young people with the tools to spot fake news, understand media bias, and think independently in an age of digital noise. In classrooms across the country, students participate in exercises like analyzing TikTok videos, questioning the motives behind headlines, and editing images to see how easily information can be manipulated. Teachers across all subjects are trained to incorporate media education into their lessons. This whole-of-society approach has helped Finland consistently rank as the most resilient nation in Europe against misinformation, according to the Open Society Institute. As the spread of false information becomes a global concern, Finland’s education-first strategy offers a compelling model for other countries to follow. Gross, J. (2023, January 10). How Finland Is Teaching a Generation to Spot Misinformation. The New York Times.

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Dear Educators, Is it necessary for us to stay updated on the implementation of AI-embedded Bloom’s Taxonomy in education? That’s a very relevant question!🌍✨ Yes, it is necessary. Education is rapidly evolving with the integration of Artificial Intelligence, and Bloom’s Taxonomy remains a foundational framework for structuring learning objectives, assessment, and pedagogy. By embedding AI into Bloom’s Taxonomy, educators gain access to tools that can personalize learning pathways, analyze student performance in real time, and support higher-order thinking skills more effectively. The relevance lies in ensuring that teaching and learning strategies are aligned with 21st-century skills. AI combined with advanced Bloom’s Taxonomy is becoming increasingly important nowadays because it helps move education, work, and decision-making beyond boarders. Let me break it down clearly for you: 🔹 1. From Knowledge to Creation Basic Bloom’s levels (remembering, understanding) → AI can handle quickly: e.g., instant fact recall, summarization, translation. Advanced Bloom’s levels (analyzing, evaluating, creating) → AI assists humans in critical reasoning, problem-solving, and innovation. 👉 Example: AI helps students not just learn math formulas but also apply them to design sustainable energy models. 🔹 2. Personalised & Adaptive Learning AI tailors lessons based on each learner’s level. Using Bloom’s hierarchy, AI can diagnose whether a student is stuck at comprehension or ready for analysis/creation, and adapt activities accordingly. 👉 Example: A student who understands climate change facts can be guided to analyze data sets and then design climate action projects. 🔹 3. Critical Thinking in the AI Era In a world flooded with information, what matters most is not remembering facts (AI already does that) Analyzing bias in AI outputs Evaluating sources and credibility Creating new knowledge and ethical solutions 👉 Bloom’s higher levels ensure that learners don’t just consume AI outputs blindly, but think critically. 🔹 4. Workforce & Future Skills Modern jobs need problem-solving, creativity, and innovation—skills mapped to the upper levels of Bloom’s. AI tools combined with Bloom’s framework train students and professionals to work at higher levels, not just follow instructions. 👉 Example: In medicine, AI gives data, but doctors need to evaluate diagnoses and design patient-centered treatment plans. 🔹 5. Ethical & Responsible Use of AI Advanced Bloom's taxonomy encourages learners to evaluate consequences and create responsible uses of technology. 👉 Example: AI can generate deepfakes—students guided by Bloom’s taxonomy learn to critically analyze authenticity and create ethical guidelines. ✅ In short: AI alone gives power, but AI guided by advanced Bloom’s Taxonomy ensures humans use it for critical thinking, innovation, and ethical progress that education and society from rote learning to meaningful creation. Dr. Usha Shinoj

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