Disrupted History

HISTORY ISN’T WHAT IT USED TO BE

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  • Switching to Autopilot: Are We There Yet? From Technical to Metaphorical? From Tool to Cospecies?

    Conversations describing teacher use of AI are changing (again). Initial educator conceptualisation of AI as ‘just another edtech tool’ have quickly crumbled – but the metaphor of seeing AI as a tool remains. That said, the tool as metaphor is also now fragmenting as early adopters and some first followers grapple with the conceptual nature… Read more

  • Sleepwalking Through Disruption: Comfortable Delusions in a Revolutionary Age

    I sometimes think people say they are fine with disruption… until it actually disrupts them. We are not in an age of approaching disruption. We are living inside it. And yet, as educator and technologist Dr Nick Jackson warns, many are sleepwalking into an educational crisis. One where institutions claim to embrace innovation while shuffling… Read more

  • 3 Essential Principles for AI in Education: Reflections on Publishing Our GAI in Education Article

    A teacher-led framework for using generative AI to deepen thinking, foster discernment, and support student agency. Last week, I experienced one of those quiet, surreal moments of pause: the kind you get when a milestone you’ve been working toward for months suddenly clicks into place. My first major peer-reviewed article of my PhD candidature, Generative… Read more

  • Prompting the Past: Teaching Ancient Egypt in the Age of AI

    A few recent posts online had me reflecting this week about some experiences using Microsoft Copilot (then Bing) over the last couple of years. In late 2023, my Year 7 History students completed a task that wove together ancient belief systems, source-based historical writing, and the trial-and-error logic of prompting. Their mission was to research… Read more

  • “Not Either/Or”: Getting to Explorer Mode from the Springboard of Explicit Instruction

    Why explicit instruction and inquiry aren’t mutually exclusive Last week, I travelled to Canberra for the HALT Summit – a professional learning experience that felt more like a reinvigorating recalibration than the ‘stock standard’ conference. Amid the powerful conversations about impact, innovation, brain science, leadership, and pedagogy, it was Nathaniel Swain’s keynote that had me… Read more

  • The Slow Power of Objects: Expanding the Space for Wonder in My History Classroom

    In recent months, I’ve been reflecting on how to purposefully integrate Object-Based Learning (OBL) into my history classes. It strikes me that any fundamental shift in how we think about designing history pedagogy for the AI era should allow for increasing opportunities to engage with the physical world around them. I believe we should imagine… Read more

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