Once upon a time, school students used to submit an essay and the teacher would mark it. Work done.
Enter “thinking mode.” Now, in some Australian schools, once a student has completed an assignment an AI chatbot will debrief them about it: putting them on the spot in a two-way dialogue to make sure they’ve actually understood what they’ve written.
“Can you explain it a little more?” The chatbot might say, or, “What do you mean by that word?”
It’s not just about hammering in text. It is also a way of ensuring that students do their own thinking and do not resort to plagiarism or chatter.
At Hills Christian Community School in the Adelaide Hills, technology is just one way teachers and students are using artificial intelligence and other brand-new technology to further education.
Students also use sensors, drones, and coding to learn about natural ecosystems, from rivers to pollinators and bush habitats. Students with disabilities, including limited speech, are using Meta AI glasses with inbuilt speakers that explain what’s happening without disrupting the class.
The school’s leader of digital innovation, Colleen O’Rourke, says she has a philosophy: “Teachers use AI tools to enhance great practice, not undermine it”.
“The human element cannot be lost,” she says. “AI is a co-partner in the triumvirate of teacher and student.”
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But while AI is being introduced into Australian schools in innovative ways, it is not reaching them all, and not equally.
The peak body for independent schools is urging the federal government to launch a national AI pilot otherwise risk creating a “two-speed system” and widening the educational divide.
The Independent Schools Australia (ISA) paper released on Monday analyzed how schools across the country are integrating generic AI into teaching and learning, three years after the release of ChatGPT.
It found that schools are adopting AI at widely varying speeds depending on their geography and resources.
After the ban on the technology is lifted at the end of 2023, only two jurisdictions, New South Wales and South Australia, have launched AI programs in public schools.
ISA Chief Executive, Graham Catt, said Australia is at a critical point in determining whether AI becomes a tool for equality or inequality.
“If we don’t take deliberate action now, we risk creating a two-speed system,” Catt said. “Some schools will thrive, while others will struggle to stay afloat.”
The paper called on the federal government to launch a national, sector-blind pilot AI program to provide a path on how to ethically adopt the technology and where to direct funding.
latest Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS)Released in 2024, two-thirds of Australian teachers in secondary years and less than half of primary school teachers use AI in their work, putting the country among the countries with the highest use of the technology.
But teachers also expressed caution about negative impacts on student well-being, privacy issues, and the potential for plagiarism due to AI, indicating the need for better guidance and safeguards.
In independent schools, large language models (LLM), a type of AI system, are already being used to help teachers with marking, provide student feedback, identify learning gaps and act as one-on-one tutors.
NSWEduChat, a department-owned generative AI tool, has been launched in all public schools across NSW to help teachers plan lessons and study students by asking guided questions to encourage critical thinking.
South Australia’s AdChat chatbot was also distributed statewide in 2025. Early results show it has saved time for teachers and particularly helped students with language or learning barriers.
Rourke says teachers are trying to understand how technology is changing, and they need proper training.
“We can’t teach our kids to use it responsibly if teachers don’t know how to use it responsibly.”
