Weekly Newsletter

Practical AI Strategies

There’s something in the shadows this Halloween…

Hi everyone,

Happy Halloween! This week on the blog I’ve been writing about something lurking in the shadows… it’s maybe not as thrilling as a ghost or a plastic skeleton from the supermarket Halloween aisle, but it’s far more scary for schools and businesses.

Shadow AI

For decades shadow IT has been a problem in organisations: you have a set of approved tools and platforms, but staff go off and use… whatever they want. It happens for all kinds of reasons (often perfectly innocent) but it causes a headache for the IT admin and business managers.

By now you’ve probably seen evidence of shadow AI in your schools and universities. Maybe it’s a policy that staff can “only use Copilot” being flouted by everyone using ChatGPT. Or maybe it’s staff vibe coding their own apps in Claude and sharing them without permission.

We know from years of research that the best way to tackle shadow IT is to just turn on the lights. Have transparent conversations, remove punitive policies, and get to understand why staff are doing what they do. But there’s not a lot of research in education and I think we need to understand more about shadow AI in schools.

Read more on the blog 👻

Practical AI Leadership: A New Cohort for 2027

Shadow AI is one of the many areas that AI Leads in schools are being tasked with.

Have you become the person everyone turns to with questions about AI?

Perhaps you’ve taken on a newly created Head of AI role. Or perhaps AI has gradually become part of your work in curriculum, digital learning, IT, or leadership, without much discussion about the extra responsibility.

I speak to a lot of educators in this position. The same concerns keep coming up: a lack of clarity about the role, limited support, and very little professional learning designed for the person leading the work.

That’s why I’m launching Practical AI Leadership, a new online course and community for 2027.

Running across 20 weeks from February to July, the program is for people leading AI in schools, TAFEs/RTOs, universities, and other education organisations, whether by design or by accident.

Across six one-hour live online sessions, we’ll work through how to:

• Define your responsibilities, priorities, and what to delegate.
• Review your organisation’s current approach using a policy self-audit and community pulse survey.
• Develop practical approaches to governance, professional learning, and conversations with students and communities.
• Build a strategic AI plan for the second half of 2027 and into 2028.

Every session is recorded. Between sessions, a moderated online community will give you space to ask questions, share ideas, and discuss what’s happening in your organisation. There are no assignments: the work between sessions connects directly to your role.

You don’t have to tackle this role alone. Join individually, or bring colleagues from curriculum, IT, or leadership. Organisation packs and association or network rates are available.

Early bird places are AUD $1,620 + GST. Early bird closes 4th December 2026. The standard individual price is AUD $1,800 + GST.

Explore the program and register your interest

Cheers,

Leon

PS: Have you checked out the latest course at practicalaistrategies.com? Cyber Safety Project has produced an excellent short course for educators on Deepfakes and Synthetic Media. Check it out here.

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