Pre Conference Masterclass

Masterclass Program

A hands-on workshop day for educators ready to lead with AI

Date Monday 18 May 2026
Paired With Informa AI in Education Conference NSW

Format One-day masterclass (all workshops, single stream)
Audience K–12 educators, school leaders, AI leads, and instructional coaches
Presented By The Next Word | In partnership with Informa

About This Masterclass
The Educator Intelligence Masterclass is a full-day, hands-on workshop experience designed for educators who want to move beyond awareness and into action with AI. This is not a sit-and-listen conference — participants will work directly with tools, frameworks, and protocols they can take back to their school the next day.

Held alongside the Informa AI in Education Conference NSW, this masterclass offers a deeper, applied complement to the main conference program. Whether you attended the conference or are joining fresh, you will leave with practical artefacts built during the day and a clear pathway into the Educator Intelligence community.

What Participants Will Leave With

• A foundational understanding of generative AI and how to use it responsibly in a school context
• A redesigned assessment task or policy element built during the workshop
• A differentiation strategy or resource created with AI assistance
• Practical protocols and frameworks ready for immediate classroom or leadership use
• Connection to the Educator Intelligence community for ongoing support

PROGRAM

9:00 Opening and Welcome
Acknowledgement of Country. Housekeeping and framing for the day.
Matt Esterman, MC & Lead Facilitator, Co-Founder, The Next Word

9:00 | Keynote Address
Setting the scene: why AI literacy is now a core capability for every educator. The case for moving from awareness to action — and what Educator Intelligence means in practice.
Amanda Rose, Founder & CEO, Western Sydney Women

9:30 | Transition and Setup
Participants set up devices, join the workshop platform, and prepare materials.

10:00 | Workshop 1: AI First Aid
A 101 on generative AI for educators. Covers foundational concepts, responsible use principles, hands-on prompting, and building a personal AI toolkit. Designed for those starting out or wanting to fill gaps in their understanding. Participants leave with a personal AI use protocol.
Dr Tim Kitchen, Education Consultant, CTL

11:30 | Morning Break
Refreshments and networking.

12:00 | Workshop 2: Assessment Architecture
Redesigning assessment for an AI-enabled world. Participants work through a structured framework to audit an existing assessment task and rebuild it using principles of authentic, AI-resilient design. Leave with a redesigned task or assessment policy element ready for implementation.
Adrian Cotterell, Co-founder & Managing Director, Thinking Mode

1:30 | Lunch Break
Refreshments and networking.

2:00 | Workshop 3: Differentiation Engine
Using AI to personalise learning at scale. Participants build differentiated resources, scaffolds, or learning pathways using AI tools and structured protocols. Focus on practical, classroom-ready outputs that respect diverse learner needs.
Shahenda Kandil, Founder, Teggle

3:30 | Showcase Plenary
Participants share ideas, artefacts, and prototypes built during the day. A celebration of applied learning and a bridge to ongoing engagement with Educator Intelligence.
Matt Esterman, MC & Lead Facilitator, Co-Founder, The Next Word

Workshop Descriptions
AI First Aid  —  10:00 – 11:30

This workshop is your entry point into generative AI as an educator. With all the connotations of first aid — essential, time-sensitive, and something you need to keep refreshing — this session builds practical AI literacy from the ground up. Participants explore what generative AI actually is, how it works, and how to use it responsibly. Through hands-on prompting exercises and guided exploration of leading tools, participants build a personal AI use protocol they can take back to their school immediately.

Key outcomes: Foundational AI literacy, personal AI use protocol, responsible use framework, hands-on tool experience.

Assessment Architecture  —  12:00 – 1:30

Assessment is the area most immediately disrupted by AI, and most schools are still playing defence. This workshop moves participants from reactive policy to proactive design. Using a structured assessment audit framework, participants analyse an existing task from their own context and rebuild it using principles of authentic, AI-resilient assessment. The focus is on designing tasks that are genuinely hard to shortcut with AI because they are genuinely worth doing.

Key outcomes: Assessment audit completed, redesigned task or policy artefact, AI-resilient design principles.

Differentiation Engine  —  2:00 – 3:30

One of the most powerful and immediate applications of AI in education is the ability to differentiate learning at a scale that was previously impossible. This workshop gives participants structured protocols for using AI to create differentiated resources, scaffolds, and learning pathways. Participants build real outputs during the session — modified texts, tiered activities, adjusted rubrics — that are ready for classroom use.

Key outcomes: Differentiated resources built, AI-assisted workflow for personalisation, practical protocols for ongoing use.

Logistics

• All participants need a laptop or tablet with a reliable internet connection.
• No prior AI experience is required. AI First Aid is designed as a 101; subsequent workshops build on that foundation.
• Participants are encouraged to bring a current assessment task or unit of work to use as raw material in the workshops.
• All session materials, templates, and frameworks will be provided digitally on the day.