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Episode 286: In this episode of Thinking Deeply about AI for Schools, James Radburn and Neil Almond explore one of the most heavily discussed areas of AI in education: AI tutors.
But before asking whether AI tutors work, they begin with a more important question: what do we actually mean by an AI tutor? Is it a pupil using ChatGPT for homework help? A carefully designed intelligent tutoring system? A curriculum-aligned tool with structured prompts and guardrails? Or a human-in-the-loop model where AI supports the work of expert teachers?
Across the conversation, James and Neil consider the promise, the evidence and the risks. They discuss research into AI-supported tutoring, the particular appeal of tutoring systems in mathematics, the importance of feedback, diagnosis and spaced retrieval, and whether AI might help pupils consolidate learning more effectively. At the same time, they raise serious questions about safeguarding, cognitive offloading, personalisation, equity, motivation, teacher expertise and the danger of treating all AI tutors as if they are the same thing.
This is not a simple pro-AI or anti-AI conversation. It is a thoughtful attempt to ask what AI tutors might actually be good for, where the hype may be running ahead of the evidence, and what schools should be thinking about before placing too much faith in the next big educational technology.
By Kieran Mackle5
55 ratings
Get your tickets for the TDaPE Conference Online
For show notes, links, and a summary episode, sign up for the Hey! What You Reading For newsletter. Mondays at 7am BST - https://tdape.beehiiv.com/subscribe
AI For Teachers newsletter
For maths curriculum questions contact us here or via [email protected]
Learn more about The Story of Maths - www.alta-education.com/tsom-overview
Jen and Donny - www.luminaryliteracy.co.uk
Episode 286: In this episode of Thinking Deeply about AI for Schools, James Radburn and Neil Almond explore one of the most heavily discussed areas of AI in education: AI tutors.
But before asking whether AI tutors work, they begin with a more important question: what do we actually mean by an AI tutor? Is it a pupil using ChatGPT for homework help? A carefully designed intelligent tutoring system? A curriculum-aligned tool with structured prompts and guardrails? Or a human-in-the-loop model where AI supports the work of expert teachers?
Across the conversation, James and Neil consider the promise, the evidence and the risks. They discuss research into AI-supported tutoring, the particular appeal of tutoring systems in mathematics, the importance of feedback, diagnosis and spaced retrieval, and whether AI might help pupils consolidate learning more effectively. At the same time, they raise serious questions about safeguarding, cognitive offloading, personalisation, equity, motivation, teacher expertise and the danger of treating all AI tutors as if they are the same thing.
This is not a simple pro-AI or anti-AI conversation. It is a thoughtful attempt to ask what AI tutors might actually be good for, where the hype may be running ahead of the evidence, and what schools should be thinking about before placing too much faith in the next big educational technology.

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