Teachers at José Cardoso Pires School Group in Portugal use AI to design complex, immersive activities, such as educational Escape Rooms, by generating narratives, visual environments, and scenarios that would otherwise require extensive preparation time. AI also allows the teaching team to structure possible solutions and tests the internal logic of the activity before it reaches students.

The school integrates emerging technologies in teaching and learning, particularly AI tools like ChatGPT and image generators, viewing them as powerful levellers. AI-generated scenarios, images, and problem-solving environments make learning more playful and immersive. Students engage with challenges, such as finding the “exit” in an Escape Room, almost without realising they are learning, which increases motivation and participation.

Teachers mention AI’s potential to “minimize the differences” between students. By providing accessible explanations, alternative formats, and personalised support, AI helps learners with diverse starting points reach similar levels of understanding. It enables students to explore topics more deeply and independently, while still benefiting from teacher guidance.

Although AI empowers students to research and generate ideas, teachers emphasise the importance of guidance. During a research task in which students used AI to explore a topic in depth, the teacher intervened to ensure that the AI-generated responses were cohesive and balanced, preventing students from becoming overwhelmed or distracted by irrelevant information. Thus, the teacher must act as a mediator, guiding students to ensure their use of AI is "cohesive, balanced, and pondered".

Overall, tools such as ChatGPT, AI image generators, sound generators, 3D printers, and digital platforms for building Escape Rooms, support creativity, differentiation, and engagement in the classroom.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) and AI tools can support teachers in plan-ning and implementing accessible lessons for every student.

Escape rooms are a gamified approach that makes learning accessible, playful and engaging. Teachers can design escape rooms for any lesson using platforms such as Genially. These activities work well at the end of a lesson, when students complete the escape room in pairs to consolidate what they have learned. An alternative approach is to begin a lesson with an escape room that tests students’ prior knowledge of a new thematic area.

In addition, AI can help teachers design alternative and personalised learning materials. Teachers can use AI Image generators, such as DALL·E, to develop easy to ready formats of a lesson and visualisation of text. For example, long text from a book can be transformed into visuals to maintain students’ attention. Furthermore, graphics can help students map ideas, make comparisons and understand content more effectively. AI tools, such as Eduaide.AI and Napkin AI, also enable teachers to create graphic organisers to be used as teaching materials.

Teaching students how to use AI tools ethically and critically is essential, especially when they use them at home or in the classroom. A structured introduction can help them understand what AI is, how it works and its limitations.

• Teachers can dedicate one hour to explore with students what AI is, how tools like chatbots generate answers, and why the algorithms underpinning them sometimes produce incorrect or biased information. Depending on the age of students, key concepts and vocabulary should be simplified. Students can be encouraged to share experiences using AI outside school.
• Students can then experiment with simple prompts, such as solving a maths exercise or requesting a brief historical explanation, to see in practice how AI works.
• Once they feel confident, they can move on to intentionally flawed or open-ended questions, such as giving the wrong date for World War II or asking for explanations that have no single correct answer.
• At this stage, it is important to discuss the responses openly in the classroom reflecting on what was accurate, what was misleading, and how students can verify information.

Based on these discussions and on students’ own observations, the teacher can work with the class to create a poster entitled “How to Use AI for Learning”, presenting the rules and good practices that students themselves have identified. It is essential that teachers highlight the rules and provide ongoing guidance whenever students use AI in the classroom, establishing good habits that carry over into other contexts outside school.

In this activity Artificial Intelligence is primarily used as a creative and participatory tool rather than as a content-generation mechanism. Students engage in collaborative activities such as creating joint mandalas using AI, combining artistic expression with digital exploration. Mandalas are complex, circular, geometric designs representing the cosmos, deities, or the inner self, originating from the Sanskrit word for circle.

Teachers at the Primary and Practical School U Trojice, Havlíčkův Brod in Czech Republic take part in eTwinning projects for kindergarten and lower primary grade children that give them the opportunity of working with AI. For example, students introduce themselves by creatively altering photos using AI tools and writing short self descriptions. The teacher uses active learning approaches such as running dictation and task stations around the classroom. Running dictation is an activity where students move around the classroom to collect pieces of information and then return to their group to build a word/sentence. Playful approaches such as this align naturally with the use of AI in the classroom. For example, students take photos of others from behind (to respect data protection regulations), and the class then votes on which one to use before animating it through AI, making the activity more enjoyable for the children.

A “Little Explorers” project in which children take ownership of their tasks. They create a vision, based on information provided by the teacher, come up with an idea, input it into AI, and adjust it if the output was not what they expected. The activity encourages independence, creativity, and decision making.

This activity shows how AI can be a creative partner for both teachers and students, but appropriate training is essential to ensure it is used responsibly.

AI tools can be integrated into the classroom as creative learning partners for both teachers and students. They can be used in collaborative projects such as generating illustrations for presentations, creating visual prompts for writing activities and designing characters for storytelling. In this way, AI can help teachers diversify instruction while giving students new ways to express ideas and engage in learning.

AI tools can support a wide range of inclusive classroom activities. For example, students may use AI to create images for a science presentation or generate prompts for school plays or creative writing. These activities can be especially supportive for learners who experience difficulties with drawing, handwriting, or fine motor skills, as they enable them to produce something that can be displayed in the classroom or school, strengthening their confidence and self-esteem. A simple exercise would be for students to create their own comic using AI image generators (e.g. DALL·E). The teacher might first set out the scope of the comic, connecting it to a lesson objective and thematic area. Students then brainstorm ideas and write the first sentences of the story along with short dialogues. With the teacher’s guidance, they create the characters and input prompts into AI tools to generate the comic’s graphics. The students should be aware that the AI tool might not create what they need, despite its apparent attractiveness, so they need to critically review it, changing and adapting prompts and refining their ideas. In this way they learn not to rely on AI results. Once the images are ready, students can add the dialogues and finalise the comic. For students who have difficulty writing the full story, the teacher can help them create a visual story, putting together AI generated pictures.

Research findings show that generative AI can support curriculum design, resource development, idea generation, and adaptive content creation, but that its educational value depends on maintaining human guidance and critical reflection (Creely & Blannin, 2024). Another analysis highlights that ongoing AI use can even reduce creativity (Urmeneta & Romero, 2025). Therefore, teachers should always connect the AI use with learning goals and lesson objectives, and the human touch.

Teachers at Munziger school in Switzerland are increasingly using AI tools to personalise learning, particularly by simplifying the language of complex text, making it more accessible. For example, an AI tool can rewrite curriculum materials in simpler, more accessible language. After generating simplified versions, teachers carefully revise these outputs to ensure clarity, accuracy, and appropriateness for students’ learning levels. This approach supports learners who struggle with more advanced vocabulary.

To ensure data protection and responsible practice, the school uses a controlled platform, Fobizz, which provides AI functions within a safe environment. Tools such as ChatGPT are a topic of discussion between teachers, and in some cases, students are explicitly told not to use them. For certain writing tasks, teachers require students to work without iPads or restrict them to specific apps to maintain academic integrity.

Teachers also recognise the importance of balancing digital and analogue learning. For example, AI can support understanding, such as recording a maths explanation so students can revisit it. However, there is also a risk that students appear busy on their iPads without learning anything. Teachers integrate hands on activities, cooperative games and analogue tasks. The goal is to create a balanced learning environment where digital tools enhance learning without replacing interaction, dialogue, or playfulness.

AI supported materials can enrich learning and assist teachers in creating personalised resources for diverse learners. Although educators use AI tools critically and respect data protection regulations, students at Munziger school are generally not encouraged to use similar tools.

AI-powered tools can help teachers personalise learning for every student at all educational levels. Textbooks and standardised resources tend to conform to a single format that does not meet the needs of all learners. As many students struggle with long or complex texts, teachers can use AI powered tools (e.g. Diffit, Fobizz and ChatGPT) to convert learning materials into more accessible formats such as short paragraphs, bullet points or glossaries. Beyond simplifying texts, AI powered and digital tools can also support personalised assessment. Teachers can prepare individualised quizzes for each learner or design different versions for small groups. For example, a teacher might generate three versions of the same quiz: one with simplified language, one with visual elements, and one with open ended questions for advanced learners.

Teachers should be cautious with AI generated results. Care is needed in framing prompts, and critical thinking, proofreading, and cross checking are essential to ensure alignment with curriculum requirements. Resources on ethical and responsible use of AI tools for teaching and learning are available to help teachers and school leaders be aware of both the opportunities and limitations of AI. The European Commission has recently published updated “Guidelines on the ethical use of artificial intelligence and data in teaching and learning for educators” to help educators develop the skills to critically use AI tools for teaching while managing potential risks.

Teachers need to build their confidence in using AI tools and at the same time enhance students’ digital skills. The focus should remain on supporting students to critically and responsibly use any digital tool, including AI. For example, if teachers suspect that students are making excessive use of AI in their work, they should help them understand that although an AI generated response might appear to show mastery and that students can pass a test, it cannot replace the deeper thinking and knowledge that lead to successful results. Alternative approaches to assessment are important to avoid over-reliance on AI, such as oral examinations and student presentations as part of assessment.