The Edtech Podcast

#320 AI in Education: Governance, Ethics and Sustainability

Mar 20, 2026
Rita Bateson, founder of Ablama Learning and author on AI in education, governance and curriculum design. She explores sustainability and data centre impacts of AI. She discusses teaching students discernment, building clear governance and protecting teacher-student relationships. Practical strategies, ethical safeguards and frameworks for human-centered AI in schools are highlighted.
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ANECDOTE

Pandemic Chats Quieted As Students Turn To AI

  • During the pandemic classroom chats were noisy but now are quiet because students reach for AI instead of peers.
  • Rita recounts teachers noticing Teams and Google chat activity drop as pupils consult AI first, signalling a chance to course correct.
ADVICE

Give Staff Clear Top Down AI Rules

  • Do provide clear top-down AI governance so staff and students know boundaries and safe experimentation zones.
  • Rita found many schools explicitly ask leaders to 'just tell us the golden rules' to reduce anxiety and enable safe trials.
INSIGHT

AI Risks Damaging Teacher Student Trust

  • AI can erode relational trust when teachers overuse automated feedback.
  • Rita reports students complain some teachers now 'feed back using AI' and pupils value human feedback more than AI-generated comments.
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