UCT AI in Education Community of Practice
A cross-institutional space for collaboration, experimentation, and shared learning.
The AI in Education Community of Practice (CoP) brings together UCT staff who are exploring how artificial intelligence is shaping teaching, learning, and assessment. The CoP is a cross-institutional space for collaboration, experimentation, and shared learning.
Chaired by Sukaina Walji and supported by CILT, the CoP connects academics and professional staff from all faculties and departments, including UCT Libraries, ICTS, and the Institutional Planning Department. Together, members exchange ideas, test tools, and co-develop resources that promote responsible and creative uses of AI in higher education.
Our ongoing focus areas include:
- Building AI awareness and literacies;
- Facilitating workshops and learning opportunities;
- Exploring ethical and inclusive AI practices;
- Supporting assessment and academic integrity;
- Sharing innovations and research; and
- Developing frameworks and resources.
In 2026, the Community is expanding its work through new podcasts, collaborative resources, and themed workshops to help UCT staff navigate and shape the evolving AI landscape.
Interested in Joining?
Please email Azraa Dawood to be added to the list of members. There's also a dedicated Teams channel on the UCT Teaching Community for the CoP where we will subsequently post information and events.
Upcoming (AI in Education Community of Practice) Sessions
Further CoP session dates for 2026:
Monday, 23 FebruaryMonday, 23 March (12:30pm - 2pm / Venue: CILT Level 7)Thursday, 30 AprilWednesday, 20 MayThursday, 18 June- Thursday, 30 July
- Wednesday, 26 August
- Wednesday, 23 September
- Thursday, 8 October
All sessions are from 12pm - 2pm. Session themes and further details will be communicated closer to the time.
Previous Sessions
| Reflections from the hand-on Lumi Tutor session - Wednesday, 20 May 2026The May 2026 session gave colleagues a hands-on opportunity to explore Lumi Tutor within their own Amathuba course sites, reflecting on its potential use cases and engaging critically with its affordances and limitations. Participants returned with candid feedback, surfacing tensions between the chatbot's general knowledge and the specificity UCT courses demand, and noting both promising applications and gaps around navigation, quiz depth, and multilingual content. The session closed with a look at customisation pathways and a call for community-led topics, with AI-supported feedback via Lumi Feedback confirmed as the focus for the June gathering.
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| Reflections from the designing and using customised AI tools to support T&L - Thursday, 30 April 2026The session explored how colleagues are conceptualising, building, and trialling AI-powered tools within their teaching contexts. Discussions highlighted both the growing accessibility of these tools and the importance of thoughtful pedagogical design, ethical considerations, and ongoing refinement to ensure meaningful support for student learning. A key thread emerging from the session was that, even as technical barriers to building AI tools are lowering, pedagogical work is becoming more complex. Discussions highlighted the importance of designing tools with a clear educational purpose, aligning them with learning outcomes, and carefully considering how they support, rather than shortcut, student engagement and learning.
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| Reflections from the AI and the future of the academic essay CoP - Monday, 23 March 2026Three colleagues (teaching in different departments in the Humanities) shared an approach they have adopted to an essay writing assignment. A key thread throughout the session was a shift from asking whether the academic essay still “works”, to interrogating what it is for. Breakout group discussions about the three cases highlighted the importance of designing assessments that foreground process, critical engagement, and the student voice. Questions around authorship, academic literacy, and what it means to “write” in a human–AI landscape also surfaced as ongoing areas for exploration. We appreciated the openness with which participants engaged, raising important questions and insights from across disciplines. Session resources |
| Reflections from the AI Teaching Innovation Grants CoP - Monday, 23 February 2026Our first CoP session for the year focused on AI Teaching Innovation Grants. This session featured colleagues who were awarded 2025 AI Teaching Innovation Grants and had not yet had the opportunity to present their projects to a wider audience. It offered an interactive space to learn about new AI tools, share emerging practices, reflect on lessons learned, and engage with peers interested in better understanding AI-enabled teaching innovation. Opportunities were presented to CoP members to ideate new topics or key questions for future CoP sessions.
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Launch of the AI in Education Community of Practice
In 2025, UCT formally launched the AI in Education Community of Practice (CoP), marking an important step in strengthening collaborative engagement around the role of artificial intelligence in teaching and learning.
The launch event brought together colleagues from across faculties, departments, and professional services to explore practical applications of UCT-licensed AI tools — including Padlet, Lumi, NotebookLM, and Copilot Chat. Through hands-on demonstrations and shared discussion, participants reflected on how AI can be used to enhance learning design, assessment approaches, curriculum practices, student support, and research.
By creating a space where colleagues can learn from one another, the CoP encourages informed, ethical, and context-sensitive decision-making that aligns with UCT’s educational values.
As the CoP continues to evolve, it will build on the momentum of the launch by sharing insights, highlighting innovative practices, and showcasing resources developed through ongoing collaboration.
Visit the CILT LinkedIn page for event highlights.