Recent developments in technology have accelerated the influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on our lives. This report by the National Literacy Trust explores children, young people’s and teachers’ attitudes, behaviour and confidence around using generative AI to support literacy and learning.
The report suggests that while most teachers have heard of generative AI, only around half have used it, which compares with 3 in 4 children and young people aged 8 to 18. While in 2023, many more secondary than primary teachers had used it, the gap had narrowed in 2024, mostly as fewer secondary teachers reported using generative AI this year.
Many teachers reported using generative AI to experiment, for ideas and to answer questions. In addition, regarding support for a busy workload, 2 in 5 teachers reported using it to create content or resources for lessons and 1 in 3 for tasks such as lesson planning. However, while 1 in 2 believed AI tools could be used to support assessment, just 1 in 20 said they had used it to assess work to date. This may relate to availability or knowledge of effective tools in this area, or expertise and training. Indeed, 3 in 4 teachers agreed that they needed more training, support and resources to use generative-AI tools effectively.
In addition, many teachers were worried about the impact of generative AI on children’s learning. 1 in 2 felt generative AI could have a negative impact on writing skills or stop children thinking for themselves, and 2 in 5 were concerned that it could decrease children’s engagement with learning. More than 4 in 5 felt students should be taught how to engage critically with generative-AI tools, but just 1 in 10 said their school had policy on generative AI in place, and even fewer (1 in 14) said that their school had found ways to discourage plagiarism.
These findings suggest that, at this relatively early stage in the development and adoption of generative AI, a high number of teachers believe they would benefit from training to improve how effectively they use such tools, while also calling for children and young people to be supported to help them engage critically with generative-AI outputs.