Click on the image above, which takes you to an online Shared Document. We will use Shared Documents throughout the year in addition to the normal course material.

You can all edit the document and should complete the different sections of the table to introduce yourselves to me and your classmates

Use the following Critical Reflection questions to help you provide feedback on the work of your peers.

Content & Sources

•Does the artefact sufficiently explore both benefits and drawbacks of technology?

•How effectively are academic sources used—do they support the ideas or used in a performative way?

•Which perspectives (students, teachers, institutions) are included or overlooked?

About Prompts & Process

•How well do the prompts build on each other to explore the topic?

•Could alternative prompts have produced richer or more original material?

•Did the student evaluate and adapt AI output, or just accept it as it came?

About Design & Communication

•Does the chosen format clearly and creatively communicate the message?

•Would another format have been more effective?

•How well does the artefact balance the AI voice with the students' own critical perspective?

ChatGPT said: )

Technology can profoundly transform learning in and around the classroom by offering personalized, analytical, and superior tools that go beyond traditional methods, enabling students to structure ideas for essays, grasp complex topics more deeply, and develop higher-order thinking skills. Digital platforms such as AI-driven writing assistants, mind-mapping software, and adaptive learning systems allow learners to organize arguments with clarity, refine their reasoning, and receive instant feedback tailored to their individual needs—which promotes analytical precision and intellectual independence. Unlike one-size-fits-all instruction, these tools provide customized pathways that adapt to each learner’s pace and style, making education not only more accessible but also more robust in cultivating critical and creative competencies. In this way, technology is not simply an aid to learning but a catalyst for a paradigm shift, turning classrooms into dynamic ecosystems where knowledge is constructed, analyzed, and applied with superior depth and accuracy.

Several recent studies support this view: for example, research on AI-enabled adaptive learning systems finds improved academic performance and student engagement. ScienceDirect Mind mapping has been shown to enhance conceptual learning, critical thinking, and self-efficacy in students. Frontiers+1 Studies of AI feedback tools report that instant, tailored feedback improves students’ goal achievement, self-efficacy, and their deeper understanding of material. ScienceDirect+2SpringerOpen+2

Sources / Links:

• Enhancing Students’ Self-Efficacy via Mind Maps: “Enhancing Students’ Self-Efficacy in Creativity and …” (2022) — PMC article. PMC

• Mind Mapping and Computational Thinking: “The influence of mind mapping on computational thinking …” (2024) — Frontiers in Education. Frontiers

• Adaptive Learning in Higher Education: “Personalized adaptive learning in higher education: A …” (2024) — ScienceDirect. ScienceDirect

• AI Feedback & Academic Outcomes: “How Students Use AI Feedback Matters: Experimental Evidence on Physics Achievement and Autonomy” (May 2025) — arXiv. arxiv.org

If you like, I can provide direct PDFs or summaries of these studies to help you in writing or referencing.

AI offers many benefits to students. It can explain difficult ideas, help organise thoughts, and provide practice outside of class. This is especially useful for students who may be shy or unsure about asking questions in class. According to the British Council’s article “AI in education: how to navigate the opportunities and challenges,” AI can also encourage creativity by suggesting prompts and ideas, making learning feel more engaging.

Teachers can also benefit from AI. It can create practice questions, check clarity in instructions, and even suggest lesson plans. This reduces repetitive work and gives teachers more time to focus on the most important parts of teaching; such as mentoring, guiding discussions, and supporting critical thinking.

However, there are clear risks when AI is misused. If students allow AI to write essays or solve tasks for them, they miss out on the real learning process. This can weaken skills like problem solving and independent thinking. There are also ethical issues, such as plagiarism, bias, and privacy concerns, which must be taken seriously.

For these reasons, clear rules are needed for how AI is used in education. Students should see AI as a tool to improve and support their work, not as a way to avoid it. Both students and teachers also need to learn how to use AI responsibly; understanding its limits, checking for mistakes, and recognizing bias. Schools should make sure all students have equal access so the technology does not widen learning gaps.

In conclusion, AI can greatly improve education when used carefully. It can help students learn more confidently, support teachers in their work, and make lessons more engaging. But if misused, it risks harming the learning process. The best way forward is to use AI as a support system that strengthens education, while keeping human effort and guidance at the center of learning.

- Ella

• khairah

2023 - Thomas Willis-Jones: 'A problem shared...': The use of Shared Documents in the post-pandemic classroom

The upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic provided a unique period of instructional experimentation for educators, and served as a catalyst for the increased integration of digital tools into traditional teaching practices. As we return to the ‘post-pandemic classroom’, the present study focuses on one such digital tool, Shared Documents (SDs), and explores their perceived pedagogical value across the online/on-campus teaching dichotomy. It investigates the beliefs and experiences of a representative group of early SD adopters at a UK Higher Education institution to determine where and how they can best be utilised as a learning technology. Where similar investigations into SD-technology were largely dependent on tutor perceptions, the present study, which employs a semantic approach to Thematic Analysis, provides student perceptions an equal platform, believing that it is only by involving all members of the community of practice to which SDs are introduced that we can determine the factors affecting their effective utilisation. The results indicate three key areas where SDs provide value as a learning technology: gauging student understanding, encouraging communication, and collaborative learning. However, these findings also reveal the legacy of COVID-19 on student working practices, with clear implications for the design and management of SD-mediated activities. Practical recommendations in these areas are offered, as well as implications for research into SD use in the ‘new normal’ of teaching.

Click on the image above to access the Q&A document that we will use for your tutorials. It is important to prepare questions to make most efficient use of your tutorial time.

It is just a suggestion for how you could organise your time / sections to fulfil the requirements of the task.

Congrats on getting into the IFP.

This whole IFP thing is about feedback, so read all your assignment information at the first week, when your teacher tells you that you are starting the assignment write something every single day, when it is time to submit formative assignments submit whatever you have and get feedback. After that go to next class, discuss it with your teacher, get more feedback, written and oral, edit your work while you are getting the feedback live, take notes from what your teacher tells you. Remember that your tutors are here to help you.

And yeah, you got this*,

Sincerely,

Me (and a few edits by Mutai)

(*Probably)

The UK runs on tea, apologies, and queuing and that's just the sigma grindset here bestie. You WILL say sorry to a lamppost within week one. It's giving chronically British and honestly so slay coded.

The Unspoken Rules

Hold the door bestie it's giving basic human rizz. In lifts, move to the back—nobody wants your main character energy blocking everyone that's lowflokenuinely so unserious and cringe pilled. And when random roadmen approach you on the street? Suddenly forgetting English is bussin 4D chess. Very demure very mindful very serving unbothered queen energy.

The Buses

These buses have NEGATIVE aura. They will ghost you harder than your situationship. The app straight up gaslights you it's giving delulu central. No cap just leave early and don't let it absolutely cook your mental state bestie we need you locked in.

Housing

Start hunting for next year's place like YESTERDAY. Good flats get yoinked at mach 10 speed and leaving it late is giving biggest fumble of the multiverse. The housing struggle is lowflokenuinely traumatic don't be that person sobbing in March that's not very sigma of you.

Academics

Attendance is non-negotiable your visa depends on it so just show up even when you're absolutely cooked beyond recognition. Also Tom is genuinely the most GOATED tutor in existence like actually him your honour. That man understood the assignment ate it up left no crumbs we stan a legend.

The Feels

Homesickness hits different at random moments but it passes trust the process bestie. Soon you'll be saying "uni" unironically and this unhinged rainy island lowflokenuinely becomes home.

You'll be sleep-deprived running on three brain cells questioning every life choice but it's gonna be a whole slay era transformation arc frfr.

See you soon bestie stay locked in,

A Former International Student Who Also Had Zero Rizz For Adulting But Survived Anyway 💀✨