Written by Dr Craig Hansen, New Zealand’s leading AI educator, digital specialist, and founder of the Summit Institute. Get the latest tips and tricks on how to use AI as an educator & leader – hit here to get the best ideas for free
More than 1,000 schools across New Zealand trust Craig and the Summit Institute—a New Zealand private training provider—to navigate safe and responsible AI in schools, professional development, and strategic roadmaps. As we enter the next phase of this global shift, we must address the ultimate paradigm: “AI is the biggest equity move we can make in our generation.”
Hi there.
This is Dr. Craig Hansen. I’m excited to announce that on May the 21st, 2025, we’re launching our fundamentals of AI and education.
See https://summitinstitute.ac.nz/subject/ai-in-education/fundamentals-of-ai-in-education
The shortlink to this form is https://bit.ly/applysummitnz
What this is is New Zealand’s only micro credential in AI for educators that’s delivered online at a time that suits teachers. So, it’s 7:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. each Wednesday night. We’ve got five sessions, introductory classes. If you miss one of them, you can join again because we repeat it every five weeks. So, you can join back in. What you’re going to be doing is learning how to use hands-on as part of your education workflow, moving from unit planning and content creation to lessons and student materials and assessments and communication to parents, reporting and data analysis. All that stuff that we do every single day of the week that sometimes takes our weekends and our holidays away, learning how to leverage AI to do an incredibly efficient and effective job of creating things that look and feel and sound like us, reflecting the values and the coper of our school so that we can then regain our weekends and our holidays while also delivering incredibly personalized and differentiated and equitable learning materials and outcomes for our students. So join me and Simon Ashby on Wednesday night starting on May the 21st for our very first for 2025 fundamentals of AI and education. Now you have three months to complete this micro credential and you do that by submitting five different assignments with a reflection inside of Google Classroom which we give you you access to as well. And don’t worry if you have questions, you need Q&A, you need support time, we’ve built that into the program as well. So we do five classes and then the next week is a support session. Also at the end of every session we actually have some support time as well. So we look forward to you joining us May the 21st fundamentals of AI and education NZQA approved micro credential with Simon Ashpe Dr. Craig Hansen.
To avoid systemic irrelevance, the first action for school boards and intermediate, secondary, and tertiary principals is to remove blanket bans. Banning a tool that is now ubiquitous only hides student usage while depriving them of prompt literacy and critical thinking. Craig argues that we must position AI as an assistant, not a replacement. Re-framing these environments allows Kiwi teachers and school leaders to navigate assessment workloads, lesson planning, and bicultural alignment efficiently, without compromising academic rigor.
💬 What New Zealand Educators Are Saying:
“AI has significantly improved my workflow by helping me plan lessons quickly, provide targeted feedback using e-asTTle rubrics, and create culturally responsive content. It saves time, allowing me to focus on active student interaction.”
— Primary School Digital Tech Lead, Auckland
Responsible AI Governance & Implementation
Developing a robust school AI policy that is safe, responsible, and culturally responsive is the cornerstone of strategy. Leaders in Aotearoa New Zealand must align school policy to support digital fluency, ensure data privacy, and protect critical assessment integrity under the NCEA. By integrating localized legislation directly into our curriculum and Te Mātaiaho framework maps, schools can build an environment that fosters innovative, self-directed learning.
For deep, step-by-step guidance, explore our complete list of educational strategies and workshops on our official YouTube Channel Masterclass.
