As we return to kick off a brand new series of EdTech Unwrapped, Duncan sits down with Lenovo’s Senior Strategist for Education, Delia DeCourcy, to unpack the latest Bett “AI in Education 2026” report and what it really tells us about adoption in the classroom. 

 

They explore why teacher use of AI has surged from under 30% to almost 80%, yet two in five schools still have no policy or training in place - all this, plus workload, cheating, AI PCs, data security, and ushering in a sustainable phase of AI in education.

 

This episode covers

• AI adoption vs institutional readiness

• Workload, time and whether AI truly creates efficiency

• Redesigning assessment around new methods of cheating

• AI literacy, student use and teacher guilt

• Building capacity and culture around AI confidence

• AI PCs, security and hybrid AI

 

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Episode highlights

“One of the first things that struck me: weekly use has doubled… we’re now up to almost 80% of some teachers using AI in some way on at least a monthly basis.” - 1:50 - Duncan Verry

 

“Individual use in education is not the same as institutional readiness.” - 2:35 - Delia DeCourcy

 

“AI can shrink certain tasks, but it certainly can’t shrink the job.” - 7:45 - Delia DeCourcy

 

“I think what we’re seeing here is something called the efficiency paradox… when you’ve got human‑centric work and tech‑driven time savings occur, that time is then absorbed by the endless demands of these human relationships.” - 6:25 - Delia DeCourcy

 

“Still, two in five schools, no policy, no training, and you feel that those are sort of foundational places to start to even give encouragement that teachers can go out and use AI.” - 12:20 - Duncan Verry

 

“Forty‑five percent of teachers feel like they’re cheating when they’re using AI… that sort of staggers me.” - 13:45 - Duncan Verry

 

“I don’t think that more and better AI detection tools… are ultimately going to stop the problem. The foundational thing we do have to do is redesign assessment.” - 18:15 - Delia DeCourcy

 

“AI has been in the headlines constantly… we are now with generative AI in the trough of disillusionment.” - 32:05 - Delia DeCourcy

 

“I wonder whether schools are trying to build something that’s perfect that never will be for AI. By the time you finish your first policy, the technology will have evolved.” - 35:05 - Duncan Verry

 

“That is my hope, that AI is being used to create more space for the very human parts of teaching.” - 36:45 - Delia DeCourcy