Our first GlosGeog (Gloucestershire’s local Geographical Association branch) event for the academic year 2025-2026 was kindly hosted by the Teaching School Hub at Balcarras School near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. All places were filled a week or so prior to the event; 20 plus primary and secondary teachers came together from schools within Gloucestershire and neighbouring counties, alongside myself and the two presenters, namely Dr Alan Marvell (a Senior Lecturer and Lead for Teaching and Learning at the University of Gloucestershire) and Dr Harry West (a Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader for Geography and Environmental Practitioner Apprenticeship at the University of the West of England).
Alan and Harry had previously delivered a very successful session (‘Using Generative AI to Support Lectures and Students Independent Learning’) at the Royal Geographical Society (RGS-IBG)’s Annual International Conference held in late August at the University of Birmingham. Since this is such a hotly debated topic within schools at present, I approached Alan and Harry to see if their session could be adapted somewhat to suit an audience of primary and secondary teachers. They managed to rise to the challenge adeptly, as I knew they would, to deliver a fantastic CPD workshop entitled ‘Exploring Generative AI in the Classroom‘.
After I had formally welcomed everyone, gone through the usual house-keeping procedures and introduced our presenters, I handed over to Alan and Harry. Firstly, Alan played a podcast, which discussed the potential and limitations of AI. This captured the audience’s attention and was interesting and easy to listen to. Alan later revealed that this had been generated using AI (Google Notebook); their slides had simply been uploaded and a podcast requested utilising the content provided. Alan then talked about AI in Higher Education, including some of the challenges, opportunities and current limitations. He referred to the digital divide that they are seeing amongst students and staff; some clearly keen to embrace AI, whilst others are more hesitant due to ethical reasons or insufficient training.
Next, Harry explored AI-generated learning resources and podcasts in learning in depth. He also provided examples of prompts and emphasised the importance of giving very explicit instructions.
Harry shared a case study from the University of the West of England (UWE), which considered AI podcast generation, the key positive headlines, issues and limitations and possible future opportunities. In this instance, JellyPod had been used to generate podcasts due to its editing functionality. Harry commended its integration of analogies and metaphors and said he had ‘stolen’ some of the ideas and included them within his face-to-face lectures now too.
Afterwards, Alan encouraged us to contemplate a possible future, displaying the following quotes:
“Superagency is described as a state of widespread empowerment when millions of individuals get simultaneous access to a breakthrough technology. AI needs to align with human values and intentions that foster innovation.”
“As AI reshapes our world, sparking both excitement and fear, we stand on the brink of a transformative opportunity – one that could expand our problem-solving capabilities, creativity and agency to extraordinary new levels”.
(Hoffman and Beato, 2025)
We paused for a short comfort break and to enable delegates to ask any questions, chat with those on their table and explore items that had been brought to their attention whilst they were still fresh in the mind.
Harry then provided a Google Notebook (NotebookLM) update. It was fascinating to witness how Google Notebook can be accessed to create podcasts, videocasts, flash cards, mind-maps, mini quizzes, exam-style questions, mark schemes and sample answers.
A break for refreshments called and facilitated networking beyond table groups. It was great to see individuals moving around the room and chatting with teachers from other key stages.
Later, we had a very thought-provoking and engaging open discussion centred around opportunities and barriers with various questions projected as prompts. Attendees had many willing and valuable contributions to offer.
Finally, I regained the reins to draw the session to a close. Participants were requested to complete an online evaluation form before a final Q&A session. Both Alan and Harry answered participants’ questions confidently and comprehensively, clearly exemplifying the wealth of knowledge and expertise that they have acquired within this realm. I finished with a vote of thanks to our speakers and hosts. These events are only possible due to the support of local establishments, such as our Teaching School Hubs and nearby universities. Many thanks to all involved.
Delegates’ ‘concluding comments‘ can be viewed below. A worthwhile way to spend an autumnal Wednesday morning!
Very exciting. Will use in a variety of ways for my role at work.
Extremely interesting and thought-provoking. Practically useful CPD.
Very useful, informative and interesting. Good to hear about new ideas and practices to inform and improve teaching and support in the classroom.
Very insightful into what AI can do. I particularly enjoyed learning how we can generate podcasts for our learners.
Great ideas to explore AI in geog!
Informative; practical; illustration with critique.
Informative; thought-provoking; engaging; practical.
Informative and educational.
Really refreshing to leave with a practical strategy that can be immediately implemented to support teaching and learning (not just for geography).
Fabulous to share ideas about AI. Very excited to have created my first podcast for students! Thank you!
An eye-opening insight into the world of AI.
Extremely interesting and thought-provoking. Practically useful CPD.
Thought-provoking.
Inspiring; interesting; exciting; relevant; well-delivered.
Food for thought.
Thank you for inviting us. Really enjoyed the session and what a brilliant group of teachers!
Informative; practical; motivating; enthusiastic; up-to-date.
Our next CPD workshop/s, aimed at Sustainability Leads, MAT Leads, Headteachers, Senior Leaders and Governors, can be found below. I do hope you are able to make it/them or a relevant colleague from your school can pop along instead.
