Illustrations of Practice

Overview and Purpose

Make connections, Share Ideas, Build Professional Learning Partnerships

The purpose of this whole project was to build a community of support. We want to work within the grey area (we will call it the Green Area), where we can find some common ground between our varying situations and opinions. In this space we can collaborate to support each other navigate this transformative time and build on each others' ideas. Let's find an area to learn and share with people with:

varying perspectives
diverse education contexts (EC, primary, High School, SSP, VET, University)
different types of schools (public, private) and varying roles (teachers, leaders, academics, developers)
school leaders, teachers, academics, policymakers and industry professionals

As well as supporting each other can you imagine the potential of schools, teachers, academics, policy makers and developers collaborating in a way that could make some significant impact for disadvantaged learners? This is a special moment in time so let's harness these tools to create change for learners with barriers (Indigenous, EAL/D, Disability, Low-socio-economic, rural and remote, mental health issues, learning difficulties).

The imagined use of these videos is for:

Schools to use during professional learning session, find a context similar to yours, watch the video with the staff and discuss: Would this work in our context? Why/Why not? Are there strategies, projects or activities that we might want to trial? What are your reflections on the videos and how does this make you think about your own practice? As a professional learning activity this would work well with a review of a research paper from this website as well as policy documents to support robust discussion about how AI can be embedded ethically, sustainably and with clear intention into school systems and practices.
Teachers to review and reflect on ideas that they might want to take up or initiatives that they may want to research in more detail. Observing what others are doing can build creativity, collaboration and support teachers to meet their own learning and student needs.
Academics to relect on gaps between current research and how teachers/schools are using AI in their practice. What are the implications? For example, if you review how a teacher is using AI for assessment for EAL/D students, is this an area that needs further investigation.
Industry professionals to review how AI is being applied and how these can be better supported with innovation. For example, are there special needs teachers that are using AI in a particular way that could be more easily facilitated by developing new technologies?

About the Project: How the Illustrations of Practice Were Created

About This Project: How the Illustrations of Practice Were Created

This global initiative was launched to document and share real-world examples of how educators, leaders, and institutions were using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education. Initiated through a LinkedIn callout that gained significant traction—over 51,000 impressions, 622 reactions, 402 comments, and 423 reposts—the project invited participants from early childhood, primary, secondary, VET, and university settings around the world.

The goal was to gather diverse Illustrations of Practice that offered an honest, behind-the-scenes view of AI in action—highlighting not only successes, but also challenges and lessons learned. These case studies were intended to support professional learning and decision-making by showcasing the varied ways AI was being trialled, integrated, and refined in authentic educational settings.

Purpose

The project aimed to:

Support teachers and leaders to build sustainable structures for AI use in schools and systems
Give educators a "fly on the wall" perspective into how others were using AI in context
Showcase examples that reflected the real-world constraints and possibilities of using AI tools
Centre equity and inclusion, particularly for students facing educational barriers—such as those from low socio-economic backgrounds, rural and remote areas, Indigenous communities, EAL/D learners, and students with disabilities or learning difficulties
Improve teacher wellbeing by sharing practical, time-saving innovations

This initiative operated independently from institutional affiliations, but was supported by collaboration with leading academics, industry professionals, and globally recognised educators.

Process

Educators who expressed interest in participating were invited to a one-on-one interview to discuss their use of AI. These conversations explored:

The context and purpose of their AI use
The challenges they faced
Observed impacts on students and teaching practices
Lessons learned and advice for others

Following the interview, participants were supported to develop a short Illustration of Practice as a 7-minute video (MP4) with a slideshow to illustrate their findings and engage/support the audience.

During informal interviews, participants discussed, the AI tool used, impact on student outcomes, staff and student feedback, challenges, and implications for the future.

After completing their video, contributors were grouped according to similar practices, contexts and/or roles for optional peer review feedback sessions to support them with enhancing the communication of their journey and submission as well as to share their ideas with each other.

All contributions were reviewed, by small teams of academics and educators to align with the UNESCO Framework, SAIL Framework and Australian Framework for Generative AI to review the AI literacy level illustrated in each video and bring these policy documents to life.

Outcome

The resulting Illustrations of Practice seen here are not intended to be exemplars, rather to give voices to educators who were early adopters and wanted to communicate their journey over the past year/s. This page is designed to:

Spark professional discussions
Inspire experimentation and ethical AI integration
Influence policy, pedagogy, and school-based innovation

Together, they provide a rich and grounded insight into how AI is transforming teaching and learning in real time.

How You Could Use this Section

You may want to conduct a professional learning session with your staff. You can use: Professional Learning for AI Literacy rubric to support staff to review and analyse the videos as they learn about teacher competencies and policy frameworks in practice.

A video review team made up of academics and educators conducted an inter-rater reliability process to determine some broad categories across the videos.

As you watch the videos consider these reflexive and reflective questions and how the video aligns to these categories.

1. In what ways does AI influence student and teacher actions in schools (e.g. cognitive, active, motivational, differentiation, engagement, time saving/temporal)?

2. How can you use this information to enhance your teaching practice?

Use of AI Tools

Look for:

A teacher or student using AI tools purposefully to improve learning, planning, or innovation—e.g., creating custom GPTs or selecting tools for specific goals.

Pedagogical Integration

Look for:

AI being integrated into teaching in a way that enhances learning outcomes, not just convenience—e.g., supporting student-led inquiry or staff collaboration on curriculum.

Ethics, Safety & Equity

Look for:

Explicit attention to safe, fair, and inclusive AI use—e.g., protocols for bias, accessibility, or mentoring others in ethical AI practices.

Leadership & Collaboration

Look for:

Evidence of the educator leading or enabling others to use AI effectively—e.g., presenting to teams, guiding system-wide practice, or mentoring colleagues.