Course | AI Essentials for Educators

Price

$821 NZD (incl GST where applicable).
The price listed is for the international learners. An additional pricing option is available for this course at $395 NZD (incl GST where applicable) for domestic learners (NZ).

Availability

30 May 2025
14 July 2025
18 August 2025
29 September 2025
3 November 2025

Entry times
28 April – 25 May 2025

Empower your teaching with artificial intelligence and gain confidence using the latest AI tools for teachers. Designed for educators at all levels, this course helps you harness AI’s potential to future-proof your teaching.

Overview

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools become widespread, educators must learn how to make the best use of AI in their teaching and learning, to boost effectiveness and efficiencies – and keep up with their students!

There’s a lot to get to grips with, which is why the University of Canterbury academic experts are here to help you demystify the use of AI. In this short course, you’ll learn the fundamentals of how AI works and explore how you can harness the latest innovations in AI and generative AI to support you in your teaching practice.

This course is designed to be hands-on, giving you a starting point to explore a range of AI tools, learn how to use them and implement appropriate safety measures, and to explore how generative AI can be used in your own context.

Explore the essentials of AI for educators and build your confidence in using generative AI tools in your teaching in just 20 hours.

This course is part of a new collection of short courses on AI for teachers. Other courses planned in this collection will focus on using generative AI to support ākonga | student assessment and testing, and how academic integrity and generative AI can combine to empower student achievement. If you’re interested in learning more about this collection, sign up for updates.

This Course is Ideal for:

• Primary and pre-primary teachers
• Intermediate and secondary teachers
• Tertiary lecturers and educators
• Leaders in education

What You'll Learn

• Fundamental AI concepts for educators
• Types of AI tools and examples of common generative AI tools that are useful for educators
• How to evaluate the implications of using large language models (LLMs) in education

Course Outline

This course is flexible, enabling you to plan your study around your other commitments. You can choose to study when it suits you during the learning period (either 28 April – 25 May or 30 May – 29 June 2025).

This short course will require around 20 hours of study during the learning period – you can view the course overview here for more details including assessments.

Module 1: Introduction to AI concepts
Learn about fundamental AI concepts and critically evaluate the implications of using large language models (LLMs) in educational settings.

Module 2: Integrating AI into teaching
Identify a range of AI tools that could be used in your classroom for teaching and research. Practise designing effective prompts to support some common activities that educators may engage in when using generative AI.

Module 3: Ethical implications of GenAI for teaching
Understand and analyse ethical issues related to the use of generative AI in education and propose policies for its responsible use in teaching and assessment.

Assessments
All assessments are self-assessments and completion of the course is determined by completion of all the learning modules and the self-assessment activities.

Upon successful completion of the course you will be issued a digital badge to recognise your learning achievements.

Requirements

There are no prerequisites for this course – it is open to anyone who has confidence listening, reading, and writing in English.

This course is designed for teachers, educators and academics – if you're not a teacher, please contact University of Canterbury to check if this course is right for you.

Technology requirements
It is recommended to use a laptop or desktop computer and a reliable internet connection. For most courses you'll need to download and populate assignments. These are usually available as Microsoft Word documents.

Course fees
Course fees must be paid before learning can begin, either via online credit-card payment, or by contacting University of Canterbury to request an invoice. Please note: fixed invoice payment dates apply, so it is recommended getting in touch with them as soon as possible to request an invoice, as this option is subject to availability.

Group discounts
Get your colleagues together to take advantage of our group discounts:
10% for 3 - 6 learners
15% for 7+ learners

Cap & minimum enrolment threshold
A minimum number of learners is needed for effective interaction and feedback, while a maximum cap of learners ensures high quality learning and support. If the minimum number of enrolments required for a course isn’t met, or the maximum cap is exceeded, learners will be given the option to defer their study or receive a refund.