Teacher-built AI: supporting innovation without losing oversight
Teachers are already building their own AI tools. The question isn't whether to allow it — it's how to govern it without killing the innovation that's making a real difference in classrooms.
With Mark Orchison (CEO & Founder, 9ine), Dan Fitzpatrick (The AI Educator · Co-host) & Julia Pidduck (Principal Consultant, 9ine)
Reserve your place
Teacher-built AI tools are already in classrooms. Some are genuinely impressive — tailored to specific subjects, year groups, and learning needs in ways that off-the-shelf EdTech rarely manages. But they also carry risks that most schools haven't yet thought through.
This session explores the real drivers behind educator-created AI: why teachers are building their own tools rather than waiting for approved EdTech, what privacy and data risks those tools introduce that a vendor-assessed solution would have caught, how schools can support this kind of innovation without losing oversight, and what safe experimentation actually looks like in practice — not as an aspiration, but as a working model.
Why attend
Understand what's actually driving teachers to build their own AI tools — and why waiting for formally approved EdTech isn't always a realistic answer for the classroom problems they're trying to solve.
Get clarity on the specific privacy and data risks a teacher-built tool introduces that a vendor-assessed solution would have caught — and why that gap matters for your school's accountability.
Leave with a practical model for safe experimentation: one that supports genuine classroom innovation without leaving your school exposed.
Your speakers
Mark Orchison
Over 20 years' experience helping schools navigate technology, cyber, privacy and safeguarding — a highly respected voice in K-12 education governance.
Dan Fitzpatrick
Bestselling author of The AI Classroom, Forbes contributor, and award-winning strategist who has helped over 100,000 educators worldwide navigate AI responsibly.
Julia Pidduck
Specialist in AI and EdTech vendor assessment — helping schools evaluate tools across safeguarding, security, educational value, privacy and data protection.
What to expect
An honest look at what's driving teachers to build their own AI tools — and why that trend is accelerating rather than waiting for schools to catch up.
A breakdown of the privacy and data risks teacher-built tools introduce, compared with formally assessed EdTech — and why the gap between them matters.
Practical approaches for supporting teacher-led AI innovation without losing the governance and oversight your school needs to maintain.
What "safe experimentation" actually looks like in practice — a workable model schools can adopt, not just a principle with no structure behind it.
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