The rise of Generative AI has led some institutions to provide student guidance on appropriate use, while a small number of studies have explored student perceptions of AI in Higher Education. However, there is limited research on AI usage and perceptions among educational developers. While some larger universities have started offering general AI guidance to their staff, a gap remains in understanding how educational developers, especially from small and specialist institutions, currently engage with AI.  

This project aims to audit educational developers across 3 UK institutions to shape future AI guidance and contribute to ongoing research, including the 2024 SEDA-funded study on multimodal learning and AI. By leveraging a diverse team across multiple institutions, the project will provide a broad, interdisciplinary perspective. Research questions will involve examining  how AI is currently used in practice by educational developers, what their attitudes towards AI integration in education are and what the existing gaps in their knowledge, competence, and confidence of AI use are. 

The study will employ a multi-phase, iterative approach to review literature to scope AI applications in educational development, survey staff to audit AI usage across the three institutions and conduct focus groups to gather qualitative insights on their attitudes and behaviours. The output resources will benefit educational developers across HE and FE sectors and serve as a valuable platform for the development of guidance for learner developers’ AI use in the future.