Artificial intelligence is already part of your students’ lives — it recommends their videos, filters their photos, and increasingly shapes the information they see. But most children (and quite a few adults) have no real understanding of how it works. Our new AI and Machine Learning workshop gives students that understanding, not through lectures and diagrams, but by building and programming their own AI-powered robots.
What Students Actually Do
Each student builds a robot buggy using a BBC micro:bit and programs it to perform tasks that mirror real-world AI applications. This is physical computing at its most engaging — actual hardware, actual sensors, actual code that makes something move.
The workshop covers:
- How self-driving vehicles perceive and respond to their environment
- The difference between machine learning and traditional coding
- Neural networks — explained in a way that makes sense to a Year 5 student
- Reinforcement learning: how machines improve through trial and error
- Pattern and image recognition using AI cameras (students train their robots to respond to traffic signals)
That last one always gets the biggest reaction. When a student holds up a card and their robot responds because it’s been trained to recognise it — not just programmed with an if-statement — you can see the penny drop. That’s machine learning, and they’ve just done it themselves.
Why AI Belongs in the Primary and Secondary Classroom
There’s a reasonable argument that AI literacy is becoming as important as reading literacy. Not because every child needs to become a data scientist, but because understanding the basics of how AI works is essential for navigating the world they’re growing up in. How does a recommendation algorithm decide what you see? Why does facial recognition sometimes get it wrong? What happens when an AI makes a decision about a person?
These aren’t abstract philosophical questions anymore. They’re practical ones, and students deserve honest, age-appropriate answers.
The Ethics Conversation
We don’t shy away from the difficult bits. The workshop includes structured discussion about safety, privacy, bias, and the ethical implications of AI decision-making. Students consider questions like: should a self-driving car prioritise its passengers or pedestrians? Who’s responsible when an AI gets it wrong? These conversations are often the richest part of the session.
The full workshop is designed for KS2 and KS4 and requires no prior AI knowledge from students or staff. Take a look at the AI and Robotics workshop page for details, or get in touch to discuss how it might fit into your curriculum planning. If you’re also interested in building your own staff’s confidence with AI and computing, our teacher CPD programmes are a good starting point.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do students learn in an AI workshop?
Students learn how artificial intelligence and machine learning work through practical activities: training image classifiers, building decision trees, programming robots with sensor-based logic, and discussing the ethics of AI in everyday life. No prior coding experience is needed.
What age group is the AI workshop for?
The AI and Machine Learning Workshop is designed for KS2, KS3, and KS4 students (ages 7 to 16). Activities are differentiated so younger students use visual block coding while older students work with more complex algorithms and data sets.
Why should schools teach AI and machine learning?
AI is already embedded in students' daily lives through voice assistants, recommendation algorithms, and social media feeds. Teaching AI literacy helps students understand and critically evaluate the technology shaping their world, and prepares them for careers in a sector growing by 40% annually.
