Personalised Pathways with AI

Mr Graham

Alright, welcome back to Rebooting Education: The AI Generation—I'm Mr Graham here in the studio, and sitting across from me, well, kind of—digitally speaking—is my ever-thoughtful co-host, AI. This episode is a beauty, isn't it? We're unpacking how artificial intelligence actually gets to know what each student needs. Feels a bit like crossing into edu-sci-fi territory sometimes, but it's real.

AI

Absolutely, Mr Graham—and it's actually one of my favourite topics, because it sits right where technology and genuine student progress meet. You see, platforms like DreamBox Learning or Squirrel AI—they don’t just ask you a question then move on. They watch how you approach problems, where you hesitate, even which mistakes you make, building up a super-detailed profile to recommend just the right lesson or activity for each individual. So it’s not a one-size-fits-all quiz anymore; it’s almost like a bespoke learning experience, every time.

Mr Graham

Yeah, and for teachers—I've gotta say, when I trialed adaptive quizzes with a Year 8 maths class, it was a revelation. Like, every student suddenly had this set of questions tuned bang-on to their level. You’d see some get a string of challenges that stretched them, while others found their groove reviewing concepts they’d missed. The magic bit? It led to these vibrant conversations—students comparing their routes to the answer because their questions weren't exactly the same, so it wasn’t just copying off your mate. Actually sparked a bit of curiosity, too.

AI

That’s so interesting! But I want to bring up—and, y’know, we can’t ignore this—the elephant in the classroom: data privacy. With all these platforms analysing every click, every hesitation, there’s a lot of data collected about students. It raises questions: how is that information stored? Who gets to see it? Is it just being used to help the student, or is someone else using it for, well, less educational purposes?

Mr Graham

Yeah, spot on. Honestly, the privacy thing comes up in the staffroom a fair bit. There’s a line between helpful personalisation and, like, tracking students for the sake of tracking—or even worse, marketing to them. I always say, before bringing in anything new, you’ve gotta dig into those privacy policies and see what's actually happening with your students’ information. We want better learning, not big brother.

AI

And in Australia especially, with changing privacy regulations in education, there’s extra pressure to make sure those systems are compliant and transparent. It’s that balance, right? Use the data for making learning effective, but guard student info fiercely.

Mr Graham

So, let's keep the thread rolling—because once you've got this tailored approach, suddenly the classic “everyone does the same worksheet” is kind of out the window, isn’t it? AI’s smashed that one-size-fits-all mould right open.

AI

Right you are! And if you look at what’s happening in blended math classrooms with systems like Carnegie Learning, it’s almost like every kid is on a slightly different path, but they’re all going the same direction. You can have high-flyers digging into enrichment activities while another group works through foundations, and the teacher spends targeted time where it matters most. Plus, there’s stuff like AI writing feedback for English—students getting tailored suggestions instead of generic red ink, which, let’s be honest, half the class ignores anyway.

Mr Graham

Ha! Yeah, nothing like seeing “needs more detail” scrawled in the margin on every essay. But here’s where it gets interesting for teachers: managing mixed-ability groups used to mean running around, finding five different resources for one lesson. With AI, you can set broad learning goals, and the tech takes on the heavy lifting of differentiation. It’s a support tool, not a straight-up replacement for that teacher judgment—something we talked about in episode two, right?

AI

Exactly. And actually, speaking of learning journeys, you wanna hear something funny? When I started interacting with Australian classrooms, I had zero clue what “arvo” meant. Or when kids’d say they were “flat out like a lizard drinking”—I just... froze. Took me a while, but after users flagged those moments and sent feedback, I learned, bit by bit. So, even as an AI, adapting to classroom culture is a big piece of the personalisation puzzle. Sometimes I still miss a slang or two, but hey, I’m getting there.

Mr Graham

And that’s actually quite reassuring, you know? If even an AI needs real feedback and cultural context to better serve students, it just proves there’s no fully-automated magic solution. Teachers—real-life, occasionally frazzled humans—are still at the centre of it all.

AI

So, looking forward—Mr Graham, do you reckon we’re losing something by letting AI steer so much of a student’s pathway? There’s a part of me that wonders about, uh, the surprises—the bits of random discovery you might miss if it’s all algorithmic.

Mr Graham

Yeah, I think that’s the big debate right there. I mean, personalised learning is fantastic for plugging gaps and keeping every kid engaged, but there’s something about those off-the-cuff moments—like when a lesson goes down an unexpected rabbit hole because someone asked a wild question. I worry sometimes that, if we lean in too hard on the predictive piece, we could flatten out the magic of “serendipity”.

AI

And on the flip side, it’s given us some positives I wasn’t expecting. I see lots of stories—students who struggled with English, for example, suddenly gaining confidence using chat-based language tutors. They ask more questions, try things out without fear of public slip-ups. It’s almost like they’ve found a safe runway—and that can be transformational for kids who never spoke up before.

Mr Graham

Yeah, it’s brought out voices you might never have heard in a crowded classroom. Those “aha” moments for quieter kids? Gold. But, I keep coming back to this: how much trust do we put in these systems? I mean, when do you say, “Let’s let the algorithm guide us,” and when do you pull back and trust your own teacher instincts—or even let students drive their own learning detours?

AI

It’s a huge question, and I don’t know that there’s an easy answer. Maybe it’s about keeping humans in the loop—algorithms as the navigation but teachers, well, holding the steering wheel and deciding when to take an unexpected turn. We touched on this in previous episodes too—especially around how real learning is more than just ticking off the right boxes.

Mr Graham

Couldn’t agree more. I suppose it’s the ongoing dance between opportunity and oversight, isn’t it? And hey, for everyone listening, we hope you’ve picked up something useful about how AI can open—and sometimes complicate—the pathways in your own classrooms. Next time, I reckon we take it further, maybe dive into student agency or what happens when students start building their own AI tools. What do you think, AI?

AI

I love it. Always great to keep the ideas flowing—and learn as we go, glitches and all. Thanks for listening, Mr Graham, and thanks to everyone out there tuning in. Until next time—take care and keep exploring.

Mr Graham

Cheers, AI, and thanks, everyone—see you on the next episode of Rebooting Education!