‘Made with AI, not by AI’

Felicia Bitetti is an English teacher at a secondary school; she is passionate about digital teaching and artificial intelligence in education, and believes that even teachers who are most resistant to technology should be helped to recognise the opportunities it offers. When it comes to AI, she often says: “Made with AI, not by AI!”, because she firmly believes in human-machine collaboration and in tools that complement people’s work without replacing them.

Since 2023, she has had a YouTube channel that helps her “share” her discoveries with other teachers; at first, only her friends followed her, but she has since surpassed two thousand subscribers. “My collaboration with FMD began with an advert seeking a trainer. I was immediately fascinated by this organisation and offered my services to help combat prejudices about innovative teaching,” she told us.

“I’ve been teaching English for 10 years; I currently work at the Argentia-Majorana higher education institute in Cernusco sul Naviglio (Milan). I’ve always had a great passion for technology, so I thought I’d harness this passion by combining teaching with digital tools,” she explains. “In the past, for example, I’ve worked on website management and design. For me, AI is a tool for making lessons increasingly dynamic and engaging. I use it every day when preparing the learning experience for the classroom.”

Argentia-Majorana is a ‘pioneering’ institution, with a diverse and complex student body: “Our young people often come from other countries around the world, and within the same class we find a wide range of needs and vulnerabilities.” How, then, can we increasingly personalise the educational programme?

“Nowadays, traditional lectures need to make way for other, more engaging methods. Technology helps us a great deal; let me give you a few examples. To tackle the challenge of maintaining pupils’ attention, we can liven up learning with quizzes and games, thanks to the apps we can use on the school’s tablets. But artificial intelligence is even more revolutionary because it provides immediate support for inclusion; when it comes to non-Italian-speaking pupils, we can consider many solutions.”

The first webinar by Ital.IA Lab For School focused on tools for inclusion, such as immersive readers, and, more generally, on technologies that help pupils with learning difficulties (but also all others) to access content in different ways – such as through listening – that are better suited to their specific challenges. The second webinar, held alongside a colleague who specialises in Sentiment Analysis, in collaboration with Rizzoli, focused – in the section I was responsible for – on creating an escape room using the data obtained from the analysis itself. “I already use escape rooms; I’ve created several and experiment with them because I’ve noticed that gamification and game-based learning are very helpful in foreign language learning due to their engaging approach. I often use generative AI to create the scenes that build the narrative of the escape room or to come up with riddles and puzzles. I’ll mention a couple of examples: one on English grammar and another tracing the evolution of fashion in the 20th century, which is particularly suited to the school where I teach. Thanks to the Genially platform, I’ve created interactive presentations and links between pages and actions; by working with generative AI, I’ve brought the story and images to life.”

How can one offer such an experience whilst adhering to the limits set by the ministerial directive on the use of devices in the classroom? “I take the pupils to the IT room or use the so-called ‘mobile classroom’ (which is a trolley containing the school’s computers) and suggest they split into groups, log in together as a team and immerse themselves in the story. They’re presented with themed puzzles or exercises, crosswords, and tasks involving moving objects; by overcoming these challenges, they move on to the next room until the end of the game. It’s an intrinsically motivating experience because those who overcome the obstacles not only test their knowledge and gain new insights but also achieve a sense of victory. The reward might be, for example, the chance to choose the day of a test, or a boost to their final mark.”

Ms Bitetti also led a session entirely focused on the practical construction of an escape room, with an emphasis on the prompts to give to generative AI to create the visual assets and narrative, and on using Genially to implement the game mechanics. “The teachers were very interested; they were intrigued and asked me to go into more detail—they wanted to know the development times and how to make the game more interactive.” At the end of the sessions, a tutorial was made available to participants. “Escape rooms offer great flexibility: we can incorporate any kind of content. For my classes, I’ve devised scenarios where we can use specialist English in contexts such as maintenance and technical support or fashion, as these are the two subjects I teach.”

How do the pupils react to these experiences? “Once they’ve tried it, they can’t wait to do it again! Generally speaking, pupils ask to do online quizzes to help them memorise things more easily through visual means. I accommodate them by also using elements such as diagrams, drawings and images. I also give plenty of tips for independent use, because I know full well that AI is used at home.”

How might a student approach generative AI systems for their studies? “I always try to present AI as a personal tutor, and many use it exactly in this way. I’m not worried that they’ll start copying their homework because I know my pupils and I can tell when they’re submitting work that isn’t their own. In my work as a teacher, I don’t set a lot of written assignments as homework, but rather something more creative and critical, as this is the best way to gauge whether they’ve properly understood the lesson; or I have them complete assignments in class without any aids, to assess their skills. AI can be a great help with learning new languages, by facilitating spoken exchanges, for example. It’s also useful for generating ideas: try giving a prompt on how you’d go about a project, then step in to adapt it to your own tastes and needs!”

AI can be a great help to foreign pupils who have just joined the school, thereby combating isolation. “Thanks to certain tools, I’ve created materials translated from their native language into English, and this has led to greater inclusion and participation in class!”

 

Interview by Onelia Onorati, press office of the Fondazione Mondo Digitale.