Teachers, Tools, and AI: Understanding the Role of Generative Systems in Curriculum Production

The rapid emergence and uptake of generative AI (genAI) is reshaping educational practice, with recent reports indicating that over half of teachers already use these systems for planning, assessment, communication, and other pedagogical tasks. Despite this widespread adoption, empirical research on how genAI can meaningfully support teaching remains limited. This presentation approaches genAI from an educational technology perspective and introduces findings from a multi phase investigation into how generative AI can aid curriculum production in higher education. Our project examined the potential of genAI across a broad range of course writing activities, including developing learning outcomes, drafting outlines, designing activities and assessments, and reusing existing materials. To support this work, we developed Scribe, a collaborative AI enhanced workspace populated with customisable assistants such as quiz designers and activity sketchers. Scribe enables educators to inspect, adapt, and create their own AI assistants, upload materials for context-aware drafting, and collaborate within shared team spaces. Our findings indicate that genAI can effectively support ideation, rapid drafting, and adherence to writing guidance, offering course teams a productive “third perspective” during early development stages. However, genAI remains an assistive rather than autonomous technology: outputs require expert evaluation for accuracy, bias, and pedagogical suitability. Key challenges include ensuring effective use of subject specific knowledge, avoiding teacher disempowerment by outsourcing creative tasks, and supporting educators in articulating tacit expertise through effective prompting. Overall, our results suggest that genAI can enhance curriculum production when embedded within collaborative, reflective academic practice, with opportunities for increased productivity alongside important considerations for training, governance, and pedagogical quality.