A folder full of articles can look like a course waiting to happen. Add AI, and the temptation is obvious: turn each article into slides, create a quiz, generate a voiceover and call the collection a learning programme.
Our discussions about developing educational material led to a more useful question: what should someone be able to do after working through it?
Start with one observable outcome
“Understand business” is difficult to teach or assess in a short lesson. “Prepare a simple record of one day’s sales and explain a missing entry” gives the learner and teacher something concrete to work towards.
The same idea applies to a farm workshop, a language lesson or an introduction to AI. Choose a task that matters to the intended learner. State what a successful attempt looks like. Then select only the material that helps the person attempt that task.
A lesson earns its place by helping a learner do something with the idea.
Use AI to develop possibilities
AI can be used to draft alternative explanations, suggest practice questions or reorganise notes. Those outputs are candidates for review. They still need checking for factual accuracy, suitability and assumptions about the learner.
An example written for a large office may be awkward for a small farm. An instruction that depends on reliable broadband may fail in a workshop where connectivity is limited. A confident answer may contain an error. The educator’s work includes noticing these problems before the learner encounters them.
UNESCO’s guidance on generative AI in education emphasises a human-centred approach and human agency. For this practical workflow, that means keeping educational judgement with the people responsible for the lesson rather than accepting generated material simply because it reads smoothly.
Build a small learning sequence
Try this structure for a first draft:
- Show the task. Explain what the learner will practise and why it matters.
- Work through one example. Make the reasoning visible, including a common mistake.
- Give the learner a similar task. Change enough detail that they must think rather than copy.
- Provide useful feedback. Explain what needs correcting and how to try again.
For a lesson about keeping farm records, the example might be a fictional harvest sheet with one missing quantity. The exercise could ask the learner to identify the gap and explain what cannot yet be calculated. No impressive income claim is needed: the value is in recognising the uncertainty.
Clear feedback is part of the lesson, not an extra added after the quiz.
Test with a learner before expanding
Use a small trial to find out where instructions are unclear. Watch where the learner pauses, what they misunderstand and whether the final task demonstrates the intended skill. Ask what helped and what felt unnecessary.
Revise the difficult section before producing a large library of slides or recordings. A polished presentation can hide a weak explanation; a learner’s attempt makes that weakness easier to see.
Give each format a purpose
An article can introduce the idea. Audio can support reflection. A demonstration can show a process. A worksheet can support practice. These formats can reinforce one another, but converting the same words into several media does not automatically create a better learning experience.
That is the connection between JustLearn’s discovery articles and structured learning through Sharper Minds Academy: begin with curiosity, then design a practical route towards capability.
Before creating your next lesson, finish this sentence: “By the end, the learner will be able to…” Then build one example and one exercise that make the answer visible.
Explore more ideas in JustLearn Articles and visit Sharper Minds Academy for its learning programmes.
Further reading: UNESCO: Guidance for generative AI in education and research.
Editorial note: Developed with AI assistance from our discussions about educational publishing. The examples are illustrative; this article does not claim that a particular course has been tested or accredited.
Thank you for reading. Please share your experience of JustLearn by leaving an honest Google review.