The conversation around GenAI in higher education often focuses on policy, ethics, and academic integrity, but what about the student voice? Our students are actively exploring and integrating AI tools to enhance their academic experience. The development and use of GenAI is far more nuanced than simply “using chatbots” as our only tool. We leverage these tools for brainstorming, refining drafts, or decoding complex research, especially in domains with which we are not familiar. GenAI acts as a supportive companion and supplement for us, and understanding how students actually use GenAI can help educators bridge the gap between institutional policies and classroom reality.  

What students want educators to know 

Students consistently express two key messages: they want transparency about AI policies, and they value learning how to use AI effectively rather than being limited in what can be used. Students would appreciate it when educators acknowledge AI as part of their future professional toolkit. They’re also keen to share their discoveries about what works and what doesn’t, creating a potential for collaborative learning that educators have not yet tapped into. Here’s where AI transforms the task from burden to opportunity. 

Bite-sized task 

This task will help you understand your students’ perspectives on AI use and create a foundation for meaningful dialogue about AI in your teaching context. 

Step 1 – learn 

Go through the executive summary and key findings (pages 5-6 and 12-17) from the World Bank’s “100 Student Voices on AI and Education Report” Focus on understanding the diverse ways students report using AI: for brainstorming, research starting points, concept clarification, coding assistance, and creative projects.  

World Bank’s “100 Student Voices on AI and Education Report”  

Step 2 – do 

Apply the World Bank findings to your specific teaching context:  

• Review the diverse student AI applications mentioned in the report (summarizing complex resources, getting different perspectives on topics, real-time debugging assistance, accelerated skill development etc.)  
• Identify which of these applications is most relevant to your subject area
• Consider how the student concerns raised (accuracy issues in specialised fields, over-reliance risks, need for human oversight) might manifest in your discipline
• Draft 2-3 questions you could ask your students about their AI use based on what you’ve learned from the global student voices 

Step 3 – reflect 

After reviewing the global student voices and analysing your teaching context, consider these reflection questions:  

• What surprised you most about how students globally are using AI compared to your initial assumptions about AI in education  
• How might you adjust your teaching approach based on students’ desire for “transparency about AI policies” 
• What opportunities do you see – as an educator – for integrating collaborative learning with AI tools in your respective field?  

Further links 

Student perspectives on the use of generative artificial intelligence technologies in higher education  

Students concerns around generative AI  

Scroll to the bottom to see a video of UoS students talking about how they use GenAI 

© 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC-SA