Using AI to bridge gaps in the classroom 

When Ms Kim Cook took a role at Trinity as an English as an Additional Language/Dialect (EAL/D) Teacher at the Junior School in 2019, she was already familiar with the facilities and the programs, with her son attending the school as a student. She knew she’d be supported here, but says she’s growing more and more appreciative of the opportunities she’s been given over the years to thrive in her role, including being given a supervisor in order to complete her Experienced Teacher Accreditation in 2021. 

Working across the Junior, Middle, and Senior School campuses, Ms Cook works with students who need various levels of support depending on their language skills. She helps them to translate what they’re learning in class and helps them to adjust to everyday life in school. 

Much of Ms Cook’s role focuses on bridging the gaps for students and it’s through this lens that she has pursued further studies, supported by Trinity. 

“Trinity subsidised my studies so that I could complete my Masters in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL),” she says. “Research is an important part of any Masters program and through this, I developed an interest in artificial intelligence and how we can integrate it into education, particularly for EAL/D students.

“The students are using [AI], but I wanted to know if it was actually helping them or hindering them. I couldn’t see how using AI to simply generate the answers was helping them to learn effectively. So I asked myself, how can they use it to access a deeper learning experience?” 

Through her research she discovered that AI has the potential to level the playing field for her EAL/D students, something that she’s also exploring through one of Trinity’s Professional Learning Teams (PLTs), in partnership with the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), which focuses on exploring AI in teaching practice. 

She says that AI can help students to learn more about their own capabilities without sacrificing the building of essential skills, including through: 

• Asking AI to give you feedback on your writing and implementing its tips. 
• Using AI tools to check whether your work has successfully met what the rubric has outlined. 
• Prompting AI to coach you on various aspects of your writing, just like a tutor would. 
• Asking AI tools to break down questions for you so you can understand what is being asked of you. 
• Using voice to text to express ideas quickly where written work may cause frustration and impact motivation. 

Ms Cook knows it’s easy for students to ask AI to do their work for them but she also knows that students are eager to learn and if they value their own learning journey, they recognise that they need to put their own effort into their work. 

For teachers, she has seen how AI can assist, particularly when working with students who need additional learning support. 

“I can’t be an expert on all the content from K-12,” she laughs. “AI can help me to learn more about the topic that a student is exploring so I can support them better. It makes my job more efficient and effective when I’m able to learn the information quickly and support them on the spot.” 

“Using a tool like Diffit can help us to determine the level at which students are working, create appropriate resources for them, and, in my case as an EAL/D Teacher, translate the work that I’m differentiating. It’s extremely valuable.” 

Her recent trip to the Northern Territory with Trinity’s Cross-Country Partnership Program has opened her eyes to even more integrations. 

“Being a part of this program made me realise just how much remote communities struggle to attract teaching staff,” she says. “It’s opened up a whole world for me; what if we could use AI in a way that supported staff and students and helped to bridge this gap where there are staff shortages?” 

Ms Cook is excited to see the opportunities that come her way in light of her work so far. 

“Kimberley Pressick-Kilborn has been amazing, encouraging me to do further research, publishing and presenting,” she says, reflecting on her presentation of her capstone research project at the University of Sydney TESOL Research Colloquium back in September and looking forward to facilitating an upcoming interactive workshop exploring AI at the TasTESOL conference on 23rd November. 

“It’s good growth for me. Kimberley reminds me all the time that research is only valuable if you share it. I’ve done that here at Trinity with the Teachers’ Aides in the TESS department, particularly when it comes to differentiation, and that has been extremely rewarding.”  

As for what brought her to Trinity in the first place, Ms Cook’s son, Ben, has since graduated and is navigating life post-school, but he’s also taken on employment opportunities at Trinity in General Duties and coaching, something Ms Cook says is a reflection of just how welcome she and her family have always felt at Trinity. 

“I’ve worked at a number of schools and Trinity is different. It’s very inclusive, we feel connected, our sense of belonging is strong. It makes me want to stay around to continue working in such a supportive and encouraging environment where we can stretch ourselves and give back where we can.”

Learn more about Teaching and Learning at Trinity

Want to know more about working at Trinity? Check out all the employment opportunities available.