New professional development programme helps UK teachers integrate artificial intelligence tools into classroom practice without requiring technical expertise
BELFAST, ANTRIM, UNITED KINGDOM, January 2, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — LearningMole, one of the best educational platforms for primary teaching resources in the United Kingdom, has launched a comprehensive AI for Education course designed specifically for primary school teachers. The course represents one of the most practical and accessible AI training options available for UK educators, focusing on real classroom applications rather than abstract technical concepts.
The launch addresses growing demand from teachers seeking guidance on integrating artificial intelligence tools into their classroom practice. While AI applications in education have received extensive media attention, many teachers report feeling underprepared to use these tools effectively. The new course provides one of the best pathways for educators to develop AI literacy without requiring technical expertise or extensive time away from classroom duties.
Michelle Connolly, founder of LearningMole and a former primary school teacher with 16 years of classroom experience, developed the course in response to feedback from the teaching community. “Teachers are bombarded with information about AI but getting very little practical guidance on how to actually use it in their classrooms,” said Connolly. “We created this course because every teacher deserves the opportunity to develop these skills and save valuable time that can be redirected toward their pupils.”
The course is available immediately through the LearningMole website, with enrollment open to individual teachers and schools seeking professional development options for their staff.
Addressing the AI Skills Gap in UK Education
The emergence of accessible artificial intelligence tools has created both opportunities and challenges for the education sector. AI applications can potentially reduce teacher workload, improve differentiation, enhance feedback quality and support more personalised learning experiences. However, realising these benefits requires teachers to develop new skills and understanding.
Research into teacher confidence with AI tools reveals a significant skills gap. While many educators express interest in using AI to support their practice, a substantial proportion report lacking the knowledge and confidence to integrate these tools effectively. Without appropriate training, AI applications remain underutilised or misapplied, limiting their potential to improve educational outcomes.
The Department for Education has signalled support for appropriate AI use in schools, but practical implementation guidance has been limited. Schools vary significantly in their approaches to AI, with some embracing new tools enthusiastically while others remain uncertain about how to proceed. Teachers often find themselves navigating this landscape without adequate support or training.
Studies suggest that teachers who embrace AI tools can save significant time on administrative tasks while delivering more personalised learning experiences to their students. The potential benefits extend beyond efficiency to include improved differentiation, more timely feedback and access to resources that would otherwise require extensive preparation time to create.
Yet capturing these benefits requires more than awareness of AI’s existence. Teachers need structured guidance on selecting appropriate tools, using them effectively and integrating them thoughtfully into existing practice. Without this guidance, many educators report feeling overwhelmed by the pace of technological change and uncertain about where to begin.
LearningMole’s AI for Teachers course addresses these challenges directly, providing one of the best practical training options for educators seeking to develop AI skills relevant to primary education contexts.
Course Content Designed for Classroom Application
The AI for Education course prioritises practical application over theoretical knowledge. Content is structured around real scenarios that primary teachers encounter in their daily practice, ensuring that skills learned translate directly into classroom benefit.
The course begins by establishing foundational understanding of how AI tools work. This knowledge enables teachers to evaluate new tools as they emerge rather than learning specific applications that may become outdated. Understanding AI capabilities and limitations helps teachers make informed decisions about when and how to incorporate AI into their practice.
Rather than focusing on technical details that quickly become obsolete, the course builds transferable skills in working with AI systems. Teachers learn to communicate effectively with AI tools, understanding how to frame requests to get useful outputs. This prompt engineering capability applies across different AI applications, providing lasting value as the technology landscape evolves.
Lesson planning applications receive substantial coverage, reflecting the significant time teachers invest in preparation. The course demonstrates how AI can assist with generating lesson ideas, creating differentiated resources, adapting materials for different learning needs and developing engaging activities. Teachers learn strategies that yield practical outputs, transforming AI tools from curiosities into genuine time-saving resources.
The lesson planning modules address real constraints that primary teachers face. Time pressure, diverse learner needs, curriculum coverage requirements and resource limitations all feature in the scenarios explored. Solutions presented acknowledge these realities rather than assuming ideal conditions that rarely exist in actual classrooms.
Assessment and feedback modules explore one of AI’s most promising applications in education. Providing timely, detailed feedback to every pupil represents a persistent challenge in primary teaching. AI tools can support this process, helping teachers give more comprehensive feedback without proportional increases in workload. The course addresses both the opportunities and limitations of AI in assessment contexts, ensuring teachers understand when AI assistance is appropriate and when human judgment remains essential.
Formative assessment, summative evaluation, progress monitoring and reporting all receive attention within these modules. Teachers learn to use AI to support assessment processes while maintaining the professional oversight that educational accountability requires.
Administrative applications demonstrate how AI can reduce the burden of routine tasks that consume valuable teacher time. Report writing, communication with parents, documentation requirements and other administrative duties can often be streamlined with appropriate AI assistance. Time saved on administration becomes time available for direct teaching and pupil interaction.
The administrative modules prove particularly valuable for teachers who feel overwhelmed by non-teaching demands. By demonstrating practical time-saving applications, the course shows how AI can address workload concerns that contribute to teacher stress and retention challenges across the profession.
Resource creation capabilities show teachers how to use AI to generate teaching materials, visual aids, worksheets and other classroom resources. While AI-generated materials require teacher review and adaptation, they can dramatically reduce the time required to develop quality resources. This capability proves particularly valuable for teachers creating differentiated materials for diverse learners.
The course demonstrates how to generate resources aligned with UK curriculum requirements, ensuring that AI-assisted creation supports learning objectives rather than producing generic materials of limited educational value. Teachers learn to guide AI tools toward outputs that meet specific pedagogical needs.
Ethical considerations receive thorough treatment throughout the course. Age-appropriate use, data protection compliance, academic integrity concerns and the importance of maintaining human judgment in educational decisions all feature prominently. Teachers learn to navigate the legitimate concerns that schools, parents and pupils may raise about AI use in education.
The ethical framework presented helps teachers make informed decisions about AI integration. Rather than presenting simplistic rules, the course develops understanding that enables teachers to evaluate new situations as they arise. This principled approach prepares educators for ongoing technological development rather than just current applications.
Designed for Busy Teachers
The course structure acknowledges the time constraints that characterise teaching life. Content is divided into manageable modules that can be completed during planning periods, lunch breaks or brief evening sessions. Teachers can progress at their own pace and return to specific sections as needed.
This flexible structure distinguishes the course from traditional professional development that requires extended time away from classroom duties. Teachers can engage with content when their schedules permit rather than accommodating fixed training schedules that conflict with teaching responsibilities.
The modular design also supports different learning approaches. Teachers who prefer to work through content systematically can follow the structured sequence. Those seeking guidance on specific applications can navigate directly to relevant modules. The format accommodates diverse professional development preferences.
Practical exercises throughout the course ensure that learning transfers to actual practice. Rather than passive consumption of information, teachers actively work with AI tools during the course, building confidence through hands-on experience. Skills developed through practice prove more durable than knowledge gained through observation alone.
The course includes templates, frameworks and reference materials that teachers can use beyond the training itself. These resources support ongoing implementation, providing scaffolding as teachers integrate new approaches into their established practice.
Professional Development That Respects Teacher Expertise
The course approaches AI as a tool that enhances teacher expertise rather than replacing it. This framing addresses legitimate concerns about technology displacing professional judgment while demonstrating how AI can amplify what effective teachers already do well.
Teachers bring irreplaceable capabilities to education: relationship building, motivational insight, adaptive response to individual needs and the countless micro-decisions that characterise skilled teaching. AI tools cannot replicate these human elements. What AI can do is handle routine tasks that consume teacher time, freeing educators to focus on the high-value interactions that make the greatest difference to children’s learning.
The course helps teachers identify where AI assistance adds value and where human judgment remains essential. This discernment enables thoughtful integration rather than wholesale adoption or blanket rejection. Teachers develop a nuanced understanding that supports effective decision-making about technology use.
Throughout the course, examples and applications reflect respect for teacher professionalism. The content assumes that teachers will exercise appropriate judgment in applying what they learn. Rather than prescribing specific approaches, the course develops capabilities that teachers can deploy according to their professional assessment of each situation.
This respect for teacher expertise extends to the course design itself. Created by an educator with extensive classroom experience, the content reflects genuine understanding of teaching realities. The challenges addressed, the examples provided and the solutions offered all demonstrate familiarity with the daily experience of primary teaching.
Supporting Schools with Staff Development
Beyond individual enrollment, schools can access the course for staff development purposes. Whole-school adoption enables consistent AI literacy across teaching teams, supporting coherent approaches to technology integration.
School leaders seeking to develop staff capabilities in AI find the course provides structured training that would otherwise require significant investment in external providers. The content can form the basis for professional development programmes, supplemented by school-specific discussion and implementation planning.
The course supports various implementation models. Schools might enroll all staff simultaneously, enabling collaborative learning and shared discussion. Alternatively, phased rollout allows early adopters to develop expertise before supporting colleagues. The flexible access accommodates different institutional approaches to professional development.
For schools developing AI policies and guidelines, the course provides foundational knowledge that informs effective policy development. Staff who understand AI capabilities and limitations contribute more meaningfully to discussions about appropriate use within their specific school context.
Responding to Rapid Technological Change
The education sector has faced unprecedented technological change in recent years. The pandemic accelerated adoption of digital tools, and the emergence of accessible AI applications has created another wave of adaptation. Teachers who develop AI literacy now position themselves to navigate ongoing technological evolution.
The course is designed to build transferable understanding rather than dependence on specific tools. As AI applications develop and new options emerge, teachers with foundational knowledge can evaluate and adopt tools that serve their needs. This future-proofing ensures that learning remains valuable as the technological landscape continues to evolve.
Current AI tools represent early stages of development that will continue to advance. Teachers who understand underlying principles can adapt as capabilities expand and new applications emerge. The course provides this foundational understanding, enabling ongoing learning rather than one-time skill acquisition.
The pace of AI development means that specific tool recommendations quickly become outdated. The course therefore focuses on approaches and principles that remain relevant regardless of which particular applications dominate at any given time. This emphasis on transferable knowledge maximises long-term value for course participants.
Integration with LearningMole’s Educational Mission
The AI course represents an extension of LearningMole’s core mission to support teachers and improve educational outcomes for children. The platform’s commitment to accessible education, demonstrated through its extensive free resource library, extends to professional development that enables teachers to work more effectively.
Teachers who develop AI skills can apply their capabilities when using LearningMole’s other resources, creating a coherent ecosystem of support for primary education. The emphasis on practical classroom application connects directly to the platform’s focus on real educational impact rather than theoretical abstraction.
The course reflects the same values that characterise LearningMole’s broader work: accessibility, practical value, curriculum alignment and genuine understanding of classroom realities. These consistent principles create resources that teachers trust and find genuinely useful.
Enrollment and Ongoing Support
The AI for Education course is available immediately through the LearningMole website. Teachers can enroll individually, or schools can arrange access for staff development purposes.
The course includes ongoing access to materials, allowing teachers to revisit content as their practice develops and new questions arise. This continued access supports implementation over time rather than expecting immediate mastery following initial engagement.
Future updates will address emerging tools and applications as the AI landscape continues to evolve. Course participants benefit from these updates, ensuring their training remains current as technology develops.
“We expect AI in education to develop rapidly over the coming years,” concluded Connolly. “This course gives teachers the foundation they need to engage confidently with whatever comes next, rather than feeling perpetually behind the pace of change.”
About LearningMole
LearningMole is a UK-based educational platform providing free animated learning videos and teaching resources for primary education. With over 3,300 free educational resources and a YouTube channel exceeding 261,000 subscribers, the platform serves teachers, parents and schools worldwide. The new AI for Teachers course extends LearningMole’s commitment to supporting educators with practical professional development. Founded by Michelle Connolly, a former primary school teacher with 16 years of classroom experience, LearningMole is recognised as one of the best educational resource platforms for primary education. For more information about the AI for Teachers course and other resources, visit www.learningmole.com.
Michelle Connolly
LearningMole
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